ORC March 2023 Newsletter

ORC System News:

Super March

For nearly 10 years now the ORC Superyacht system (ORCsy) has been doing what seems impossible: provide fair handicap ratings for a huge variety of boat types over 30 meters in length. These range from old style schooners to modern sloops, traditional ketches, etc., with displacements up to 1300 tons and lengths up to 90 meters.

The system is in continual development with help from the SuperYacht Racing Association (SYRA), owners, sailors and designers to address the needs of this unique class of spectacular sailing yachts.

The ORC team has been calling this month "Super March" because of the competitive emphasis made at kicking off the 2023 season with two major regattas in the Superyacht sphere: the Superyacht Challenge in Antigua and the St Barths Bucket Regatta.

These Caribbean events start what promises to be an active and popular 2023 season of seven Superyacht sailing events that include: the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta held in Porto Cervo over 6-10 June, the Superyacht Cup in Palma held over 21-24 June, Safe Harbor Race Weekend in Newport over 11-13 August, the Maxi Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo held over 3-9 September, and the season concluding with the Ibiza Joy Cup held in Ibiza over 28 Sept - 1 Oct.

At all these events the ORCsy team will provide full support with measurement, scoring and other important tasks to ensure the continued success and popularity of the ORCsy system.

Win a Citroën Ami!

Organizers from the Circolo Remo e Vela Italia at the ORC Meditteranean Championship held in Sorrento, ITA over 18-21 May have devised a clever way to determine an overall winner to receive a special prize: a new Citroën Ami. This innovative ultra-compact electric vehicle is perfect for personalized urban transport where space is tight and distances are short.

The formula is this: (P -Nr)/[(Ne x Nr)-Nr], where P are the total points scored by the single boat based on the low-points system; Nr is the number of races completed by the class; and Ne is the number of entrants scored in the class.

Clever! So far there are 31 entries from 8 nations eligible to win.

ITC meets in Winchester

Last weekend the International Technical Committee (ITC) met at the Ker Design office in Winchester, UK for the first of four planned meetings to discuss improvements to the ORC VPP and rating systems. ITC Chairman Andy Claughton said the meeting was well-attended and productive, with progress made on numerous topics of interest to the ORC community.

These include:

Methods and use of the Neural Network in the Residuary Resistance model will be explained in a presentation and updated in the VPP Documentation
Effects of leeway will get continued study
Sail forces will be studied to evaluate the effects of overlap, deck beam, shroud envelope, etc.
Definitions and effects of whisker pole sizes and use were discussed
LSM0 use is being better defined
Permitted use of mast jacks is being considered
Investigation of disparate 2023 rule effects on some classes, eg, Farr 30's
Improvements to the 2024 VPP are proposed for centerboards, wooden masts, added resistance in waves for Superyachts, and boats with only one spinnaker aboard
An online application for ORC Multihull certificates will be available soon, with access to view only issued certificates in Sailor Services
A complete description of steps needed to implement the weather Grib file scoring scheme was presented and discussed, with specific tasks identified for programming work
For the bi-monthly ORC column in Seahorse the Chairman will work with Dobbs Davis to show how Sailor Services can be used to show performance differences in different trims...the first of these is in the upcoming May issue

The next meeting of ITC will be a virtual meeting of its members and observers on 19 May 2023.

Never too early to plan: ORC Worlds 2024

The 2024 edition of the ORC World Championship will be - for the first time in over 20 years - held outside of Europe and at the New York Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island. Dates are 27 September - 5 October 2024.

Already inquiries are being made for boat transport to the venue, charter boat options and opportunities, and relation of this event to others in the US racing calendar, such as the races in the Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC).

Event Chairman Matt Gallagher says "There has been keen interest from not only our domestic teams but also strong interest from entries outside the USA as well. We look forward to using the new CDL class splits to provide more fair and competitive racing for all entries. For answers to logistics and other questions please stay tuned...we are developing plans already and will share them as they become available."

Click here for more information about the New York Yacht Club.

ORC Regatta News:

2023 ORC Europeans Preview

With only a few weeks left to the start, the 2023 ORC European Championship fleet is lining up for a week of competitive racing held over 23 April - 1 May at the Royal Malta YC.

