1. Summary
ORC Rating Systems include the management of measurement rules and certificates for Monohulls (ORC International and ORC Club), ORC Multihulls and ORC Superyachts.
ORC certificates for monohulls (ORC International, ORC Club) are issued by National Rating Offices in 45 countries on six continents and centrally managed by ORC for 6 countries where a national office is not yet established, while ORC Multihulls and ORC Superyachts, are currently administered by the ORC central office.
Since ORC Rating systems are unique in measuring the stability of offshore yachts, the size and types of boats using ORC rules is quite broad, ranging from very small cruisers and Sportboats to racing Superyachts and now Multihulls and Foiling monohulls.
The rule is quite versatile since the VPP can characterize all manner of performance-enhancing features and thus predict their performance and rate them under ORC Rules. These include movable ballast features such as water ballast and canting keels, with all combinations of associated appendages, such as DSS features, bilgeboards, etc.
In the past year, the ORC system has continued recent growth trends throughout the world and is projected by the end of 2025 to have issued another record number of certificates to a greater number of boats than in 2024.
The total number of ORC Certificates issued in 2025 until 30 October is 14265 for 9648 boats, a 5% increase compared to 2024.
This includes:
- 3176 ORC International certificates
- 7257 ORC Club certificates
- 544 ORCi DH certificates
- 1648 ORC Club DH certificates
- 75 ORC International Non-Spinnaker certificates
- 1566 ORC Club Non-spinnaker certificates
- 70 Multihull and 168 Superyacht certificates
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the total number of boats issued certificates has increased by 5.0% and certificates increased by 0.8% (see Appendix 1).
ORC developed Double-handed (ORC DH) certificates six years ago, and while there was a slight decrease in DH Club certificates issued in the past year, DH racing remains popular at the annual ORC DH World and European championships. ORC continues its policy to allow national rating offices to issue DH certificates to any boat with a valid ORC Club or ORCi certificate, levy-free. This promotion helps to encourage participation in DH racing.
In its fifth year of a similar levy-free promotion, ORC Non-Spinnaker (ORC NS) certificates are offered to give local fleets more versatility in their use of ORC scoring at casual and cruising club-level events. Both ORC NS and ORC DH certificates are valid alongside standard certificate types, allowing for ease of use among boats that race in these varied formats. The popularity of these certificates remains relatively constant.
Increases in ORC certificates in 2025 are observed in 22 nations: AUT, BRA, CAN, CHN, CRO, DEN, ECU, ESP, EST, GER, GRE, HKG, HUN, IRL, ITA, KOR, MLT, POR, SUI, SWE, TUR and USA. Significant increases have been in ESP, IRL, TUR and USA, while more modest increases have been in BRA, CRO, GER, ITA, and GRE.
ORC this year has continued administering, developing and refining the ORC Superyacht Rule (ORCsy), with an increase in both boats and certificates from 2024. A total of 168 ORCsy certificates have been issued in 2025.
After six years of development, established measurement protocols, and a functional VPP, the ORC Multihull Rule (ORCmh) this year issued 70 certificates used by several events to score multihull fleets both in Europe and the USA.
ORC championship events continue to be popular and competitive, with high levels of participation and the highest-quality teams emerging on top after a combination of several inshore and offshore races. Individual races are competitive and often resolved only within seconds of corrected time. Inspections and measurement controls are strictly enforced at ORC World and Continental championship events, with a variety of designs – both racers and cruiser/racers – winning these events, suggesting fairness in the system for all boat types.
At all these ORC Championship events awards are given for Open and Corinthian (all-amateur crew) divisions, and in the Double Handed events recognition was given entries with Male, Female, and Mixed gender crews.
ORC World and Continental championships in 2025 include the following:
- The 2025 Garmin ORC World Championship was held for the second time in Tallinn, EST, and featured racing among 64 teams from 9 nations in a wide variety of sailing conditions. Organized by the Kalev Yacht Club, both new and old designs with top-level professional and amateur teams were on the podium in three classes.
- The 2025 ORC Double Handed World Championship was held in Monfalcone, ITA, was organized by the YC Monfalcone, attracting 54 entries from 9 nations competing in three classes.,
- The 2025 ORC European Championship was this year was held as an event in the 43rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE organized by the Real Club Nautico de Palma in Palma, Mallorca. This event featured a highly-impressive turnout of 117 entries from 21 nations racing, and attracted some of the world’s top sailing talent for a highly-competitive series in all four classes.
- The first-ever ORC North American Championship was held as part of the Storm Trysail Club’s 30th biennial Block Island Race Week in Rhode Island, USA. The event featured 25 entries from the USA competing in three classes.
- The 2025 Garmin ORC Double Handed European Championship was organized by Helsingfors Segelklubb in Helsinki, FIN with 35 entries from 7 countries.
Details of the 2025 events are found in Section 8 of this report.
In addition to the World and Continental championships, many 2025 National and Regional ORC championships and numerous prominent offshore races have also offered ORC scoring for fully crewed and double-handed teams.
Weather Routing Scoring was continually developed and improved this year with PredictWind and used officially for all offshore races at ORC World and European Championship events, as well as at numerous major offshore races such as the AEGEAN 600 and the 116th edition of the Chicago-Mackinac Race. At the request of organizers from dozens of other ORC-scored races around the world, this was also used for shadow-scoring to test the method’s effectiveness at predicting fair results. See section 4e for more information.
Among several dozen races and regattas held in six continents around the world, there have been five Rolex-supported events in 2025 that also used ORC scoring. These included Rolex Tre Golfi Sailing Week, which this year was designated as the 2025 ORC Mediterranean Championship in Sorrento, ITA, Rolex Circuito Atlantico Sur in Buenos Aires & Punta del Este, ARG-URU, the AEGEAN 600 in GRE, the Rolex Middle Sea Race in Malta, and the Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco, USA.
2. ORC Superyacht Rule (ORCsy)
ORC’s cooperation with the Super Yacht Racing Association (SYRA) started in 2015 and continued through this year, with an increase to 168 ORCsy certificates for the 2025 year to date.
Nine regattas used the system this year including the Millennium Cup in NZL (5 entries), Antigua SY Challenge (10 entries), the St Barths Bucket Regatta (26 entries), the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta in Porto Cervo (9 entries), the Cyclades Cup in Greece (18 entries), the Superyacht Cup Palma (11 entries), the Safe Harbour Race Weekend in Newport, USA (6 entries), the Super Maxi Class at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo (4 entries), and the Ibiza JoySail in Ibiza (22 entries).
The acceptance of the ORCsy system is due in part to its rigorous measurement protocols and flexible and innovative scoring options which produces the fairest racing among these widely diverse designs. Transparency in rules and process and direct assistance provided by the ORC Staff attending most of these events is also a hallmark of this system and is appreciated by its users, who are often advised by professional America’s Cup-level tacticians and crews.
The ORC Sailor Services is used by Superyacht professional sailors, skippers and captains for running test certificates as well as downloading of their competitor’s official certificates, further increasing the transparency and full-service ORC provides to the Superyacht community.
Periodic updates are made to the rule to increase its accuracy, with rationale agreed by ORC and SYRA and published on the ORCsy rule website.
3. ORC Multihull Rule (ORCmh)
For multihulls the difference in performance as wind speed and points of sail change are often much more dramatic than that seen among monohulls.
This year ORCmh was used for both official scoring and shadow-scoring at six major events: the Millennium Cup (NZL), the Tre Golfi Regatta (ITA), the Seychelles Challenge (Mauritius), the Chicago Mackinac Race and the Bayview Mackinac Race (USA), the Gougeon Brothers Great Lakes Multihull Championship (USA), the Multihull Cup (ESP), the Harvest Moon Regatta (USA), and the Galapagos Cup (ECU).
Currently the ORCmh database contains nearly 500 catamaran and trimaran designs.
During this year, the ORCMH VPP was upgraded to version 2025 1.02 to incorporate the work of Marcus Mauleverer and Davide Battistin on CFD runs of a wide-range of multihull-type hull shapes via the methodology used for the ORC monohull VPP.
Scoring has been using constructed course and observed wind methods, and with their sensitivity in performance to changing conditions, the use of Weather Routing Scoring (WRS) for Multihulls has also been widely embraced for use in numerous coastal and offshore races.
4. ORC Rules Technical Developments
There were 48 Submissions sent by 10 National Authorities and the Management Committee to be discussed at the ORC Annual Meeting. These requests are for rule, procedure and policy changes in nearly all aspects of ORC system use, from technical aspects of the ORC Velocity Prediction Program (VPP) to measurement protocols and ratings to event formats and scoring.
The highest number of Submissions (29) are to be addressed by the International Technical Committee (ITC), the research and development group for ORC that is composed of prominent designers and sailing yacht technologists which includes both permanent members and Research Associates who are helping in analyzing VPP and rating outputs by giving their input from both the scientific and industry points of view.
ITC met four times in 2025: two hybrid meetings (face to face plus virtual) in April and October and two shorter virtual meetings during the summer.
Among many of the 2025 Submissions considered by ITC are topics which are being recognized but not recommended for action for 2026 because they relate to a planned overhaul of the Aerodynamic model for the 2027 VPP, and others deferred to other more relevant committee considerations. Submissions that have received more immediate support include GER 6, GER 7, SWE 2, and USA 14 (see https://orc.org/uploads/files/AGMs/2025-Dublin/AGM-Dublin-Submissions/Submissions-2025.pdf for complete descriptions).
Feedback from the fleet on use of the 2025 VPP has been positive as measured by close race results at both major ORC races and regattas and ORC championship events. Nonetheless, there has been ongoing research for improvements in the VPP in some specific areas of interest.
These include:
- New Aero model
- Long Keel hull residuary resistance and effective draft.
- Multihulls, foiling and longitudinal stability
Additionally the ITC will support the wider ORC team to:
- Improve Weather Routed Scoring accessibility for RO’s
- Develop Real Time Race Tracking and Scoring
Other developments for ITC in 2025 include development of a clever scheme to make handicap adjustments for non-VPP-related features found on races boats that are described in 10 Submissions (ARG 1, DEN 1, DEN 2, DEN 3, DEN 4, ESP 2, GER 1, GER 2, SWE 1, SWE 3). Reviewing the way how different rig and sails adjustments together with use of the non-manual power are currently treated by the VPP, it was decided that all these features can be removed from the VPP itself and added to the rating assessment on the top of VPP calculations. The new scheme will define a list of items that can be adjusted with appropriate rating effect when used with or without non-manual power.
Thus, the ITC's proposed changes for the 2026 ORC VPP are in Residuary Resistance and the non-VPP performance features described above.
Performance database
The ITC relies on reliable instrument data from a wide variety of boat types, and with help from KND in Valencia this data is used to help calibrate the ORCi VPP.
a) This year, three boats were added to the database: a Carkeek 40 equipped with Code zeros, which dovetails with the Botin 52 FOX and provides a good range of modern offshore racing boats. Also the long-keeled yacht ALBACORE has provided a valuable data set for a long keel hull with an unusual rig, (long overlap fractional genoa), and the ongoing process of acquiring data for the Botin 43 JAX.
b) The committee expressed the need to better utilize the performance database and proposed publishing a basic report of upwind/downwind performance across the speed range for every node in the database, aligning with the 2026 VPP. This report would serve as a readily available "80% solution" for all stakeholders.
Weather Routing Scoring
To date the ORC WRS team have scored 68 races, and shadow-scored 51 races. The ORC Scorer software uses an API to the PredictWind forecast and routing engine. The ORC is very grateful to PredictWind for their continued support and very reliable process.
In broad terms the WRS system has been well received. The method involves the Race Organizer (RO) preparing a list of entries in the fleet, the race course and the start times, the ORC team executing the routing at a pre-agreed time before the start, a check that the predicted tracks and TWS/TWA distributions are viable, and the generation of a scratch sheet of ratings sent to the RO. For large races the ORC has run a few tests in the week prior to the race to ensure the integrity of the method.
Our learnings to date are:
- The WRS TCF’s are nearly always “better” than a pre-chosen wind and course mix.
- What does “better” mean?
- The TWS/TWA distribution matches the actual conditions better than a pre-chosen distribution
- The corrected times reflect the effects of a rising, falling or shifting wind as the slower boats approach the finish
- the Elapsed time distribution with race position is evenly distributed. Assuming that the majority of the boats are similarly well-sailed a measure of equity can be found by looking at the Elapsed time for the top places in the overall fleet. There should be boats from throughout the handicap range at the top of the rankings.
- Plotting Elapsed time vs. Overall position, the plot below shows the results for CMUW scoring. The boats to the left (the winners) have not only the lowest Corrected time (CT), but also the lowest Elapsed Time (ET). Note also that the first two boats are several hours ahead of the third- place boat on CT.
Switching to WRS scoring, the Elapsed times of the winners and the losers are more evenly distributed, and the CT differences from 1st to 4th do not have a different slope, and the spread of CT is reduced.
Long term forecasts are better than short term ones.
- Using a high-resolution forecast offers the prospect of the routing engine predicting a wide variety of routes which a real navigator would view as high risk. Using a lower resolution forecast mitigates this risk.
- Also fixing on a single widely known forecast prevents a prolonged ‘beauty contest’ in the days before the race.
What if something goes wrong?
- The process has a lot of moving parts, in case of ‘force majeure’ prevents delivery of a viable WRS prediction the RO should specify in the Sailing Instructions a fall-back scoring method.
- How best to judge a WRS scratch sheet before the race? At best there will be a few hours for the RO to assess the WRS prediction.
- Do the tracks look plausible?
- Is the TWS TWA consistent across the race duration? The plot below shows good consistency boat to boat for the duration of the race.
- Is the TWS TWA consistent across the race duration? The plot below shows good consistency boat to boat for the duration of the race.
- Would a pre-chosen TWA/TWA distribution do a 'fairer' job?
- If in the hour before the race the RO is wondering whether to use WRS, a simple 'what if’ test can be applied
- Assume the race has finished, and the elapsed time for all boats was exactly as predicted by WRS. Thus all the boats will have the same Corrected Time (CT).
- Then take the WRS PET's and score the race using some other method (APH for example) and look at the new Corrected Times. Are these more equitable than the WRS results where there was a dead heat on Corrected Time.
Plans for 2026
In 2026, ORC will move from testing to implementation of the Weather Routing Scoring (WRS) system through the RaceFlow web platform. Race organizers will be given access to use RaceFlow for scoring and shadow scoring, supported by an integrated digital framework that combines RaceFlow, ORC Scorer, and Sailor Services under a unified credit-based model.
A key objective for 2026 is to merge all current functionalities from existing tools into a single digital platform, providing one cohesive system for scoring, routing, analytics, and user management. This unified solution will enhance consistency, enable automated data exchange, and support pre- and post-race validation of results. Training materials and user support for Race Officers will accompany the rollout to ensure smooth adoption and international scalability.
World Sailing Topics
Stability Database
In 2025, the OSR (Offshore Special Regulations) were amended to require AVS (angle of vanishing stability) values for Category 0,1 and 2 to be determined by an inclining experiment with the yacht in its sailing condition. The following paragraphs are from the working groups' report to the Oceanic and Offshore Committee and Special Regulations Sub-Committee.
During the Stability Screening Working Group presentation at the 2024 annual conference, the concept of having World Sailing host a database which lists the stability screening values was mentioned. It was agreed that a working group be formed to explore this concept.
The purposes of the database are to:
- provide interested parties, typically boat owners and organizing authorities, a sense for whether a particular boat is likely to meet the stability requirements for a race. For example, for a model where no boats meet category 3, the owner would realize that entering a category 2 race would be a waste of time
- provide a centralised list of ISO 12217-2 values.
- list only production boats that have had no stability altering modifications.
The recommendation is that the database gets seeded by: (a) Production boats obtaining rating certificates from the two senior rating offices (RORC and ORC), or from other willing to and capable rating offices. (b) Production boats whose designers or builders provide CE-ISO values.
Keel inspection and design standards
International standard ISO12215-9 "Sailing craft appendages" has undergone a systematic review under ISO TC188 Working Group 35 chaired by ITC member David Lyons. The proof is in the hands of the ISO Secretariat ahead of imminent publication.
Key changes are doubling the design fatigue life to 16 million cycles and paying special attention to stress near welds. Attention is drawn to the need for re-design where a critical weld failure would lead to the loss of the keel.
The focus on design in the standard continues to make it the best reference for World Sailing Structural Plan Review that is required in the Special Regulations. It does not cover testing during keel construction, in service or after damage such as grounding. The need for such tests is currently the subject of a submission to the Offshore Special Regulations Sub-Committee in November.
5. Other Technical Developments
ORC Sailor Services
A hallmark of ORC is that it is an open and accessible system for its users, both through local rating offices and through access to the ORC website.
Besides allowing access to all ORC rules, rating system documents and even the VPP used to generate ratings, ORC gives easy access to all available rating and measurement data from a database of over 204,000 boat measurement records gathered over the past 30 years.
The easy access, breadth and depth of this information made available, is unique among international rating systems. This access is facilitated by the ORC Sailor Services system, which gives free online access to the ORC database of certificates.
At this portal is where copies of issued certificates from the past 16 years are available for free, as well as the ability to run ORCi or ORC Club test certificates under the current VPP for a small fee.
ORCsy uses the same web portal with similar features, with access restricted to registered ORCsy users.
Besides ORC test certificates, Sailor Services can also issue a customized ORC Speed Guide package of polar performance data for any ORC-measured boat, and the Target Speed product where a formatted PDF sheet is generated that gives target boat speed and wind angles based on VMG performance on windward-leeward courses.
This system has grown in popularity every year since its introduction in 2014 (see Appendix 3). Since that year, 8471 unique users have been issued 43,969 ORC test certificates, 3497 Speed Guides, and 3552 Target Speeds. To date, in 2025, 843 new unique users have purchased at least one test certificate, and 4847 test certificate runs have been made in the system, a 9.5% increase over 2024.
ORC also provides race management tools, such as the ORC Scorer software available for free download from the ORC website, as well as the online Scratch Sheet that can be built from valid certificates found in the online database. The ORC Scorer software also includes integration of an API for Weather Routing Scoring, giving users the ability to generate TCF ratings for offshore races with inputs of the course, any restricted zones, starting times and a list of entries with their ORC certificate numbers.
ORC Certificates are available digitally on the website as soon as a certificate is issued by any Rating Office and thus there is no need for paper copies of certificates. Thus, together with other digital tools for event management, ORC events can be regarded as being environmentally responsible.
6. Measurement, Rating Offices and Race Management Guidance
ORC has 45 active national rating offices around the world and is regularly organizing measurement seminars in countries where there is need for it. These seminars provide training for measurements of rigs, sails, and propellers as well as measurements for flotation and stability data.
As part of ORC’s dedication to support the ongoing education and training of new and existing Measurers, seminars were held this year in Australia and Turkey. These are often used also to train Race Committees in best practices and techniques in topics such as scoring options.
Several online presentations were also made for the participants of the ORC championships (fully crewed and in Double-Handed), explaining all the technical aspects needed for participation at the ORC events. All seminars were also used for general presentations about the ORC rating systems and scoring options, together with recitations on best race management practices as published in the general ORC Race Management Guidebook published on the ORC website and a CAN-USA edition of the ORC Race Management Guidebook published on the US Sailing Offshore website. These two differ primarily in the use of different scoring options appropriate to the fleet cultures in each region.
7. Communications
Upgraded and re-designed in 2023, the ORC website provides an accessible and contemporary site that offers easy public online access to ORC publications, explanations of the rating systems, scoring methods and measurement, as well as regular news items related to ORC events and a comprehensive online calendar of races and regattas held in countries where ORC certificates are issued worldwide.
The ORC website continued to perform strongly throughout 2025, recording over 512,600 page views from 122,400 unique users between January and November. Visitors viewed an average of 4.2 pages per user and spent around 4 minutes 37 seconds per session, indicating consistent engagement with race results, championship news, and technical updates.
A total of 292,400 sessions were logged, of which 168,000 (57.4%) were engaged sessions, showing that more than half of all visits involved meaningful interaction beyond a single page. Activity peaks aligned with major events, particularly during the Garmin ORC World Championship in Tallinn and ORC Europeans in Palma, confirming that event coverage continues to drive the highest traffic.
Overall, website traffic remained stable with healthy engagement metrics — reflecting the ORC’s role as a global information hub for offshore racing sailors, organizers, and partners.
Social media channels continue to show growth in numbers: Both ORC Social Media platforms - Facebook and Instagram - continued steady follower growth in 2025, supported by consistent posting and event-driven storytelling throughout the racing season.
Facebook recorded 4.5 K link clicks in 2025, up 49 % year-on-year, showing stronger audience intent despite a 55 % drop in reach. Event updates, results, and live coverage drove the most traffic, reflecting a loyal community that actively seeks ORC news. Over 1,000 Stories reached 457 K total views and a +41.7 % rise in reach in 2025. Activity peaked during the Europeans and Worlds, confirming Stories as a key driver of daily engagement and real-time event visibility for ORC. Content quality and engagement depth improved, confirming strong community interest and loyalty across both Facebook and Instagram.
