Below: as you might expect, the Visione Supermaxi built for serious 505 and Maxi racer Hasso Plattner is rather less compromised than many of her rivals when it comes to dragging around excess weight. This Reichel-Pugh design has had one full refit since launching eight years ago and is often to be found with Brunel skipper Bouwe Bekking and his men onboard. Rather more leisurely (right), the hard yards on these giants are usually to be done up forward and once back in port (wiping down), but even back aft there are still alternatives to the tiring button pushing for the lucky proprietor and his guests…
Levelling the pitch
BAR technical director Andy Claughton has been leading the charge to develop a better way to race Superyachts…
Superyacht racing and the ORCsy handicap rule
Yacht racing as an organised sport began with Superyacht racing. The first recorded race for private yachts was held on the River Thames in 1775 by the Cumberland Fleet, the founding members of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. This was racing between very different yachts: converted commercial vessels, purpose-built private yachts and so on. It didn’t take long for the owners, and probably their paid hands, to realise that the yachts were of differing performance. Some yachts were strong in heavy winds, others better in the light, and some probably never any good at all. Over time handicap systems were developed so that race winning became more about sailing skill than being on the right boat. Thus began the Sisyphean task of devel- oping handicap rules for cruising yachts. But no matter how far the handicapping authorities rolled the handicap rule rock
28 SEAHORSE
uphill there was always something that caused it to roll back down again. Rules have waxed and waned through the 20th century, the CCA Rule, RORC rule, the International Offshore Rule (IOR), IMS. All have given good service to the Corinthian racing fleets. Occasionally the various inter- national bodies have been moved to attempt to develop one truly international rule, but these attempts have foundered because of the difficulties of handling the different boat types that suit a particular locale, or an inability of the parties to cede control of their fleets. Currently there are two rules that are successfully used interna- tionally: IRC (née Channel Handicap), run by the RORC/UNCL, and ORCi (and ORC Club) administered by the Offshore Racing Congress. In America the PHRF fleet is very strong and US Sailing mandates the use of ORR for ‘marquee’ races such as the Bermuda Race and the Transpac. IRC is a secret rule – the certificate shows basic boat information and a single time correction factor (TCF) that is applied for every race regardless of condi- tions or course type. This works well for fleets that race often, and in a particular locale. ORCi is a fully measured rule, the hull, keel and rudder shape and rig and sail wardrobe are fully measured, the righting
moment of the boat is calculated and the polar performance curves for the yacht in six different wind speeds are calculated and shown on the certificate.
Handicapping based on predicted performance started with the International Measurement System (IMS), an American initiative in the 1980s; it is safe to say that it was not a resounding success. The IMS relied on three elements: measuring the boat shape, running speed predictions in a Velocity Prediction Program (VPP) and thirdly a race management system that would derive results related to the actual race conditions. This was ambitious and way beyond what the sailors and race organisers (in the UK at least) needed or wanted to take on. Measurement of the actual hull shape with a wand was time consuming and expensive, the VPP was not well enough developed to offer proper speed predictions, and the race manage- ment never found a way of delivering sensible processed results in a timely manner. IMS never found favour and was abandoned in favour of the simple, robust and well-managed Channel Handicap system that took a few key measurements and issued a handicap for a modest fee. The IMS system was, however, already ISAF-sanctioned and – now under the new
OSKAR KIHLBORG
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72