Windy conclusion of 2019 ORC Sportboat Chamionship

The 2019 ORC Sportboat Championship ended with a victory for Arkanoe by Montura in Division A and Chardonnay in Division B. The event was held from August 24 to August 30 and saw 29 teams from 8 nations race in 6 inshore races and one coastal race for the Championship, organized by the Yacht Club Marina Portoroz in collaboration with Jadralni klub Ljubljana, ORC Offshore Racing Congress and with the support of Marina Portoroz.
After four days of light winds, conditions took on a different turn for the last day of the ORC Sportboat European Championshp. The much anticipated northeasterly wind called “burja" came in on time and blew with 8-15 knots for the majority of the day, allowing the race committee to complete the full programme.
Race six started at 11 o’clock under a cloudy sky and half of the fleet headed left towards the open sea while the other half avoided big and choppy waves by sailing right, behind the peninsula of Piran in a lightly flatter sea. Italian Bandalarga went hard right and immediately started in the lead. After rounding the top mark it lengthened the distance from the rest of the fleet finishing well ahead of the others. In Division B the same game plan pulled away Chardonnay, coming through with another smooth victory.
While the final race of the Championship took place in a softer breeze, a though fight for the podium places went down the wire. In Division A Arkanoe by Montura went into the last race with one point advantage over Bohemia Praha and two over Bandalarga while in Division B Chradonnay looked strong to become the new Champions but the remaining two places were in contention between Cattivik in second and Eavle on third.
Ultimately, the double bullets notched up by Bandalarga were not enough to steal the crown from Arkanoe by Montura, who finished second and claimed their first ever title of European ORC Sportboat champions with a single point lead. A stellar day from Flavio Favini moved Bandalarga up to 2nd place with Bohemia Praha completing the podium on third. In Division B Chardonnay added two more bullets to their perfect score and sealed the deal undefeated. Eavle finished second in the last race and picked up silver leaving Cattivik tied on points in third.

