Slides from the webinar with all contact information:

Watch the full recording here: https://stormtrysail-org.zoom.us/rec/share/5_y5D_IoLoFz0u1lag0n9Ki6yC5FRq9g33lafbjgOLXDKolVHs3-s-kWVNZRTVQp.vsJoVWw8xXW2jQm9?startTime=1774395114000

The Full Recap of the event:

ORC Race Management Seminar for the US and Canada Key Learnings

ORC Overview and Growth in North America

Matt Gallagher provided a rapid overview of the ORC system. Key points:

• ORC was co-founded in 1969 by CCA and the RORC. It is the world's largest measurement-based rating system, recognized by World Sailing, supported by a professional staff of approximately 18 people and many technical volunteers on the International Technical Committee (ITC).
• ORC runs annual World championships (fully crewed and double-handed), Continental championships, and supports a wide variety of boat types, from Sportboats, Multihulls, Monohulls, to Superyachts.
• All ORC rules are published online — the system is as transparent as a rating rule can be.
• In the US, ORC is used throughout the nation: eg, in the Northeast by the Storm Trysail Club and New York Yacht Club; in the Chesapeake Bay; in the Great Lakes by the Chicago Yacht Club, Bayview Yacht Club (for their Mackinac races) and others; on the West Coast in the Pacific Northwest and San Diego, and on the Gulf Coast in Houston and St Petersburg. In Canada ORC is used in the Vancouver area and in Toronto.
• The US and North American markets are the fastest-growing segments of ORC worldwide.
• Key recent milestones: 2024 ORC Worlds in Newport (first US-hosted worlds in 25 years), 2025 North Americans at Block Island Race Week, upcoming 2026 North American Sportboat championship at Charleston Race Week, and 2026 North Americans at St. Francis Yacht Club during the Rolex Big Boat Series.
• 2027 North Americans will be held in Florida in association with the SORC.

Pre-Event Planning and Organization

Felix Wiedling (St. Francis Yacht Club) outlined pre-event planning for ORC events:

• Certificate responsibility is on the boat owner, not the organizing authority. Owners must take care of getting their ORC measurement certificate — measuring the boat and sails, declaring crew weight, and choosing which headsails to carry.
• Deadlines matter. If certificates aren't in on time, the organizing authority can't make division splits, order trophies, or properly plan the event. Certificate deadlines should be set at least two weeks before the event.
• Safety equipment rules (SER): US Sailing's SER categories (0-5) are available online and can be referenced in the NOR. Organizers choose which categories to make mandatory.
• Corinthian rules: ORC encourages use of the World Sailing Categorization scheme for distinguishing Corinthian (amateur) teams from professional teams when organizers want to offer separate awards or divisions.
• NOR and SI templates: Standard ORC templates for Notices of Race and Sailing Instructions are available at https://orc.org/organization/rules-regulations.These are guides, not mandatory — they serve as a reference to make sure key details are not missed. The important caution: don't simply cut and paste from prior years, as mistakes can perpetuate for years.

Building a Regional ORC Program: The Chesapeake Model

John White (Annapolis YC) shared the Chesapeake Bay experience as a case study in growing ORC adoption:

• Seven or eight years ago, handicap racing attendance in Annapolis was poor. The club decided to support ORC.
• Year 1-2: Offered dual starts for ORC certificates and PHRF boats in the same class with dual scoring. This was moderately successful and introduced boats to the system.
• Year 3: Switched to dedicated ORC classes — participation improved instantly.
• ORC is now the most popular handicap racing system on the Chesapeake, aside from PHRF. The biennial Annapolis to Newport race has become overwhelmingly an ORC event (57 ORC entries vs. 14 PHRF in the most recent edition).
• Key structural decision: ORC of the Chesapeake (orcches.org) was formed and is managed by Annapolis Yacht Club. It maintains a season calendar listing all ORC regattas, entry links, NORs, and seasonal scoring.
• The fleet is now split into two divisions: an open division (using ORC unencumbered) and a performance cruiser division with specific rules limiting entry, sails, and crew.
• Important philosophy: PHRF should continue to exist as a "breeding ground" for boats moving up to ORC. The two systems complement each other.

ORC Certificate Types and the Application Process

Chris Tutmark (US Sailing Offshore Director) explained the Certificate process:

• Two main types: ORC International (ORCi) — requires full measurement by a certified measurer; and ORC Club — allows some owner-declared measurements. Additional types include Multihull certificates and Superyacht

Certificates, which are applied for and issued directly by ORC.

