ORC Doublehanded World Championship: One long distance, three titles - German quintet attacks before Oslo

Two years ago, Jonas Hallberg and Till Barth won the two-handed world championship in Sweden with the JPK 10.30 "Hinden" in the middle group B just ahead of Michael Höfgen and Max Gurgel on the sister ship "Lightworks". When the starting signal for the ORC World Championship for double-handed crews is given in Oslo on 11 June, one of the four podium sailors at the time will be back: Michael Höfgen (Flensburger Segel-Club) has now bought an Arcona 385 because he wants to sail regattas as well as enjoy weekends and holidays with his family, who have relocated to Flensburg. On Tuesday, Michael Höfgen and Lake Constance sailor Eckhard Kaller (Yacht-Club Meersburg) will start the only multi-day world championship race. They are one of five German crews who want to attack in Norway.

Lina Rixgens (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) and Sverre Reinke (Turn- und Sportverein Schilksee von 1947) will be competing with their new Sun Fast 30OD "Gaia". Martin Fürst (Yacht-Club Gode Wind) and Nathan Lauer (Kieler Yacht-Club) will start the long-distance race with the First 31.7 "Meister Hora". Detlef and Morten Göpfert from Neustädter Seglerverein will contest the World Championship with the Dehler 38 C "Uminoko". Arno Böhnert (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and Christian Heermann (Kieler Yacht-Club) on the First 36 "Salicornia" form the fifth team in the German double-handed World Championship quintet.

Daring Viking style for the two-handed world championship

The ten German players have set up a joint WhatsApp group in which they exchange information. "The German delegation is very nice, the double-handed sailing is very collegial overall. Everyone helps each other, because everyone is always 'shorthanded'. There is a lot of willingness to help if someone needs something," says Arno Böhnert from Hamburg, describing the good atmosphere in the harbour at the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club. "We are relaxed, have completed the survey and the safety check. We're ready to go," said Böhnert on Monday evening.

The "Salicornia" crew had a bit of bad luck when it came to the grouping, where they just managed to slip into the very generously defined Group A of the large yachts. Here they compete with their First 36 against boats such as Per Ottar Skaaret's creatively converted TP52 "Jokerman" for two-handed operation or Karl Otto Book's fast Landmark 43 "White Shadow". "It's cool that they're there, but really only if they're not sailing in your group," said Arno Böhnert with a twinkle in his eye.

Daring Viking style at its best: Per Ottar Skaaret and Thomas Nilsson present their TP52 "Jokerman", which has been optimised for two-handed operation. The duo have weighted her down with 1200 kilograms of lead in the bilge and equipped her with a self-steering system and smaller mainsail, among other things:

Smart optimisation for the two-handed world championship

Michael Höfgen is sailing with North sailmaker Eckhard Kaller for the second time after winning the German Championship together three years ago. Höfgen has optimised his Arcona 385 since taking over in April in collaboration with "boat whisperer" Max Gurgel and explains: "We decided to give the keel a reshape to reduce the resistance somewhat. The second issue was a new rudder to improve performance in that area. We also lengthened the bowsprit by 60 centimetres. This gives us more sail area for the A 2 on downwind courses, where we now have 158 square metres. I think that's good for the boat."

Whether the plan will work naturally also depends on the wind conditions. "At the Baltic 500, the boat was good in light winds," says Michael Höfgen, who, like all the other World Championship participants, is facing a complicated exit from the Oslo Fjord in potentially shifting and unstable winds.

The system is new and we have to be open to new things." Michael Höfgen

The World Championship participants are also looking forward with great interest to the effects of the chosen handicap system. "We're a little worried about the scoring system," said Höfgen, "I also mentioned this at the skipper's briefing. The new system, which was already used at the European Championships in Italy and is based on the wind forecasts, will apply here. I don't believe that a wind forecast can be very accurate, especially in a fjord. We will find out in the end. The system is new and we have to be open to new things."

Norway's Sailing Festival: Double-handed World Championship & Oslo Race Week

The World Championship participants are expecting light winds. This is why the course for the large boats will not be 460 but 340 nautical miles long, and slightly shorter for the smaller boats. "It goes out of the Oslo Fjord, then first off to the right, later over towards the Swedish side and finally to the finish harbour of Tønsberg," says Michael Höfgen, summarising the course in a nutshell.

The countdown to the ORC Doublehanded World Championship began on Monday evening. By then, the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club (Kongelig Norsk Seilforening, KNS) and the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) had almost finalised their preparations. All boats are checked in with their duos at the KNS harbour in Oslo. The registration and measurement checks as well as the safety equipment checks were completed.

The marina is a hive of sailing activity all week, as Oslo Race Week is also underway, with the H.M. The King's Series taking place from 11 to 13 June. Norway's King Harald is the regatta director for this traditional event in Bunnefjorden. Oslo Race Week will conclude with the 77th edition of Færderseilasen, the world's largest overnight regatta according to the organisers, from 14 to 16 June. The ORC Doublehanded World Championship will take place at the same time as the full Norwegian regatta fun.

The outlook: changing winds, daylight nights

For the KNS hosts, the World Championship is the next major international event after the successful ORC European Championship in Hankø in August 2022. Looking at the 68 boats from ten nations, including 45 Norwegian teams, sports director Kristian Fodstad is delighted with the enthusiastic response and said: "Around 30 volunteers and officials are working together to organise a great championship. The KNS is thrilled to be organising such a regatta, which starts in Oslo with coastal sailing between all the islands where the fjord opens up. Then the offshore regatta really gets going in the Skagerrak Sea. The sailors will experience local and coastal currents, changing winds and almost daylight nights."

Michael Höfgen and Eckhard Kaller in an interview before the start of the World Cup:

The trailer for the ORC Doublehanded World Championship in Oslo: