With the unique combo of the ORC as well as IRC rated Worlds coming up in July 18' in The Hague there are some interesting challenges for those who want to optimise their yacht. Where each of the individual handicap rules has its own perks now the game will be find the best road between these two offshore handicapping rules.
Jochem (aka The Boatspeed Doctor) explains; " The question is not to optimise for either rule but to find a medium which allows you to keep average good scores in both. Each boat will be rated both under IRC & ORC. The scoring will be determined by equally weighing the score of the yacht in both rating system for each race. This throws up a few challenges as one is time on time and the other time on distance, one is a constant multiplication factor while the other varies with wind strength and course type. The key is to determine which of the two rules creates the biggest deviation relative to the boats true performance, in which wind range and on what course type. It's all about eliminating high scoring races in either rule coupled with a risk management strategy for the expected fleet in each class."
