Offshore Racing Congress

#TheEqualChanceToWin

Laser Scanning Sails into the Yacht Racing World
Along the west coast of Finland sits the historic town of Pietarsaari, where centuries-old maritime heritage and modernity meet in the world of contemporary yachting. Home to prestigious yacht builders Nautor Swan, Pietarsaari became the prime location for a pilot project in which yacht classification experts from the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) precisely measured, modelled, and rated a ClubSwan racing yacht using Leica Geosystems 3D laser scanning technology. In a novel approach that provides more data faster than ever before, scanning brings racing parity through accuracy, using innovation to promote fair competition in this historic sport.
ORC 2024 AGM - 1st to 5th November - Suntec Exhibition Center, Singapore
As the AGM draws to a close, we’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who took part, both in-person and virtually. This year’s hybrid format enabled a broader exchange of insights and ideas, allowing attendees from around the world to join seamlessly. For those who missed any sessions or would like to revisit them, full content and video recordings are accessible through your Cvent registered accounts in the On demand section. We hope you found the AGM valuable and insightful, and we look forward to seeing the impact of our shared work unfold. Safe travels and thank you for your contributions.
The ORC System
The search for a perfect rating system is as old as sailboat racing itself. Boat owners, sailors, designers and handicappers are always looking for solutions that work as boat designs change with time. However, regardless of what rating system is actually in use, an ideal rating system should have a set of key point of features to ensure fair racing.
ORC Rating Systems are administered by the National Rating Offices established worldwide in each country that have active offshore rating. There are two forms of the rating systems that are fully compatible using the same measurements and the same VPP: ORC International (ORCi) and ORC Club. ORCi is based on a complete boat measurement.
It is the intention of any rating system to give a boat rating which depends on her characteristics in order to equalise her with other boats of different size and characteristics. Characteristics that are positive for boat speed, like length of the water line or sail area, and those that are negative, like beam, displacement and wetted surface, are the most common influences in any system.
With an ORC Certificate, you are getting more than just a rating. ORC Sailor Services allows you access to the ORC Database of all ORC certificates issued worldwide #beyondrating.

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