Light winds force postponed start in light air for first offshore race. Helsinki, Finland - After a postponement of a little over an hour for light winds, the Audi ORCi World Championship started today with the first offshore race of the program, with 47 boats in Class A and 77 boats in Class B heading off to the southeast on the first leg of a 65-mile course. Winds are forecast to increase from 5 to as much as 14 knots later in the day and evening, but until mid-afternoon local time progress was looking slow.
While Class B1 and Class B2 got off their starting lines with individual recalls, Class A had two postponements before finally getting away. Leading the pack around the first top mark in Class A was Thomas Nilsson's TP52 Wolfpack, rated as the fastest boat in the fleet.
Organizers from the Yacht Club Merenkävijät have placed tracking devices on Class A entries to monitor their positions so that if necessary the course could be shortened if the light winds persist. Otherwise, finishes will be tonight close to the venue at Sarkka Island in Helsinki harbor.
Live tracking can be seen at the event website on TracTrac, with the link found on the event homepage at www.orciworlds2012.com, where there is more information, links, results when available, videos, and photos from Max Ranchi Photography.
After tonight's finish, racing will start again tomorrow with 2-3 inshore races planned in the two course areas for each class, and continue until Friday, when the second offshore race is scheduled. The last day of inshore racing will be on Saturday, 11 August, when at the conclusion of the event new ISAF Offshore World Champions will be crowned in each class.
www.skipperondeck.gr
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