ORC is also active on Flickr, YouTube and LinkedIn.
ORC newsletter and press release production included 44 stories sent to 27,000 worldwide email contacts.
8. Championship Events
ORC World and continental championship events are where the ORC system is put to the test in the rigours of high-level competition. These regattas, Superyacht, Multihull events, and numerous other prominent races and regattas are thus supported by the ORC staff to provide direct support consisting of Notice of Race and Sailing Instruction reviews, event promotion and media resources, jury services and technical services such as measurements, rule compliance, and scoring support. New regions to use ORC are also provided support in these topics.
ORC Championship regattas are important in competitive handicap racing since they typically engage over 1,000 participants at each event, with additional multipliers of friends and family bringing significant economic and promotional value to site hosts, their sponsors and local and international media.
Likewise, strict rules compliance through inspections is employed to ensure fairness, and scoring for all ORC Championship events has been standardized to be in the same format and using same software to preserve consistency. Links are then created from event websites to the ORC results shown on the ORC webpage dedicated to display event results online (examples are described below in the event reports).
The 2025 Garmin ORC World Championship was held in Tallinn, EST and hosted by Kalev Yacht Club over 8-16 August. The event attracted 64 teams from 9 nations that competed in a wide variety of sailing conditions top-level professional and amateur teams on the podium positions in three classes defined by prescribed CDL limits: Class A/0 (8 entries), Class B (22 entries) and Class C (34 entries).
As typical of all ORC championship events, the fleet was very diverse, with a broad mix of Performance and Cruiser/Racer designs – both custom and series-built - represented in all classes. Corrected time result margins measured in seconds or even ties for each race continues to indicate the quality of the ORC rating system to produce close and fair results. Performance Curve Scoring (PCS) was used for the format of 6 Windward/Leeward races and Weather Routing Scoring (WRS) used for 2 non-discardable offshore distance races that varied in distance for each class from 211 miles in Race 1 in Class A/0 to 33.6 miles in Race 5 for Class C. A total of 7 races were scored for all classes, with near-perfect wind conditions throughout the event, ranging from under 8 to over 20 knots.
Niklas Zennström’s Carkeek 40+ RAN (SWE) won 4 of 7 races to win the Class A/0 World Champion crown, followed by Jani Lehti’s GP 42 MERCEDES BENZ (FIN) winning Silver and Mati Sepp’s Polli-designed E 44 CLEAN ENERGY (EST) winning Bronze.
Results in Class B were dominated by a brand-new production performance design from X-Yachts, the XR 41, with Jesper Radich’s FORMULA X (DEN) winning Gold and Erik Stannow’s DIXI 5 (DEN) winning Silver, while the 3-time reigning champion in this class, Marcin Sutkowski’s GS 44P WINDWHISPER 44 (POL), had to settle for Bronze.
Unlike the other ORC World Champions in Class A/0 and Class B, the team that dominated to win Gold in Class C was an all-amateur Corinthian team. Except for their discarded Race 6, Patrik Forsgren’s modified First 36.7 GARMIN TEAM PRO4U (SWE) had no finish worse than second among the 34 entries in this class, with Aivar Tuulberg’s Arcona 340 KATARIINA II (EST) winning Silver and Anders Helmrich’s Farr 30 CHEYENNE (SWE) only 1 point back to win Bronze.
In its fourth edition, the 2025 ORC Double Handed World Championship organized by the YC Monfalcone, Monfalcone, ITA at the north end of the Adriatic attracted a big turnout of 55 teams from 10 nations and was held over 7-13 September. Due to highly unstable weather for the scheduled first of two races in the format, only one race was sailed to determine the final results scored using ORC APH ratings.
Winning ORC DH World Champion Gold medals among the 15 teams from 4 nations entered in Class A were Martin Buck and Yves de Block on their Neo 430 Roma MIA GIOIA (GER) after racing the 189-mile course. Silver medals were awarded to Riccardo De Roia and Andrea Micalli on their Farr 400 MECUBE (ITA), and winning Bronze medals were Sascha Schroder and Manuel Polo on their Neo 430 Roma NEOMIND (GER). All teams were Male except one Mixed gender team.
