Leadership for the good of the sport

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
The advancement of keelboat design and equipment has not helped participation in handicap racing as the required cost and skill has risen. With the current state of play, there is little room for division within the USA calendar. Having two measurement rules – ORR and ORC – is not helping.

While there are people that battle for their preferred rule, I have long contended that building interest across the country requires leadership from prominent clubs. For this reason, I have been impressed in how Annapolis Yacht Club (Annapolis, MD) has taken on that role.

AYC has felt strongly that ORC is the best handicap rule to provide high-quality handicap scoring for boats from single-purpose racers to performance cruising boats of all ages. To facilitate this position, AYC founded ORC of the Chesapeake and promotes the use of the ORC rule.

To help Chesapeake Bay sailors with the ORC rating application process and to inform them about racing opportunities with ORC class starts in area events, ORC of The Chesapeake created a website (click here) to assist those interested.

Annapolis area clubs offer ORC Open and ORC Performance Cruiser class starts in weekend regattas, point-to-point races on the Chesapeake Bay, the popular AYC Wednesday Night Race Series, and the biennial Annapolis to Newport Race.

To further this effort, US Sailing Offshore and AYC will hold the first stop of the US Sailing Offshore Sailing Roadshow tour at Annapolis Yacht Club on February 10, 2024.

US Sailing’s Offshore team, Jim Teeters, Chris Tutmark, and Sydney Hough will be traveling to various locations to meet with sailors and race organizers to discuss the world of Offshore Sailing. The idea for the Offshore Sailing Roadshow is to provide an opportunity to have questions related to offshore sailing and handicapping answered.

Each stop on the roadshow will start with an informative Q&A session and continue with short presentations on any of the following topics: Steps to obtain a rating certificate, Understanding the VPP (Velocity Prediction Program), How to read a rating certificate, Scoring Methods, and more.

To contact US Sailing Offshore, click here.