ORC Measurement Opportunity

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Dobbs Davis from ORC will be in town to measure a number of local boats. This is an opportunity for anybody with racing inclination to piggyback on the event and get their boat measured. This is NOT just for the hot-rod racers! The ORC formula provides a much more sophisticated rating taking boat and weather characteristics into account to generate a handicap that is much more fair than PHRF can be. For these reasons all local clubs are interested in offering races using ORC. Of course, it only works if there is a quorum of boats that have an ORC Certificate!

It is actually not strictly necessary to have any measurements done to get an ORC Club Certificate. If no measured data are provided, the formula will use the manufacturer's standard data. Hoever, since the boat weight is frequently under-reported, it is advantageous to have the boat 'weighed' by way of measuring the boat waterline. That's what Dobbs will do.

The cost for this most important measurement is $100/boat. This is a one-time expense. The annual cost for the Certificate - administered in the US by US Sailing - is $100.

For those interested in a 'full' measurement of the boat, which would include things like inclination/stability testing and rig measurements Dobbs' cost is $15/ft, which we might be able to knock down a bit with enough boats signed up.

The current plan is that Dobbs will be here from 3/7 to 3/11. If there's enough additional interest, we may get him to extend that. We currently have six boats on the list. Note that the waterline measurements require that the boat is empty!

If you are interested please contact either me or Dobbs directly at Dobbs at orc dot org.

Those of who have sailed under ORC have found it to be much more competitive and fun, even sailing against very different boats. I highly recommend using this opportunity to get into this system, irrespective of what kind of sailboat you have!