• Ratio: Approximately two-thirds of US certificates are ORC Club, one-third ORCi. International certificates are usually driven by event requirements (e.g., North Americans require ORCi).
• Certificate application: Go to the US Sailing ORC page. There are two buttons: one for boats that have previously held a certificate, and one for new boats. The system uses a "Boat ID" (essentially a SKU number) that stays with the boat even when it changes hands, maintaining data integrity and rating history.
• For Canadian boats: Applications go through ORC Canada, now hosted through BC Sailing.
• Race organizer communication: The US Sailing offshore office creates shared Google Sheets as living documents for race organizers, showing the status of their fleet's certificate processing — who has applied, who has their rating, who is waiting on sail measurements, etc.
• Prioritization: The office prioritizes certificates for boats whose events are soonest. Early applicants may need to wait if the racing season has already started for other fleets.
• Advice for race organizers: Decide early what certificate level your event requires. Start communications with the US Sailing Offshore office as early as 6-12 months before the event, even before the NOR is posted, to establish reasonable deadlines. Do not wait until NOR deadlines.

Reading an ORC Certificate

Chris Tutmark walked through the visual information embedded in ORC certificates:

• The boat graphic on Page 1 contains significant detail. For example: a dark gray mast indicates carbon; a thick headstay line with a small triangle at the bottom indicates roller furling; a thin line indicates hanked-on sails; "adjustable" labels on the backstay indicate adjustable backstay hardware.
• Page 2 contains the scoring models and time allowances.
• ORC is fully transparent — access to all certificates issued since 2009 is free, and you can examine your competitors' certificates to understand their configuration.
• For Club certificates: Unmeasured parameters that affect boat speed (displacement, stability) are defaulted to the least favorable values from the database for that boat type — meaning the boat will appear as the lightest and stiffest version on paper. If the owner wants a more accurate (and potentially more favorable) rating, they should get measured.
• Planned improvement: Dobbs mentioned that the ORC website will be updated

with interactive certificate examples where hovering over sections produces explanatory boxes.

Why ORC Uses Multiple Ratings

Dobbs Davis explained the core principle behind ORC's multiple-rating approach:

• Unlike PHRF or IRC (single-number systems), ORC provides a matrix of predicted speed values as a function of wind speed and wind direction, derived from the Velocity Prediction Program (VPP).
• Boats travel at different speeds at different wind speeds — their performance curves are not parallel. Two boats may cross over in performance at different wind conditions.
• In this scenario a  single rating can therefore only be "correct" at one wind speed. ORC's approach is to use multiple ratings (via wind bands) that can more accurately reflect the performance potential of each boat across the entire wind spectrum of the VPP.
• The VPP now covers wind speeds from 4 to 24 knots (expanded from the original 6-20 knot range thanks to requests from San Diego and San Francisco fleets).

Scoring Models: Wind Bands and Course Geometry

Dobbs presented the practical scoring model options available to race organizers:

Five-Band System:

• Low (average 6 knots), Low-Medium (average 7.2 knots), Medium (average 12 knots), Medium-High (average 16 knots), High (average 20 knots)
• Each band uses a weighted distribution of wind speeds, not a single value
• The PRO selects a band based on observed/forecasted conditions

Triple-Number System:

• Three broader bands (light, medium, heavy) in the Triple Number system offer a simpler alternative for fleets that prefer it

Course Geometry Options:

• Windward-leeward (upwind/downwind)
• Predominant upwind, Predominant downwind, Predominant reaching — useful for point-to-point races. These can be in APH if wind speed varies considerably throughout the race, or in 5-Band ratings.
• All-Purpose Handicap (APH) — equal mix of all wind speeds across a spectrum of angles. Not encouraged for scoring, but useful as a class division tool.

Custom Scoring Models:

• Race organizers can create custom models tailored to their specific conditions. Examples: the Harvest Moon Regatta (Texas) developed a sea breeze model with a meteorologist using historical October wind data, and Bayview Yacht Club used a climatology study for the Bayview Mac Shore and Cove Island courses.
• Custom models can be embedded on page 2 of the certificate if formalized with ORC.

All formulations are documented in the USA-Canada Scoring Models PDF, available on the US Sailing ORC and ORC Canada (BC Sailing) websites.

Course Management Using Certificate Data

Colleen Cook (San Diego PRO) demonstrated a spreadsheet-based course management tool:

• Using the boat speed matrix values from Page 1 of the certificate, she calculates target course lengths for each class.
• Workflow: Set a target finish time → divide target time (in seconds) by the time allowance for the expected wind band → result is the required course length.
• She prepares worksheets the night before for each class, with course lengths pre-calculated for different wind strengths.
• This allows the PRO to manage multiple classes (5-7) efficiently, ensuring all classes finish in time for the next start or the shore-side events.
• Dobbs noted that ORC is working on building a web-based version of this tool in ORC Sailor Services so it would be accessible to all organizers.

On-Water Scoring Decisions for PROs

Michael Moradzadeh (St. Francis Yacht Club) offered practical advice for PROs:

• Do not wait until you're on the water to make scoring decisions. The day before — certainly the morning before — sit down with a weather forecast you

trust, work through your courses, and come up with your preliminary intent: both the course characterization (windward-leeward, Bay Tour, all-purpose) and the wind band.

• Once on the water, observe whether conditions are consistent with the forecast. If they are, stick with your plan. If they diverge significantly, use judgment.
• Resist changing the scoring model after announcing it unless fairness absolutely requires it. Any change must be made before the first boat finishes.
• Be aware that boats are using masthead wind readings, not on-the-water readings — these will differ.
• Know in advance where your wind data is coming from (mark set boat, buoys, weather stations) and understand the limitations of each source.
• Stan Honey's wisdom: "What we're selling here isn't accuracy. What we're selling is entertainment. Racers want to feel they got a fair shake, had a good time, and knew what they were racing under.”
• Protect yourself in the sailing instructions: Leave all options open and don't make scoring model selection re-dressable.
• If you've declared a course type in advance and get a major wind shift or current change, your assumptions may be wrong. Either build in the ability to change the designation or include courses that account for those possibilities.

Announcing Scoring Selections to Racers

Ray Redness (Storm Trysail Club) and others discussed communication:

• Per the USA-CAN ORC Race Management Guide recommendation, announce the intended scoring model selection before the Warning signal.
• For events with multiple classes starting, announce before the Warning for each class (conditions may change between starts).
• Communication channels: VHF radio announcement; WhatsApp group (now the "gold standard worldwide" for sailboat race communication); and YachtScoring has built-in text/email messaging to competitors.
• Sailing Instruction language: Include a statement that the scoring model will be announced before the Warning signal. If there is a “significant change” in conditions after the start, the RC may announce to the fleet if they choose to use another course model to match the new conditions. If implemented this should be done before the finish of the first boat in the class.

Weather-Routed Scoring

Dobbs Davis explained ORC's cutting-edge weather-routed scoring system:

• Concept: Instead of using static wind-band models, weather-routed scoring

uses actual digital weather forecasts (GRIB files) combined with each boat's VPP polars and the known course to generate predicted elapsed times for each boat.

• How it works: The race organizer provides the start/finish, course marks, start times, and competitor list. ORC's weather routing team, in partnership with PredictWind, runs routing for each boat using the polars and the forecast GRIB file. The output is predicted elapsed times and ratings specific to that race, that course, and that weather.
• Dynamic advantage: This approach eliminates the favoritism inherent in static models. Different boats may take different optimal routes because weather changes during the race — the system captures that.
• Free service: Weather-routed scoring is a free service for ORC events. Apply at least two weeks in advance. The team delivers GRIB files, predicted elapsed times, ratings, and time allowance sheets.
• Weather model options: Race organizers can select a specific weather model (HRRR, GFS, etc.) if they know what they're doing. If not, PredictWind's algorithm will select the best model for the course and time.
• Current modeling: PredictWind uses proprietary tidal and current models, which are automatically applied.
• Limitation: Don't use weather-routed scoring for races shorter than 8-10 hours. The GRIB file update frequency needs enough time to show meaningful weather changes during the race. For shorter races, use the standard page 2 scoring models.

Case Study: Van Isle 360

Chris Meyer (BC Sailing) shared the experience of using weather-routed scoring for the Van Isle 360 — a 580-nautical-mile race around Vancouver Island over 14 days:

• The first two legs (coastal racing with 2-3 knot currents) saw good weather prediction accuracy.
• Legs 3-6 traverse an area George Vancouver described as "the vilest stretch of water in the world" — daily gales with 6-knot reversing currents creating constant wind-on-tide conditions. Weather-routed scoring struggled in this section because local conditions were too complex for the models.
• Key lesson: The standard scoring models on page 2 of the certificate served as an excellent fallback. The five-band system and point-to-point options provided reliable scoring when weather routing couldn't. If even the five-band model was too narrow, the three-band system offered a wider swath.
• The ORC weather-routing team's service was described as "absolutely outstanding."

Time Allowance Sheets

Dobbs described a key tool for competitors:

• An online tool in ORC Sailor Services generates an HTML-based time allowance sheet for a given event.
• For a selected scoring model and list of boats, the sheet shows how much time each boat owes or is owed relative to every other boat, updated dynamically based on elapsed time.
• Competitors and tacticians use this to understand their competitive position during the race.
• Race organizers should post these on the Notice board  and/or distribute directly to the entries— they're what competitors want most.

Getting Started with ORC at Your Club

In the Q&A, Dobbs and others offered advice for clubs considering ORC:

• First step: Contact Dobbs Davis ([email protected]). His team can assess the club's current fleet, racing program, and goals, then recommend a pathway.
• For US clubs: work with Chris Tutmark at US Sailing. For Canadian clubs: contact Phil Barron at ORC Canada (via BC Sailing) or Ian Lloyd.
• Transition from other systems: PHRF certificates are a place to start. IRC endorsed certificates (measured data) are excellent starting points. Even standard IRC or ORR certificates provide useful baseline data, though hull offset files will not be part of IRC certificates and need to be researched.
• The dual-scoring approach (running PHRF and ORC simultaneously for 1-2 seasons) has proven effective as an introduction strategy before moving to dedicated ORC classes.

ORC on Intermountain Lakes

Tim Harriman asked whether ORC works on smaller inland lakes with highly variable wind conditions:

• Yes — despite the "Offshore Racing Congress" name, ORC handles inshore windward-leeward racing. Seven of ten races at ORC world championships are

inshore.

• For intermountain lakes with extreme variability, the All-purpose rating (broadest possible wind band) may be the most practical option.
• Even in that scenario, ORC's objective, science-based speed predictions still offer an advantage over PHRF's empirical, relative approach.

Tips & Quick Reference

• Announce the scoring model before the warning signal — put this requirement in your sailing instructions.
• Use WhatsApp groups for race communication — it's the worldwide standard. Yacht Scoring also offers built-in text/email messaging.
• Don't cut and paste NORs and SIs from year to year — errors perpetuate. Use the ORC templates as a reference to catch omissions.
• Start communications with the US Sailing offshore office early (eg, 6-12 months) before your event, especially for larger events.
• PROs should prepare course length worksheets the night before using PCS values from the certificates, pre-calculated for different wind strengths.
• Weather-routed scoring is free for ORC events — apply at least two weeks in advance.
• Don't use weather-routed scoring for races shorter than 8-10 hours; use the standard Page 2 scoring models instead.
• For unmeasured parameters on Club certificates, the system defaults to the least favorable values. Get measured if you want a more accurate rating.
• PHRF and ORC complement each other — PHRF serves as a "breeding ground" for new racers.
• ORC Sailor Services is the central online platform for tools: time allowance sheets, certificate lookup, and scoring resources.

Products, Tools & Resources

ORC Main Website Organization: https://orc.org

ORC Sailor Services Web portal to certificates,  Time allowance sheets, etc: https://orc.org/sailors/sailor-services

US Sailing ORC Page Organization https://www.ussailing.org/com petition/offshore/orc/

USA-CAN ORC Scoring Models PDF Publication https://www.ussailing.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/202 5-USA-CAN-ORC-Race-Management-Guidebook.pdf

USA-CAN ORC Race Management Guidebook Publication: https://www.ussailing.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026-ORC-USA-CAN-Scoring-Options.pdf

ORC of the Chesapeake Organization https://orcches.org

ORC Canada (via BC Sailing) Organization https://www.orc-canada.org/

PredictWind Software/Service https://www.predictwind.com/

Yacht Scoring Software https://www.yachtscoring.com/

Sailwave Software https://www.sailwave.com/

ORC Scorer Software (PC) Available through orc.org

Storm Trysail Club (slides/recording posted) Organization https://www.stormtrysail.org

St. Francis Yacht Club Organization https://www.stfyc.com

Van Isle 360 Event https://www.vanisle360.com

Harvest Moon Regatta Event https://harvestmoonregatta.co m/

Key Contacts:

• Dobbs Davis — ORC US Communications and Support ([email protected])
• Chris Tutmark — US Sailing Offshore Director ([email protected])
• Phil Barron — ORC Canada Rating Officer ([email protected])

Original Announcement:

The Storm Trysail Club (STC), the US Sailing Offshore Office and the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) partnered to offer a webinar for race managers on best practices in formats, scoring and other skills needed for running successful races scored using handicap ratings. It was held at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT on Tuesday, March 24th.

With a variety of options now available in many scoring systems, choosing what will be appropriate for inshore, coastal and offshore races is an important skill set to ensure the fairest possible racing among boats of different types who are racing under handicap ratings.

This course will focus on building clear and concise Notices of Race and Sailing Instructions, a review of the available rating options shown on certificates, scoring system use, use of scratch sheets and time allowance tables, and practical guidance provided by senior experienced Prinicpal Race Officers from the STC and other clubs, as well as US Sailing.

Owners and sailors are also welcome to attend, and there is no fee for attending.

“We’re excited to offer this webinar as a pre-season opportunity to bring both experienced and new race committees up to speed on how properly-run races can give owners and sailors the assurance that their efforts on the water will translate to fair and transparent race results,” said Andrew Weiss, Commodore of the Storm Trysail Club.