Mixed gender teams go offshore for glory

The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) will host the second edition of the Offshore Double Handed World Championship, with racing on September 23-October 1 from Cowes, Isle of Wight. After an application process, 22 teams from six continents were selected for the world title.

This World Sailing-recognized event will pitch mixed-gender double-handed teams to compete in a series of offshore races aboard equipment-supplied Sun Fast 30 One Design boats.

The entrants will be divided into two 11-boat fleets with each to have a qualification race that advances the top 5 ranked boats to the final race. For boats ranked 6 through 11, they get a second chance in a repechage race with the top finisher also making it to the 11-boat final race that determines the title.

The plan is for qualifying and repechage races to be about 24 hours in length with the final race having a target time of 36-40 hours. The entry list includes Alec Coleman/ Savannah Taylor from Canada and USA teams Joseph Kurta/ Adrianna Lee and Jesse Filding/ Leandra Sweet.