World ORC Championship Coastal Race

The coastal race of the World ORC Championship, which was scheduled for today Wednesday, on the third day of competition, has been postponed to tomorrow at 10:00 due to the lack of wind on the coast of Barcelona, with persistent fog in the morning, high temperatures, and an east wind that did not reach six knots (10 km/h).

Yesterday evening, the Race Committee, considering the poor weather forecast, had shortened the initial round-trip route from Barcelona to Palamós (Girona) of 104 miles (195 km) to a reduced route from Barcelona to Blanes (Girona) of 70 miles (127 km). At the halfway point, there was a scoring flying goal and the final goal also counted for points; hence the importance of the race.

After an hour of delay on land and almost three more at sea, the Race Committee has sent the fleet back to their moorings at the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, where the wait has been extended until 17:30, when it was decided to suspend the race until tomorrow, which was originally the rest day.

The Swan 45, Trafalgar, owned by Dimitry Martines from Ecuador and helmed by two-time Olympic champion Luis Doreste from the Canary Islands, is in fourth place, just six points away from the podium, in the 'A' division of the ORC classification.

Doreste commented this afternoon: "We are fourth in the overall standings, but we are only halfway through the championship, so we will keep fighting to be as high as possible. What we have to do is to ensure that the result of each race allows us to be in the fight for the podium at the end."

The Movistar skippered by Pedro Campos from Galicia is second in the 'B' division of the ORC classification, one point behind the leader, the Italian boat Giumat +2, and third is the Koyama with Iñaki Castañer as helmsman. Campos, who aims to achieve his fifth world title in Barcelona, ​​said: "We are fighting one point behind the first. It is clear that we have options, even though we are competing with a boat that we have never sailed before. We will try to win, but we know it will not be easy."

In the 'C' division of the ORC classification, the leadership is shared between the Galician boat Solventis owned by Alberto Moro, with 'Malalo' Bermúdez de Castro as helmsman, and the Danish boat Hansen. Regarding the fight at the top, the Galician skipper said: "It is a highly competitive race, with many countries participating and many very equal boats. In our class, we are all between 36 and 38 feet (6.70 and 7.05 meters), so any mistake can make you go from first to 15th for no apparent reason, simply because the others are also good and any mistake is costly."

The actor Francis Lorenzo arrived this afternoon at the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona to compete aboard the X65 called Bultaco, owned by Andrés Varela. As a big fan of sailing, he said: "I'm enthusiastic about sailing and being at sea, and participating in a world championship is something tremendous."