Besides the imported talent, there are also some very keen local teams ensuring high competitive standards in each class.

Lee Satariano’s HH42 ARTIE III (shown left) is a Rolex Middle Sea Race champion that will be vying for the ORC European Champion title in Class A. He is enthusiastic and optimistic about competing at the upcoming event.

“We’ve been optimising, preparing and racing ARTIE III for the past 3 years,” he said. “Even though the ORC Europeans will be held in our waters, there is still a lot of preparation of both boat and crew for such a regatta. Weather conditions and wind are usually great for this period of the year. And the hospitality provided by the Royal Malta Yacht Club always leaves a positive impression for both owners and crews!”

Maya Podesta is co-skipper of ELUSIVE 2, a Beneteau First 45 that has also had proven success in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Podesta is also looking forward to meeting the challenge of inshore and offshore racing at the ORC Europeans.

“This event has opened up a fantastic opportunity for us to race in a top international event just on our doorstep, said Podesta. “Malta is very exposed to the elements and offers exceptional raw ingredients for yacht racing - with many windy days, good waves and relatively warm sunny conditions it’s the perfect setting for some really good racing. Add in some top teams and race committee talent, the potential for a fantastic event is there.

“All that is needed now is for the international sailors out there who like a good event to come over to make it happen!”

In preparation for the championship, an ORC Seminar is being held this evening at RMYC, where features and attributes of the system are presented to interested owners, sailors and race managers.

Tomorrow through Sunday is a more detailed training seminar on measurements to prepare inspectors and measurers for the fleet in April.

More details on the 2023 ORC European Championship and its format can be found at https://orceuro2023.com.

ORC Championship events in 2023

ORC European

Championship

23 April - 1 May 2023

Valletta, MLT

ORC Mediterranean

Championship

19-21 May 2023

Sorrento, ITA

ORC DH European

Championship

10-18 June 2023

Helsingor, DEN

ORC World

Championship

4-12 August 2023

Kiel, GER

ORC DH World

Championship

9-15 September 2023

Barcelona, ESP

ORC Sportboat European

Championship

23-29 September 2023

Kalamaki, GRE

About ORC and ORC Partners

For over 50 years the Offshore Racing Congress has managed and developed the IOR, IMS and now ORC rating systems used in inshore and offshore racing around the world.

For the past 20 years ORC has also organized annual World and European championship events, and provides the tools needed for fair racing among thousands of sailors competing in hundreds of local, regional and national races and regattas in 45 countries. It is the largest World Sailing-recognized handicap system in the world, issuing >10,000 certificates per year.

More on ORC at www.orc.org

GAASTRA is the Official ORC Apparel Partner. Go and discover more about GAASTRA here.

The ORC team is pleased to represent the values of the GAASTRA brand and now, with this special promotion from GAASTRA, you can get %30 discount on all items (if not already in sale) from the ORC & Gaastra selection. 

Go and find out at: 

https://www.gaastrastore.com/en/orc/

Seahorse is the world's foremost international performance sailing magazine, published every month, highlighting all that is new and exciting in the sport.

ORC certificate holders have FREE access to Seahorse for the January, March, May, July, September, and November issues, wherein there is also published an ORC column article that relates to the ORC community.

Special ORC discount subscriptions are also available: more at www.orc.org/seahorse.

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