29 teams from 7 nations were entered in Class B and raced over a 167-mile course, with Massimo Juris and Pietro Luciani winning Gold medals on their JPK 10.80 COLOMBRE (ITA), a repeat win after last year’s victory at the 2024 ORC DH European Championship in nearby Carole. Maximillian Miller and Kubber Clemens earned Silver medals on their Salona 41 RELEASE (GER) and designer Sam Manuard and Jure Jerman won Bronze medals on their First 36 SE by the same name FIRST 36 SE (SLO). The corrected time difference between RELEASE and FIRST 36 SE was remarkably tight at just 1 minute after 28 hours of racing. All teams in this class were Male, except one Mixed gender team.
Class C had 11 entries from 5 nations who raced a 148-mile course, with Lars Bergkvist and Anders Dahlsjo winning Gold on their Corby 25 ALTISSIMUS (SWE), Corrado Annis and Alberto Lonza winning Silver on their Italia 9.98F LADY DAY 998 (ITA) and Luca Barozzi and Vincenzo Bonaguri earned Bronze medals on their modified X-332 Sport X LADY (ITA). Nine teams were Male and one each were Female and Mixed gender.
The 2025 ORC European Championship was held over 26 July – 2 August as part of the 43rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE organized by the Real Club Nautico de Palma in Palma, Mallorca, ESP. This event showcased a highly impressive total of 117 entries from 24 nations and drew some of the world’s leading sailing talents for a fiercely competitive series across all four ORC championship classes.
Race conditions were typical Mediterranean seabreezes, with the format consisting of 8 windward/leeward races scored with PCS and one 6-8 hour coastal race scored with WRS.
Decisively winning the European title in Abanca ORC Class 0 with no race score worse than 3rd place was David Team’s TP 52 VESPER (USA), one of 11 boats of this type in this highly competitive class. The runner-up Silver medalist team was Bonfiglio Mariotti’s TP 52 BLUE (ITA) with Stephane Neve’s TP 52 PAPREC in third place. 17 teams from 9 nations competed in this class.
In Sail Racing ORC Class A 34 teams from 14 nations represented the most geographically diverse class at the event, with Rolf Auf der Maur Ignacio Montes’s DK 46 ESTRELLA DAMM SAILING TEAM (ESP) earning Gold medals, followed by Christian Plump’s Club Swan 42 ELENA NOVA (GER) in second and Oscar Chaves’s DK 46 HYDRA-HM HOSPITALES (ESP) in third.
Among the 34 entries from 10 nations in Ubico ORC Class B, it was Mati Sepp’s modified X-41 TECHNONICOL (EST) that earned the Class B ORC European Champion title, followed by Pier Vettor Grimani’s X-41 SIDERACORDIS (ITA) winning Silver and Massimo Romeo Piparo’s Italia 11.98 GUARDAMAGO (ITA) winning Bronze.
Uber ORC Class C featured 32 teams from 6 nations and was won by Antonio Porres’s Vrolijk 37 NUNOTO CAFIVER SAILING TEAM (ESP), with Hendrik Branids’s Cape 31 EARLY BIRD (GER) in second and Gianluigi Dubbini’s Italia 9.98 SARCHIAPONE FOURISERIE (ITA) in third. These widely different design types on the podium demonstrate the ORC rating system’s ability to provide fair ratings and racing.
The 2025 Garmin ORC Double Handed European Championship was the third year for this annual event, with this edition organized by the Helsingfors Segelklubb and held in Helsinki, FIN over 5-12 July with participation of 35 entries from 7 nations. Two races were held: a 33-mile first race for all classes followed by a longer 283-mile second race for Classes A and B and a 247-mile second race for Class C. Scoring for all races used ORC’s Weather Routing Scoring.
With wins earned in both races among 4 teams entered, Fredrik Rydin and Johan Tuvstedt won the European Class A title on their J-121 JOLENE (SWE). Third in the first race and second in the next race allowed Antti Niiniranta and Peter Flinkman to earn Silver medals on their Rogers 10M KAMINAMI (FIN), and Martin Angsell and Anna Drougge on the Shogun 43 NIKE (SWE) earned Bronze medals as a mixed-gender crew in this class.
Class B featured 12 teams from 5 nations and was won by Kim Jääskelainen and Turo Nummi on their Mat 1010 GOODIO (FIN), followed by August Pansell and Martin Persson on their Arcona 380 ANEMON II (SWE) in second and Johan Karlsson and Michael Skarped in third on their Arcona 340 TIKI MINOS (SWE). All crews in this class were Male, except for one mixed-gender team.
