Remaining issues for ORC in 2026

Like many organizations, the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) annually meets to review submitted suggestions. Their 2025 event was held November 4 alongside the 2025 World Sailing Annual Conference in Dun Laoghaire, IRL.

Forty-eight submissions to improve ORC were on the schedule, coming from Argentina, Denmark, España, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Norway, Sweden, with fourteen issues from the USA. The topics included powered spinnaker retrieval systems, headsail furlers, overlapping headsails, and twin rudder drag.

A deferred submission concerned the age allowance formulation credits for old designs. This proposal came from the USA, and was rooted in how the ORC fleet in that country has a high percentage of designs with hull dates older than 20 years.

This issue will be revisited when the ORC meets again on January 29, 2026. Also being voted on is the hot topic of expedited changes to ORC’s 2026 Velocity Prediction Program (VPP) to address boats such as the XR-41, which won the 2025 World Championship, that found a soft spot in the VPP resistance force model.