HYC Position on ORC Rating for Club Sailing 2026

26 February 2026
HYC Position on ORC Rating for Club Sailing 2026
 
Cruiser-racer sailors will be aware of the growing use of the ORC rating and results system over the past year. While ORC has been promoted as a potential alternative to IRC for both club and open event racing, its advantages in a local club racing context have yet to be fully demonstrated. Early assessments of ORC use during the 2025 season at Howth Yacht Club indicated very little difference between results calculated under IRC and ORC.
 
The potential adoption of ORC was discussed at a recent meeting convened by Commodore Kevin Monks, attended by Flag Officers and results personnel from several clubs, along with representatives from Irish Sailing. Following these discussions, the HYC Sailing Committee has agreed the following approach for the 2026 season.
 
For 2026, IRC and HPH will remain the official handicap systems for cruiser racing at Howth Yacht Club. IRC is a design-based rating that reflects the expected performance of a boat, while HPH is a performance-based system derived from a boat and crew’s results in club racing. These two systems will continue to be used for official results and prizegiving.
 
ORC will be trialled in the background during the 2026 season for any HYC cruiser class that wishes to participate. Only boats holding a valid ORC certificate at the start of a series will be included in the trial results. ORC results will be published periodically for comparison purposes, but no prizes will be awarded under ORC during this trial period. The trial will depend on participating ORC users providing support for the processing of ORC results.
 
Details of how ORC will be scored during the trial — such as whether single-factor or triple-factor scoring will be used, and whether time-on-time or time-on-distance calculations will apply — are still to be confirmed.
 
Looking ahead to 2027, each cruiser class will be asked to select a single design-based handicap system, either IRC or ORC. It is expected that Dublin Bay Sailing Club will follow a similar approach, helping to maintain consistency for boats racing across both organisations.
 
At present, most HYC boats with ORC certificates hold ORC Club certificates, which are not suitable for use in open events or regattas. For this reason, ORC will not be used for HYC regattas in 2026. This position may be reviewed for 2027 if a sufficient number of boats obtain ORC International certificates.
 
Another factor in the trial is the current limitation of results software. The scoring systems used by HYC and DBSC do not yet fully support the more complex handicapping options available within ORC. During 2026 it is hoped that software developments will allow multiple handicap systems — including IRC, ORC, HPH and others — to be managed on a single platform. In the meantime, ORC results will be processed using ORC’s own software, which requires additional data entry.
 
Irish Sailing has recently introduced the YTC rating system, a simplified design-based alternative to IRC and ORC. However, YTC will not be processed by HYC during the 2026 season.
 
The Sailing Committee looks forward to reviewing the results of the ORC trial and consulting with cruiser-racer sailors on the preferred rating system for the future. For the 2026 season, club racing will continue to operate using one design-based handicap system and one performance-based system, with IRC and HPH remaining the official systems for results and prizes.
 
 
Image credit, Karolina Badz