Monohulls

The vast majority of racing sailors compete on monohull yachts, so this forms the basis of the ORC system. Dimension data for the hull, rig and sails, along with a few other inputs, are used to allow the VPP to calculate the rated speed potential of the boat throughout a wide range of wind speeds and wind angles. This information in turn is used to develop models for use in scoring monohulls to calculate race results.

A significant challenge for this approach is the incredibly wide variety of monohull designs: the ORC system is expected to fairly rate heavy traditional designs as well as light weight modern designs – and which includes Racers, Cruiser/Racers, full Cruisers and even Sportboats.

When done well using the appropriate scoring tools, race results among monohulls can be very close – it is typical at ORC championships and other similar events to have results resolved in only seconds of corrected time.

While these boats may be scored together when racing, the best practice for race managers is to separate their fleet into like boat types to achieve the closest race results. ORC does provide the tools and suggestions on how to do this.