Class A favorites include Claudio Terrieri's Swan 45 BLUE SKY and Roberto Monti's TP 52 BLUE from Italy, 4th and 5th-placed finishers at last year's ORC World Championship in Porto Cervo, with Lee Satariano's local-based HH42 ARTIE III also a credible threat.

In Class B Aivar Tuulberg's Swan 42 KATARIINA II from Estonia will be the team to watch, having won a Bronze medal at the Worlds last year in this boat but a Gold Medal in the ORC Europeans in their other Class C boat of the same name. Also tough could be the 2022 Worlds Gold medal boat, the Grand Soleil44P ESSENTIA44, sailed in Malta by a team skippered by Poland-based Marcin Sutkowski.

And in Class C another ORC Worlds Gold medal Estonian team - Ott Kikkas's Italia 11.98 SUGAR 3 - will be tough to beat, although credible challenges will likely be made by two Italian teams who were also strong in last year's Worlds: SCUGNIZZA and SOUTH KENSINGTON.

The event will start with registration, measurements and inspections starting on Sunday 23 April and ending on Tuesday, 25 April, when a practice race is held followed by weather briefing, skippers meeting, and a Welcome Cocktail.

Then racing starts with the Long Offshore Race on Wednesday 26 April, continuing into Thursday 27 April.

On Friday 28 April inshore windward/leeward racing starts and continues into Saturday 29 April. On Sunday 30 April there will be a short offshore race, with windward/leeward racing to resume on Monday 1 May, with a closing ceremony held after racing to conclude the event.

Trophies will be awarded for overall podium finishers in each class, in addition to Corinthian (amateur) division podium finishers in each class.

To follow the action, visit the event website at https://orceuro2023.com.

ORC and MMNRT cooperate to promote Offshore DH sailing

"During the winter I had several talks with Bruno Finzi, president of the ORC,” said Riccardo Simoneschi, leader of SSI Events, the organizer of the Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour (MMNRT). “We talked about the need to promote double-handed offshore sailing, a format that is now widely recognized, is constantly growing and absolutely worthy of attention. I shared with him my vision of the macro objective: the attempt to have this as a recognized Olympic discipline, and take back the mismanaged idea of World Sailing."

Accordingly, winners at the ORC DH Europeans in Denmark and the ORC DH Worlds in Barcelona will receive Wild Card invitations to events on the MMNRT tour.

Rolex Big Boat Series open for entry

The premier inshore racing event on the USA West Coast, the 59th edition of the Rolex Big Boat Series at St Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, is now open for entry. Race dates for the event is 14-17 September, a time when the brisk westerly seabreeze brings high-speed challenge and fun to all entries.

“We are thrilled to be hosting the 2023 edition of the Rolex Big Boat Series and once again we anticipate a terrific turnout,” said Beau Vrolyk, 2023 Commodore of St. Francis Yacht Club. “This event has been the place to be for West Coast sailors for many years and we are pleased to continue our long and successful relationship with Rolex. Parties are legendary and the sailors’ favorites will return this year. Don’t miss it!”

ORC use will expand to three classes this year from two last year. More at https://rolexbigboatseries.com.

ORC Championship events in 2023

ORC European

Championship

23 April - 1 May 2023

Valletta, MLT

ORC Mediterranean

Championship

18-21 May 2023

Sorrento, ITA

ORC DH European

Championship

10-18 June 2023

Helsingor, DEN

ORC World

Championship

4-12 August 2023

Kiel, GER

ORC DH World

Championship

9-15 September 2023

Barcelona, ESP

ORC Sportboat European

Championship

25 Sept - 1 Oct 2023

Kalamaki, GRE

About ORC and ORC Partners

For over 50 years the Offshore Racing Congress has managed and developed the IOR, IMS and now ORC rating systems used in inshore and offshore racing around the world.

For the past 20 years ORC has also organized annual World and European championship events, and provides the tools needed for fair racing among thousands of sailors competing in hundreds of local, regional and national races and regattas in 45 countries. It is the largest World Sailing-recognized handicap system in the world, issuing >10,000 certificates per year.