Five days of inshore and offshore racing at Pärnu, Estonia's summer capital, starts Wednesday in largest ORC Europeans turnout in 15 years.
Parnu, Estonia - Sixty-six teams from eight countries throughout northern Europe have converged on Pärnu in preparation for five days of inshore and offshore racing in the 2015 Volvo Estonia ORC European Championship, held over 10-16 August. The event is organized by Kalev YC, Pärnu YC, the Estonian Yachting Union and the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC), and is the largest European Championship regatta held in the 12-year history of the event.
Start line action in the Danske Bank Estonian ORC Championship, warm-up regatta to the main event this week: the Volvo Estonia ORC European Championship - photo Piret Salmistu
After measurement and registration activities held over 10-11 August, and a practice race held for competitors tomorrow, 11 August, the event will officially open with a parade from the square of Pärnu Keskus - the shopping centre in the city centre to the Vallikäär, where the Opening Ceremony will take place. Following the official ceremony and procession, music and other entertainment will be held on stage, and a large screen placed here and at the race village at Pärnu YC will also bring to the public news, photos, videos, and live streaming video and tracker coverage of the racing held in the bay of Pärnu.
Inshore race starts in warm-up regatta - photo Piret Salmistu
The Opening Ceremony in Vallikäär on Tuesday evening will be a grandiose outdoor play which focuses both on smart technical solutions and a clever stage performance, during which multiple different water vehicles will be launched to sea. Various moving platforms will be built on the water especially for the show, and Vallikäär will receive a special makeover for the performance. There will be a lot of activities going on in the Race Village in Pärnu YC and the whole program can be found http://orceuropeans2015.com/for-visitor/programme.
The competition will start on Wednesday, 12 August with an offshore race, followed by four days of inshore racing from Thursday - Sunday, 13-16 August. Racing will start each day at 1100 local time, and will be scored 1.0 points, with a total of 7 races scheduled.
Live video streaming with commentary will be provided by the media partner Postimees during the races, and on Friday to Sunday the spectator vessel REET will be available to go out to the course for those who want to see for themselves. REET will disembark from Pärnu’s central pier at 10:30 and return after racing at about 1500.