Class C was the largest at the event, with 19 teams from 7 nations represented, with all but two Mixed gender crews being Male. Winning both races and Gold medals was the father-son team of Patrik and Emil Forsgren on their modified First 36.7 GARMIN TEAM PRO4U (SWE), who, a month later, with a full crew, went on to also win Gold Medals at the ORC World Championship in Tallinn. Another family team of brothers, Oyvind and Morten Knudsen, raced their First 34.7 LETHE (NOR) to a Silver medal finish, with Joonas Päivärinta and Jaakko Perimaa earning Bronze medals on their First 35 LACHAPELLE (FIN).
The inaugural edition of the ORC North American Championship, similar to the ORC Europeans as a continental championship, was held as part of an established event on the yacht racing calendar: the Storm Trysail Club’s 30th biennial edition of Block Island Race Week. The format for this event was therefore 9 inshore windward/leeward races and one Coastal Race, and to fit the OA’s requirements to encourage pro-am participation, the number of WS Category 3 sailors was limited in all but one Open class. All entries were from the USA, and race conditions varied widely from 6 to 20 knots of wind in the five days of racing.
In a near clean sweep of 10 races held in ORC Open Class 1, the reigning ORC Class 0 World Champion team on Victor Wild’s Botin TP 52 FOX earned the title of 2025 ORC Class 1 Champion. Silver medals were awarded to Andrew Berdon’s TP 52 SUMMER STORM 52, and the team on Øivind Lorentzen’s Botin/Brooklin Boat Yard 43 JAX won Bronze medals in this class.
The largest class in this event features 13 Performance and Cruiser/Racer class entries of varied custom and production designs in ORC Class 2, with David Fass’s Club Swan 42 ZAMMERMOOS winning Gold medals as the 2025 ORC North American Champions. Tom Rich’s team on his GP 42 SETTLER won Silver medals, and James Coffman’s team on his Swan 45 GEMINI II won Bronze.
ORC Class 3 was won by a team which won this class in the last edition of Block Island Race Week: Robin Team’s J/122 TEAMWORK. Runner-up was Jeff Johnstone’s brand-new J/40 DOV, and the final team on the podium was Andrew and Linda Weiss’s Italia 11.98 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON XII.
9. Future ORC Championship Events
Future confirmed 2026 ORC Championship events include:
- 2026 ORC World Championship in Sorrento (ITA), 5-14 May 2026
- 2026 ORC Double-Handed World Championship in Scheveningen (NED), 18-25 May 2026
- 2026 ORC European Championship in Klaipeda (LTU), 7-15 August 2026
- 2026 ORC Double-Handed European Championship in Altea (ESP), 1-7 March 2026
- 2026 ORC North American Championship / Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco (USA), 16-20 September 2026
- 2026 ORC Sportboat European Championship, venue TBC
- 2026 ORC North American Sportboat Championship / Charleston Race Week in Charleston, SC (USA), 15-19 April 2026
Future confirmed 2027 ORC Championship events include:
- ORC World Championship in Copenhagen (DEN), 6-14 August 2027
- ORC European Championship in Malaga (ESP), 5-12 June 2027
- ORC Double Handed European Championship in Sandhamn (SWE), 28 June - 5 July 2027
- ORC North American Championship in Ft Lauderdale (USA), 14-20 November 2027
10. WS Sailor Categorisation Code
Application of the WS Sailor Categorisation Code is a regular feature to all ORC Championship events: World, European, Mediterranean, Double-Handed and European Sportboat Championships in defining the criteria for entries eligible for Corinthian Trophies offered in each event. The staff at WS and Commission members have been helpful with vetting crew lists to confirm Group 1 status of qualifying teams.
11. Fleet Statistics
The following three Appendices describing the following:
- A Summary table of countries and the numbers of issued ORC International, ORC Club, Double Handed, Non-Spinnaker, Multihull, and Superyacht certificates, as well as boats receiving these certificates as of 31 October 2025, compared to the same period in 2024.
- A chart displaying ORC certificates issued from 2020 to 2025
- A summary of the use of the online ORC Sailor Services system from 2014 to 2025 to date
The total number of ORC Certificates issued in 2025 until 30 October is 14265 for 9648 boats, a 5% increase compared to 2024.
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Credits:
Offshore Racing Congress