In a similar 10-18 knot Sirocco as the first day, the leaders of the ORC International Worlds fleet have sailed the first half of their 87-mile offshore race, with Piero Paniccia's Cookson 50 Calipso IV leading the fleet around their turning mark near Otranto at 17:56:58 local time. Next around only a little more than a minute later was the Russo-Brenco-De Falco syndicate's GS 56R Athanor-Ola-Citta di Siracusa at 17:58:13, and third George Vasilopoulos's Farr 520 Brave at 18:17:52.It was little surprise that Calipso would be challenging so close to the larger Athenor, as this Farr design has a canting keel, a feature favorable in the long beat to Otranto, and is only one of its kind in the 77-boat fleet representing 7 countries in this year's competition. If the breeze holds and Calipso is able to slide downwind at speed back north towards Brindisi, she could be in as early as 2100 this evening. The post-sunset forecast, however, is not favorable to this, as the breeze is expected to lighten and go back to the north.
This race to Otranto and back is actually scored as two 1.5-point races in the no-throwout competition, so performance today and tonight is critical towards earning points towards the World Championship crown.
George Andreadis’s (GRE) GS 42R Meliti IV has extended their lead in the Class A standings of the ORC International World Championship by finishing yesterday’s two-part 82-mile offshore race in 2nd and 3rd place. With the 1.5 weighted bonus points earned in these races, and combined with their 3 -1 performance in the inshore races on Tuesday, this puts them into a 16 point lead over Ricardo Di Bartolomeo’s (ITA) GS42R MAN in this 36-boat class. Andreadis, a perennial champion in many classes and events, is hopeful his team’s performance continues for the two remaining days of racing.
