ORC
Potted history
The 50th anniversary of the launch of Seahorse in 1969 is also happily the 50th birthday of another organisation with which it shares considerable history… November 1969 is reported as the birth date of the ORC, a new
organisation intended to co-ordinate a world-recognised international measurement system for offshore boats. Initially and for many years afterwards this rule was the IOR, which much later evolved into IMS then into ORC itself. Fifty years ago the offshore segment of sailing had little formal
connection with the International Sailing Federation (IYRU at the time), yet major offshore races around the world were already attract- ing an increasingly international entry. At the time the most popular rule was the RORC Rule itself, which was used in the Mediterranean, the UK and its dominions, in races such as the Admiral’s Cup, the One Ton Cup, the Fastnet, the Giraglia Race in Europe plus the Sydney Hobart and the Cape to Rio Race in the southern hemisphere. Meanwhile, in the USA the CCA Rule was used in the Newport- Bermuda Race, and the associated Onion Patch team series. Beppe Croce that year started his reign over the IYRU, an office
that he held for the remainder of his life. With his majestic and broad vision of the world of sailing he not only welcomed the new offshore organisation within the umbrella of the sailing union, but he recommended that all national authorities include an offshore division in their organisations and use the newly born International Offshore Rule (IOR) for their races. The IOR was an ambitious programme, requiring a powerful
set-up, using early commercially available computers reading punch cards typed up with the data for each individual boat to process the certificates. Boat measurement was also rather complex, requir- ing numerous measurements of the hull, rig and sails. Boats already measured for RORC now had to be re-measured for the new rule. Many apprentice measurers of the time became experts very
quickly, having to measure a fleet that was now expanding rapidly around the world. The IOR bloomed very fast, with thousands of certificates generated for both new racing boats and more conser- vative cruiser-racers… known at the time as ‘boats with lids’. The introduction of IOR prompted a rapid expansion too in boat
design, building, sail and spar making and so on, far beyond the traditional constituencies in New England, the Solent and a handful of previous other racing hotspots. The complex rule was a challenge
36 SEAHORSE
for the early ORC rating offices, but worked successfully in most countries who enthusiastically embraced the system for its promise of providing a universal rating framework for offshore boats. The initial management of the ORC was led by David Edwards along
with several other RORC members. They drew up articles of asso- ciation and founded a carefully structured UK limited company which created a stable and sustainable operation based on barter: the ORC distributes its software to local authorities for them to use and issue a certificate at the price they choose; meanwhile, ORC is remunerated for its software development and rule research with a levy that was established at the end of every season on the basis of the number of certificates issued in each country (this is now set at a fixed price but the fundamental business model has never changed). David Edwards held the ORC chair for eight years, followed by
John Roome for another decade, another London lawyer who had to address difficult issues including the initial adoption of the Inter- national Measurement System (IMS) in 1985. John Roome held several commodore posts during his life, including at the Royal Yacht Squadron where he was proud to remind people that he was the first ‘mister’ to hold the position. John was followed at ORC in 1987 by John Bourke from Ireland, then in 1993 by US banker John Dare – all were RORC members and past or future commodores. This was continuing a tradition in the organisation of having a
UK-based ORC chairman and a US-based chairman of the Inter - national Technical Committee (ITC). But things started changing in 1986 when Nicola Sironi from Italy was appointed ITC chairman, and later in 1997 when John Dare passed the ORC helm to Hans Zuiderbaan from the Netherlands. Then in 2002 Bruno Finzi – also a RORC member, an accomplished sailor with Brava and other off- shore programmes and the head of a Milan-based civil engineering firm – took the helm of ORC and continues in that post today. Along the way Bruno has expanded the scope of the ORC family, surviving several storms including in 2005 when the UK and the US simul- taneously decided to abandon IMS altogether. The RORC headquarters in St James’s Place, London was for
many years also the house of ORC (as the RORC clubhouse became much busier ORC discretely relocated to the basement!). Then at the turn of the century when Terry Robinson was RORC commodore the ORC moved to ISAF’s new waterfront offices in Southampton. Then, after a spell as a ‘department’ of ISAF, at the end of 2002
DANIEL FORSTER
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