The city of sails, Aarhus, is to be the venue for a new version of the Round Denmark Race, formerly known as the Danmark Rundt Singlehand, from 2021. A consortium consisting of Sailing Aarhus, the Aarhus International Sailing Centre, the Scandinavian Single Hand Sailing Association and Morten Brandt's event company Shorthand ECM has taken on the planning. Participation will be possible solo, double-handed and with a full crew. The race starts and finishes in Aarhus and can be followed on social media and via tracking.
"We would have liked to have started this year, but unfortunately the coronavirus crisis has put an end to this plan," says Morten Brandt.
Jon Koch Hansen from Sailing Aarhus adds: "With the upcoming focus on the new Olympic class - Offshore Mixed Doublehanded - and the visit of The Ocean Race to Aarhus in 2022, it makes perfect sense to look in this direction."
The first edition of the Round Denmark Race will cover the inshore course of around 650 nautical miles (yellow line). Each year the course will then change from inshore to offshore (red line). Double-handed and full crews will sail the route non-stop, while single-handed sailors will make the journey with self-selected stops for anchoring, at buoys or in the harbour. Rest periods and stops are required, which are controlled according to a calculation and managed by the race office. The classification is defined by the boat's LOA - a class categorisation introduced by Morten Brandt at the Silverrudder Challenge in 2012. There is no calculation, the first to finish in a length group wins.
A preliminary website has been set up where interested parties can register for a mailing list.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
