ORC Sportsboat Europeans

WORDS: CEM YURDUM | IMAGES: KAYIHAN HASIRCI

It was a war of tacks, gybes, and head-scratching rating system mastery at the ORC Sportsboat European Championship in Istanbul, Turkey hosted by Kalamis Sailing Club between 23 and 29 August. Gorgeous weather welcomed sailors from Turkey, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Italy in one of the best sailing spots in the world, between Europe and Asia. It was the first time Turkey hosted an international sportsboat event, which was destined for 2020 but moved to 2021 due to the pandemic.

Founded in 2011, Sportsboat Turkey moved under the Turkish Sailing Federation umbrella in 2018 and was recognised as an official national class. Using SMS rating in its first years, they quickly moved over to an ORC Sportsboat rating later. In only three years, Sportsboat has grown to a 30+ boat fleet with boats ranging from Platu 25s to Farr280s, with Farr25s and J/70s regularly dominating the weekend in-port races. Two of the largest boats in the fleets were the Gp26 and Farr280, however greatly losing out to smaller boats in the rating (as much as giving 10 minutes in a 30-minute race to smaller boats). The championship started with three days of measuring. Teams brought their sails and boats to Kalamis Sailing Club’s marina, where boats were weighed on the cranes and sails were measured by the ORC measurers. It was intense few days for the ORC measurers with inquisitive sailors asking what each

reading would be used for and how it would affect their rating on the water. The ORC organisation had also provided good support for the regatta with four ORC officials, and two international jury members flown over to help the local race committee.

For newcomers here is the explanation of the ORC rating system from their website: “ORC Rating systems use the International Measurement System (IMS) as a measurement platform and the ORC Velocity Prediction Program (VPP) to rate boats of different characteristics in size, hull and appendages shape and configuration, stability, rig and sails measurement, propeller installation and other details affecting their speed. ORC Rating Rules includes the limits and defaults for the hull, rig, sails, and crew, the rules applying while racing, certificate layouts and description and a complete explanation of different ORC scoring options.”

By Thursday morning all boats and sails were weighed and measured, and new, refined ratings were in. All teams were ready to get out and battle it out in one geometric and one island course. All ready except the wind! An easterly breeze in the morning died around 1200hrs when it was supposed to be the warning signal. As the race committee huddled to read the wind moving towards the Bosphorus and Eastern course areas, a group of interested sailors, including myself, weaseled their way into the ORC Technical committee’s meeting about the ORC scoring systems. It was intriguing to learn about the system, which usually sounds daunting from the onset, but can be quite accurate when conducted well (we all know no rating system is perfect). As most of the calculations are done by the system, the ORC technical committee was clear on “being precise in every data measured that eventually goes the software”. Officials advised to use the “constructed course” within Garmin Home Port software as much as possible, and use the ORC Scorer to record the results and wind speeds. Then, ORC System would create an implied wind for each boat using the ORC rating at different wind bands and backtrack to the wind speed they should be seeing and average out the time across all boats to create the correct times.

Hanging out with the ORC Technical committee proved to be the most valuable experience on the first day of the regatta, as all races were canceled due to the lack of wind at around 1730hrs. On the second day, lack of wind delayed the races until 1500hrs. With the latest start time of 1800hrs every day, the committee had an ample time window to give the warning

signal. At around 1600hrs, the committee was able to give the first start of the regatta at 7kts of breeze. With local sailors predicting wind would be getting lighter and shiftier, the first group of boats including our Farr280, had almost a 30-degree persistent header at the wrong side of the course. Having a big kite paid off taking over several places when downwind. At the bottom mark, the committee boat was announcing the top mark relocation to aid with the wind shift. However, once we reached the top mark, the race was canceled due to the dying breeze behind us and the fact that half of the fleet wouldn’t be able to finish the race. Even though light-air races were advantageous to the Farr280, hats off to the committee for the swift and decisive decision trying to make it a fair game for everyone. Not surprisingly, the wind completely died, and the rest of the day was canceled, again!

The third day of the championship started as though the wind was trying to make for the lost time. Sailors were greeted to a building north-easterly wind starting from 12kts around 1000hrs. Races were quickly underway. Gusts reaching above 20kts pounded both small and big sportsboats around the racecourse, especially leading up to the gate marks during the kite runs. Our top speed in the Farr280 was 15.7kts during downwind, and J/70s’ graceful gybes in 20kts of breeze was a great show in boat handling. After three races on the first day, the two J/70s and Farr25 were tied on 9 points each, with the next two boats tied on 11 points each. Around the 3rd race, U-Flag was displayed after several general recalls, which meant that any boat over the finish line within a minute of the start gun would be disqualified without a hearing. This certainly held back all the keen sportsboat skippers and we had two more quality races while the wind persisted throughout the day. The J/70s especially had a very close race with boats equally tuned up and a great crew aboard each one. Bigger boats like Gp26, Farr280, and Corsa 915 (which was in Group B despite being the biggest boat of the fleet) had to fend off other boats while wrestling with their massive kites during shifty downwind legs.

The last day of the regatta saw only two races happening as the 7 to 10kts breeze

died around 1500hrs. In the lighter airs, big boats had more advantages. Corsa 915, named Sugar, had their best day with a 1st and 2nd place, and while Farr280, Code Zero, the boat I was on also had its best finishes of the regatta, its rating was certainly not on our side. The race committee was unable to do the island courses that we had hoped to do, due to the rush to get the number of races needed to validate the regatta. At the end of the six races, the top three boats were Nimbus, a J/70, Cheese Sailing, another J/70, and Orient XS, a Farr25. Having a lighter air certainly shook things up on the last day as the J/70s had snapped up almost half of the top 10 places after four races on Day 3 (the first day where we actually had any racing). It was a great learning for a lot of boats, techniques, and adjustments needed in sail sizes, crew needs, tuning, and general optimization per race condition. Sportsboat races happen fast, with as tight racing as a one-design class. Crew number and management was also a big factor, we had a crew of seven on the Farr280, while the J/70s needed four.

The top three boats in Division A fought hard for the honours. However, Nimbus, which was crowned Division A European Champion had a pretty amazing story. While most of the other boats have sailors with well over 20 years of racing experience, most of Nimbus’ crew has started their sailing careers more recently ie 2014-2016. Nimbus is from Heybeliada Watersports Club, which is based in one of the “Princess Islands” off the coast of the Asian side of Istanbul. Helmed and managed by Saruhan Cinay, who is also the Sportsboat Turkey President, and my friend from my centerboard days, the boat regularly races in all Sportsboat regattas and is a very young team.

All in all, it was a well-organised regatta, especially considering the situation that the world is still going through still, and with boats being shipped around Europe. It was pointed out from the ORC Sailing Committee that “this was one of the best-attended championship events thus far in the class”. As for me, it was true homecoming, competitively racing in Istanbul after almost 20 years with and against my friends who I grew up sailing with. The racing scene is very vibrant thanks to a large number of local and multinational companies now sponsoring boats for racing and teambuilding purposes. Professional teams and sponsor companies have sprung into action in the last ten years, and this trend is continuing in the Sportsboat class too. Sportsboat Turkey committee also is very keen on open discussions around ways to optimise different one-design boats for the ORC rating and having more international regattas in Istanbul.

Thanks to Kayıhan Hasırcı for sharing his action shots from the championship. Follow his Instagram @ig_sailingtr for more on this and other regattas around Turkey.