Class A was dominated by the "Ran" team led by Swedish owner and skipper Niklas Zennstrom, who showed off his skills in challenging wind conditions on the final day. With a top speed of 22.6 knots on the downwind courses, the crew proved that fast boats like his Carkeek Fast 40 can also be competitive in the "ORC" classification. Sailing alongside Zennstrom was an international team of professionals, including Adrian Stead, Tim Powell, Steve Hayles, Justin Slattery, Toby Iles, Joy Fitzgerald, Tom Kiff, Griffin Spinney and Mark Lees.
Next challenge in Corsica
Next on the team's programme is the "IRC" European Championship off Bonifacio. It is worth noting that Zennstrom is not planning any changes to the boat for participation in the "IRC" classification. He spoke favourably of the "ORC" rating system, which he believes ranks fast boats like his "Ran" fairly compared to slower boats. "Our boat is designed to be as fast as possible and our impression was that "ORC" boats are designed to be slower. So I find it interesting to see that even fast boats can be competitive under the rules of the Offshore Racing Congress. It's a good testament to the scoring rule that it doesn't favour one or the other," explained Zennstrom.
More women in the team
In addition to the focus on the hardware of the boat and the sails, Zennstrom also emphasised the importance of the "software" - the team. While Joy Fitzgerald was the only woman on board at this event, the team had up to three women in the crew at other events. Fitzgerald took on the role of off-side trimmer and mid-bow. "We always want to have more women on our team," explained Zennstrom. "In my experience, it's better to have more diversity in the team." This approach to team composition emphasises the holistic approach of the "Ran" team, in which not only technical aspects but also the human component plays an important role in success.
XR 41 confirms its role as favourite
Class B had 22 entrants and was also dominated for most of the week by a team competing in a brand new design - Jesper Radich's XR 41 "Formula X" - which scored an impressive 1-1-1-2-3-2-1, with no race worse than 3rd place and 2nd place in inshore race 4 being cancelled. A mixed team sailed with Radich of young Danish talent, complemented by a handful of experienced international professionals. The young Danish match racing sailor Jeppe Borch acted as helmsman, supported by Gonzalo Araújo, Rasmus Taatø, Thor Malthe Andersen, Matias Rossing, Enrico Turin, Gustav Schwennesen, Mads Christian Taatø and Ross Vickers. The silver medal in this class went to the team on board Erik Stannow's XR 41 "Dixi 5" (DEN), and bronze was won by former world champion in this class, Marcin Sutkowskis on his Grand Soleil 44P "Windwhisper". The best Corinthian team in Class B was the Italia 11.98 "Arabella" of owner Raimondas Šiugždinis from Lithuania, where the ORC European Championship 2026 will take place.
"The races were close, but the scoring was fair."
"We are very happy with the results," said Radich after the award ceremony, "but this was not achieved without effort. It was a tough class with a high power density, and I think we came out on top because we prepared so intensively for this difficult event. I must also say that we are pleased that a new and exciting boat like the XR 41 can do well in the ORC classifications and handicaps. The races were close, but I think the scoring was fair."
Strong Swedes triumph in Class C
Class C was the largest class with 34 participants and was dominated by Patrik Forsgren with his modified First 36.7 "Garmin Team Pro4U". The boat has been competing at world and European championships for many years. Apart from an incident on the start line in the first race of the final day, Forsgren achieved an impressive score of 2-2-1-1-2-DSQ-1. The silver medals went to the team on Aivar Tuulberg's Arcona 340 "Katariina II" and the bronze medals to another Swedish team, Anders Helmrich's Farr 30 "Cheyenne".
"This was our eleventh year with this boat and we've been close a few times, but it's great to finally win," said Forsgren. It is the second major ORC championship for the Swede this year: together with his son Emil, he also won Class C at the ORC European Championship in Helsinki last month in the Double Handed classification with this boat.
The ORC World Championship 2026 will take place from 5 to 14 May 2026 in Sorrento, Italy.
Here are all the ORC World Championship results in detail:
Class A
1. 𝗥𝗔𝗡 (Carkeek 40+, SWE) - Niklas Zennström - 6-3-1-1-1-2-1 12 pts
2. 𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗭 (GP 42, FIN) - Jani Lehti - 1-2-8-3-2-4-3 15 pts
3. 𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗬 (E 44, EST) - Mati Sepp - 4-1-7-5-4-3-5 21 pts
Best Corinthian - 5th place 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗔𝗗𝗢𝗥 (Elliott 44 CR, SWE) - Jonas Grander - 23 pts
Class B
1. 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗔 𝗫 (XR 41, DEN) - Jesper Radich - 1-1-1-2-3-2-1 8 pts
2. 𝗗𝗜𝗫𝗜𝗜 𝟱 (XR 41, DEN) - Erik Stannow - 2-4-7-3-1-1-3 14 pts
3. 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗥𝟰𝟰 (Grand Soleil 44P, POL) - Marcin Sutkowski - 4-2-2-1-4-4-RET 17 pts
Best Corinthian - 5th place ARABELA (Italia 11.98, LTU) - Raimondas Šiugždinis - 37 pts
Class C
1. 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝟰𝗨 (First 36.7 mod., SWE) - Patrik Forsgren - 2-2-1-1-2-DSQ-1 9 pts
2. 𝗞𝗔𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗜𝗡𝗔 𝗜𝗜 (Arcona 340, EST) - Aivar Tuulberg - 3-5-3-5-1-2-10.5 19 pts
3. 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗬𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗡𝗘 (Farr 30, SWE) - Anders Helmrich - 5-3-5-2-4-3-3 19 pts
Best Corinthian - 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗥𝗢𝟰𝗨 (First 36.7 mod., SWE) - Patrik Forsgren - 9 pts
