ORC Ericson 38 ratings?

[ConchyDug]

I was curious if anyone has gone the ORC route for racing specifically on 38s? I wanted to look at certs to compare before I make the plunge. We had a local boat in Galveston that had a cert in 2016 but that's all I could find.

Also input on if you felt the boat could sail to it's potential under the ORC cert?

I've raced on other ORC boats and it seems to be a more thorough system. Even comes with Polars based upon your sail plan/inventory and hull shape.

 

[Loren Beach]

"Offshore Racing Council" ?

I ask because the EY folks spent a lot of money on equipping their 80's boats, including mine, with big manual helm-adjacent bilge pumps, to meet (in that era) "Category One" requirements for offshore racing. I have never checked to see if there was/is a package of certifications. Interesting.

 

[ConchyDug]

Offshore Racing Congress

ORC.org

 

[Geoff W.]

Not answering your question, but are you seeing boats like the 38 actually race ORC in your area? In our PHRF-NW area, we have a lot of the faster boats unhappy with the lower end of PHRF ratings -- think the negative ratings up to 24/36, but most of the 100+ boats are just duking it out with other high PHRF raters.

Given the expense of getting an ORC certification compared to the racing potential of the 38 (relative to the makeup of 2022 fleets) I would sort of be surprised to see someone getting one.

 

[ConchyDug]

We've had more and more boats(in the 100-150 PHRF) crossing over for offshore races and W/L into ORC. Usually it gets divided by ratings but seems to keep racing tighter over varying conditions than PHRF, but that's a whole can of worms I don't want to open haha.

I just wanted to see some current ORC certs on an Ericson 38.

It's $150 to get a rating(PHRF is $60/yr) so it's not too cost prohibitive.

 

[Geoff W.]

We've had more and more boats(in the 100-150 PHRF) crossing over for offshore races and W/L into ORC. Usually it gets divided by ratings but seems to keep racing tighter over varying conditions than PHRF, but that's a whole can of worms I don't want to open haha.

I just wanted to see some current ORC certs on an Ericson 38.

It's $150 to get a rating(PHRF is $60/yr) so it's not too cost prohibitive.

Don't you have to get the boat hauled out and a detailed measurement done? I'm just regurgitating the grumbles I've been hearing lately. It seems like a more fair, but slightly more complicated, rating system than PHRF so kind of excited to see it expand! If anyone has one for the 38, does anyone have one for the 32-3?

 

[ConchyDug]

It's a way more detailed measurement of the boat. Also, allows for boats to run customized sail plans like staysails with a-kites and accounts for that upgraded performance.

Nah they do a water displacement measurement...like measure you freeboard and calculate how heavy the boat is.

 

[Loren Beach]

One factor to remember is that "PHRF" is different, conceptually, than any Measurement rule.

 

[ConchyDug]

I've finally pulled the trigger on getting measured for an ORC club certificate it's not that complicated. The club rating doesn't require numerous measurements to be taken. You fill an application out on US sailing's website, you do need to be a US sailing member though.

https://www.ussailing.org/competition/offshore/orc/#application

I'll post the cert once I get it if any of you want Polars for a shoal draft 38. I noticed there are a few 35s on the list as well which is cool to see. With all the sail dimensions clearly stated on the cert it could help owners spec out new sails. Oh it's all in metric FYI.

 

[Saverio]

if possible I would ask for a copy, for my 38 200. Thank you very much Saverio

 

[ConchyDug]

Here ya go, I can't attach the file format so I just screenshot it from the phone. Just quickly glancing over it the polars are generally 0.5kts faster in the lower ranges and they marry back up mostly in the high wind ranges compared to the old Polars in the Ericson "performance package". Also in the higher wind ranges the wing on wing configuration is almost as fast as the spinnaker, but I think the sea state is the determining factor in high wind on what you can carry from a racing standpoint... comfort well that's different.

 

[Saverio]

sorry, please, you are unable to send me all the copies of the certificate to my email saverio.r@alice.it to obtain them in Italy is very complicated, my 38 200 is not CE. A thousand thanks. Xavier

 

[Saverio]

Here ya go, I can't attach the file format so I just screenshot it from the phone. Just quickly glancing over it the polars are generally 0.5kts faster in the lower ranges and they marry back up mostly in the high wind ranges compared to the old Polars in the Ericson "performance package". Also in the higher wind ranges the wing on wing configuration is almost as fast as the spinnaker, but I think the sea state is the determining factor in high wind on what you can carry from a racing standpoint... comfort well that's different.
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sorry, please, you are unable to send me all the copies of the certificate to my email saverio.r@alice.it to obtain them in Italy is very complicated, my 38 200 is not CE. A thousand thanks. Xavier

 

[southofvictor]

Thanks for sharing this Doug, it’s interesting to see an updated measurement document to back up the “performance package“ one. Nice to have the asym polars vs symmetric too. I don’t see where it shows specific wing on wing polars, where is that? Also curious, why does it make the jump straight from 16 to 20 kts in the polars where all the other breaks are at 2 kt increments? Is there a specific reason or is that just how they do it? Thanks again!

 

[ConchyDug]

The speed guide I received as well is extensive it shows full polars for the genoa and a-kite. It does show wing on wing, that config is almost as fast as the spinnaker in the 16&20kt range. I just didn't want to screenshot all the pages. It has reefing info as well on the charts but it's funky to interpret like a 0.95 reef number is a 10% reduction in sail area. Thankfully instructions come with it to help understand all the data. I'm not really sure why they exclude the 18kt band. I think most sailing computers interpolate the data so maybe it's not needed. The ORC polars account for hull design and sea state too. I tried playing with the crew weight and even it effected the numbers like more weight upwind increased upwind performance and less weight increased offwind speed.