Target Speed database now available from ORC

The Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) now offers a new feature to its range of products available to racing sailors: Target Speeds.

For any boat in the ORC database of nearly 75,000 measurement records that has had either a valid certificate or a test certificate issued in the ORC Club or ORC International rating system, that boat’s Target Speeds sheet will now be available in addition to an ORC Speed Guide. And while the Speed Guide gives a complete performance data report on the boat at all wind angles over a range of 6 to 20 knots of true wind, the Target Speed sheet will provide specific performance predictions based on that boat’s optimal Velocity Made Good (VMG) on a windward-leeward race course.

The Target Speed sheet therefore represents a customized prediction of performance targets for that boat on one of the most common type of courses used in competitive offshore sailing.

Using the ORC’s powerful Velocity Prediction Program (VPP), the data provided from the boat’s measurement file is used to calculate the specific boat speed and wind angle at which the boat will be at its optimum VMG performance on the Upwind and Downwind legs of a windward-leeward course. For Upwind legs, the Apparent Wind Angle (AWA) is shown, and for Downwind the True Wind Angle (TWA) is shown, since these are the parameters most often used by teams as steering guides. The data in the Target Speed sheet is given for True Wind Speeds (TWS) of 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 20 knots of wind, with Boat Speed (BS) shown in knots.

The data shown on the Target Speeds sheet makes no assumption on the calibration accuracy of the wind and boat sensors used in the boat’s instrumentation system, so actual figures may vary for each boat.

“This is a significant step forward in what ORC offers in our Sailor Services web portal,” said Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC. “The Target Speed sheet now puts the power and accuracy of the ORC VPP in the hands of the racing sailor in a very user-friendly and practical way. For a very modest price, competitive sailors can now have easy access to performance data specific to their boat, so we see this as an important and powerful tool to help all teams improve their performance on the race course.

“This also becomes available at an important time as the season is getting started, as many teams are preparing themselves for important regattas coming soon in the racing calendar.”

A Target Speed sheet for any boat in the ORC database is available for 20€, or 10€ if an ORC Club or ORC International test certificate has already been generated for that boat. The ORC Speed Guide is also discounted from €50 to €40 if a test certificate has been run. Both products are generated in PDF format and automatically sent to the user’s email address, where it can be readily retrieved for printing and then laminated for on-board use.

ORC Sailor Services is a unique feature offered only by ORC where measurement records of thousands of boat types measured for IMS or ORC for the past 30 years are accessible to the public through a searchable online database. These records can be used to generate test certificates in the ORC Club or ORC International rating systems for any boat in the system for only €10.

Sailor Services also offers free access to any valid certificate issued in the past 5 years by one of ORC’s 35 national rating offices located around the world. No other science-based international rating system offers this level of access and transparency.

For more information, visit the ORC Sailor Services at www.orc.org/sailorservices.