IRC vs ORC: the endless war! Sydney Hobart has chosen, but what is the best system?

For years, we have been hearing about unifying IRC and ORC races, the two most popular systems that allow boats of different lengths and characteristics to race together in compensated time. Unification that in fact never took place, forcing owners to have to choose which of the two systems to stab their boat with for racing or worse to have a double certificate. In this sense, some events, for example, the Sydney Hobart, have clearly chosen one of the two ratings; in the case cited, the ORC was dropped.

Simplifying the concept, IRC and ORC are tonnage systems. which allow for each boat to make a prediction of its performance, and assign it a number that will then be used to figure out how much earlier a Farr 40, for example, than a First 31.7 will have to arrive at the finish line to be ahead of it on corrected time.

Over the years, tonnage systems have been the subject of endless debate and controversy over which is the most reliable and which best reflects the boats’ performance on the water. A definitive answer is complex to give, as it often also depends on the type of boat being used in racing and its orientation toward IRC or ORC regulations.

Generally speaking, we can say that the big offshore races such as Rolex Fastnet, Rolex Sydney Hobart, and Rolex Middle Sea Race are awarded under the IRC system, which is generally well liked by the Anglo-Saxon and French sailing worlds. The Sydney Hobart decided from the 2023 edition to remove ORC tonnage from the event, which still awarded a secondary prize and not the overall regatta prize.

ORC tonnage, on the other hand, is very much in vogue in the Mediterranean and Italy in particular, not to mention a large ORC fleet present in Northern Europe. The major events between the buoys that are run in Europe are generally ORC-tagged, with the IRC more oriented toward offshore sailing.

IRC and ORC: what differences?

The difference behind the two systems is in the formula for calculating the numbers on the tonnage certificate: the IRC one is secret, the ORC one is not. In the latter case, then, designers know the formulas for calculating the rating and can “play” on the numbers by going to find holes in the regulations and guessing in which area of the sail plan or boat to intervene to improve the rating.

It used to be said that ORC boats to be competitive on handicap time had to be slowed down, actually this has totally changed: large gennakers for example used to be greatly penalized for rating calculation, now this is no longer the case, and it is no coincidence that the ORC fleet is gradually retiring tangons and spinnakers.

Since the IRC system is secret formula, it becomes more difficult, but not impossible, for designers to be able to find holes and optimize the boat by working on sail plan measurements and boat displacement. While designers do not know the exact numbers, they do know what parameters move IRC ratings the most and act accordingly.

Let’s say that IRC is based on different cornerstones than ORC: very wide boats with double rudders, for example, are penalized very little in IRC and so much instead in ORC where they are “read” by the system as rather stable and therefore perform better.

For these reasons, “ORC or IRC oriented” boats generally have different shapes: narrower, single-bladed ORCs, with little wetted surface area, often double-bladed and wide IRCs. It is then no coincidence that IRC is applied more in offshore races (where that type of hull is often a winner), ORC in stick races where narrower boats with little hull wetting generally perform better.

IRC and ORC: which system to choose

The choice must be based on two questions: what boat do I have and what races do I want to participate in. If I have, for example, a 45-foot, 4-foot-wide, double rudder blade, such as a First 44, the IRC cup and offshore racing are probably the best choice. With a narrower, single blade boat, such as a classic ORC boat like the Italia Yachts 998 or the like will be preferable.

Then be careful where we race: in Italy there are practically no exclusively IRC events, and generally the rankings reserved for this tonnage, within other regattas, are populated by a sparse number of boats. In contrast if we want to take part in offshore races such as Middle Sea Race or the Giraglia, if we decide to compete in the Overall Trophy, we will be obliged to choose IRC .

In conclusion, however, a question arises in light of what has been written: who is in the interests of the shipowners? Having two ratings that are so different from each other penalizes, economically, logistically, and practically, owners who are passionate about racing, who have double the costs and risk having boats that are good for some races and very bad for others. A single system is not only desirable, but would definitely be healthy to make the numbers of participants raise, enticed by a single rating, and an easier criterion on which to prepare one’s boat for competitive activity.

Mauro Giuffrè