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Science. Governance. Fair Competition. - The ORC 2026 VPP Decision Explained
20. Feb 2026
ORC exists to ensure that vastly different racing yachts — in size, design, and performance characteristics — can compete fairly on the same race course. Through advanced VPP-based handicap systems, ORC serves sailors and race organizers in more than 45 countries and remains the largest measurement-based rating system in the world.
Crazy Diamond and Organised Chaos Crowned NSW ORC Champions at Pittwater Regatta (AUS)
16. Feb 2026
The NSW ORC Championship reached an exciting conclusion on Sunday, February 15, at the Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta, where shifting and fading breezes tested crews across a full six-race series sailed on the Palm Beach Circle.
When Good Ratings Meet Real Scoring
15. Feb 2026
In the first article, “When Averages Stop Being Fair,” I explored why a single rating number can never fully describe how a boat behaves across all conditions. Boats are not constant machines; they respond differently to wind strength, wind angle, and course geometry.
Upcoming Events
| 26.02 - 28.02 | Miami, FL and Nassau, Bahamas | USA-Bahamas | |
| 28.02 - 01.03 | Marmaris | TUR | |
| 01.03 - 07.03 | Altea | ESP | |
| 04.03 - 08.03 | Antigua | Antigua | |
| 12.03 - 15.03 | Saint Barthélemy | France |
Laser Scanning Sails into the Yacht Racing World
Leica Geosystems
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.
Sailor Services
With an ORC Certificate you are getting more than just a rating #beyondrating
The ORC System
Get started with 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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