ORC European Championships: Favourites triumph in Klaipėda – “Dixi 5” powers its way to the title

They had arrived in Klaipėda as favourites to win the title. And Erik Stannow’s crew on the XR 41 “Dixi 5” from the Helsingør Sailing Club achieved this with real aplomb. “It feels brilliant! With six first-place finishes, one second and one third, we simply had an outstanding run. We’re really proud of how far we’ve come together in a relatively short space of time. We’ve got a super-fast boat, a world-class tactician and the right people in the crew,” said Erik Stannow in Klaipėda.

"There’s no magic formula for this success. It’s down to hard work and practice, investment and the right people." Erik Stannow

With an opening victory on the extremely rough and demanding long-distance race, followed by five further race wins, the crew left no doubt as to their ambitions. With just nine points on the ORC European Championship tally, the team led by owner Erik Stannow – comprising tactician Jesper Radich, navigator Robin Zinkmann, Gordon Nickel, RVS boss Bertil Balser, Carl Rupp, Lennard Peilcke, Charlotte Graffunder, Florian Heinze and Nicolaus Schmidt, was in a class of its own in the ORC AB class in the Lithuanian waters.

No walk in the park for the ‘Dixi 5’ crew

The winners of the International German Inshore Championship for offshore sailors saw the modified X-41 “Keturi Vėjai” (26 points), skippered by Karolis Janulionis, and the Italia 11.98 “Rhino” (28 points), skippered by Saulius Pajarskas, to the podium places. In this order, the two Lithuanian teams took first and second place in the Corinthean classification in ORC AB with 17 and 20 points respectively. Third place in this classification went to the Sinergia 40 “Sons of Hurricanes” (28 points) skippered by Jon Sverre Høiden from Norway.

Lars Hiddes’ German offshore champion “Pure” missed out on the podium in the ORC-AB overall standings, finishing fourth with 39 points. The conditions were perhaps not quite ideal for the new boat designs, which, with their wide sterns, are often very successful offshore in ‘slip conditions’. The X-41 ‘Aja’ (47 points) from the ASVW finished seventh with a crew led by skipper John Victorin.

​Click here for the results of the ORC European Championships in Klaipėda.

For the “Dixi 5” crew, however, the week of the ORC European Championships was by no means the walk in the park that the results series of 1-1-1-1-(2)-1-3-1 might suggest. The series got off to a gruelling start with a long-distance race characterised by strong winds and plenty of upwind legs. Day two saw the “Dixis” facing both ups and downs. Gordon Nickel was already in the harbour at 5 am to sort out a problem with the new rudder. To do this, the boat was craned out of the water. Three crisp, long races later, the “Dixi 5” crew then had to undergo a water measurement and a heel test on the same day, which kept a handful of crew members busy for some time.

Breathless at the ORC European Championships: first the long-distance race, then the early shift and the night shift

The “Dixi 5” crew had “earned” the surveyors’ thorough inspection at the ORC European Championships with their top performance. Gordon Nickel didn’t leave the harbour until around midnight that day, following the already gruelling long-distance race the previous day. Nevertheless, the overall assessment of the European Championships was positive after four further races on the final evening. “All in all, we’re naturally pleased that we delivered the performance.” The key to this? Gordon Nickel said: “We got off to a good start, pushed hard and made few manoeuvring errors.”

"We’ve consistently stayed out of trouble and done our own thing. And we know we’ve got good boat speed, don’t we?" Gordon Nickel

The challenging conditions were also a topic of discussion at the ORC European Championship in Klaipėda. Gordon Nickel pointed out: “An ORC fleet also consists of boats that aren’t always racers and are refitted for an event. When they then find themselves facing ten hours of upwind sailing in 24-knot winds and two-and-a-half-metre waves during an offshore race, they might well ask themselves why they’re putting themselves through this.” This was demonstrated, as the Spanish classic, the Copa del Rey Mapfre, had shown shortly before with 99 ORC boats.

The challenging conditions were also a topic of discussion at the ORC European Championship in Klaipėda. Gordon Nickel pointed out: “An ORC fleet also consists of boats that aren’t always racers and are refitted for an event. If they then find themselves sailing upwind for ten hours in a 24-knot offshore race, battling two-and-a-half-metre waves head-on, they might well ask themselves why they’re putting themselves through this.”

After the ORC European Championships in Klaipėda comes the 2027 ORC World Championships in Copenhagen

For the “Dixi 5” crew and many others, this ORC European Championship was already part of their preparations for the ORC World Championship in Copenhagen next year. “Next year, the World Championships will be held in Copenhagen. We have a Danish boat and want to do as well as possible in Copenhagen.” We came second at the World Championships last year. "Just as we finished second at the last European Championships. You can work out for yourself what we’re aiming for…”

"We’d love to win the World Championships in Copenhagen. But I don’t think it’ll be an easy road to get there." Erik Stannow

Many ORC-C teams also have their sights set on the World Championships in Copenhagen. The ORC European Championships, which concluded on 15 August in Klaipėda, were more closely contested in this class than in Class AB. In the battle for the title, the Swedish Garmin Team Pro4U (12 points), skippered by Patrik Forsgren on his modified First 36.7, prevailed over the Estonian Italia 9.98 “Sugar” (18 points), which also won the Corinthean classification.

The Danish Mat 11 “Stony X” finished third in ORC C. Eike Claas Carmincke’s Mat 1010 “Matchbox” finished 13th in the European Championships with a total of 71 points, following a remarkably strong third place in the rough opening long-distance race.

A look back at the mid-season inshore races at the ORC European Championships: