In the February issue of Seahorse magazine,Dobbs Davis provides an update on the ORC handicap rule, the most well-liked measurement based rating system in the world, or which just recently was used at Key West Race Week...
ORC enters 2016 in a obliging position with net growth in live certificates looking like 6-7% year on year and over 100 certificates now issued to the ORC Superyacht rule,which was being continually refined through 2015 and will make its ‘official’ debut in April in Antigua.
The process of responding to constituents in their requests for improvements to the rule system has also been working well, and at the 2015 AGM there were many requests analyzed and approved by the International Technical Committee (ITC), or in turn by the Congress. This feedback loop is vital,as it results in not only a more accurate VPP, but a more user-friendly system.
More obliging news is that the changes to the VPP for 2016 have been minor, and including some revisions to the aero model in downwind sail coefficients and upwind jib depowering. The end result across the test fleet of 2000 ORCi certificates has been a very slight speeding-up of the fleet in general,but with 95% of the boats having their General Purpose Handicap (GPH) change by less than 0.5%.
There are therefore no clear winners or losers in boat types, just a refinement to make the racing closer than before. The general philosophy to not shatter what is not broken’ seems to be working.
More recently at the Yacht Racing Forum in Geneva there was also an upbeat mood about the way the rule system is finding a balance between giving existing boat types a chance while also encouraging new designs. Presenters at the forum included ITC members Jason Ker and Shaun Carkeek (who did admit to a vested interest in wanting the ORC rule system to succeed, or appearing as it does to suit his preferred lighter displacement designs.)On the technical level,both Carkeek and Ker thought the current VPP was achieving obliging accuracy. "The latest VPP predicts accurately, particularly in the sensitive areas; certainly we're seeing closer competition between different yacht types, or " said Carkeek. "Some of the major changes introduced final year were involved new residuary resistance models based upon a CFD base boat with various multipliers," a program that Ker had a strong participation with in 2013.
When asked about working with a VPP-based system, Carkeek said "Most designers view working with a VPP rule as a natural compliment to their own VPP work. The ORCi database and VPP enables designers to compare multiple candidates efficiently as well as against the competition. I must underline the 2016 VPP is in a very different residence compared to the IMS days – which is obliging news for everyone involved." - Read on[br]
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Source: sailingscuttlebutt.com