ORC Claims 'First Structured Offshore Race' in Ireland at 2025 Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race with 'Shadow Results' Produced

29th June 2025

Afloat.ie Team

19 boats from a 40-boat fleet opted for an 'informal' ORC result in this month's Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race

19 boats from a 40-boat fleet opted for an 'informal' ORC results comparison in this month's Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race Credit: Afloat

An Irish 'interest group' says it has run the 'first structured ORC offshore race in Ireland' following this month's 2025 Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race where almost half of the 40-boat fleet opted to have 'shadow results' calculated using the ORC rating for comparison purposes with the rival 'IRC' rule, the official handicap system used in the 280-mile race.

IRC is the main handicapping system used in Ireland and is administered by the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) and the Irish Sailing Association.

There are currently 258 boats registered with IRC certificates, with an additional 193 registered for local ECHO certificates only, according to IRC Rating data. This indicates a slight decrease compared to previous years, but the figures remain substantial for the Irish sailing community.

The interest group was convened by founding ICRA Commodore Fintan Cairns, who is also a former Commodore of the country's largest yacht racing club, Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC).

The group says it is researching 'alternative' handicap systems due to a current perceived 'lack of transparency in the calculation of handicaps', as the IRC rule has 'hidden components'.

In correspondence seen by Afloat this month, the group, made up of sailors with yachts in different class bands and locations (Dublin Bay, Howth, and Cork), have begun researching alternatives. The consensus, says the group, was that ORC was 'a viable option worth exploring further'.

An informal meeting of Dublin Bay and Howth owners took place in early March 2025 to discuss the matter in a more structured manner and to include Cork skippers. It was agreed that by the end of the 2025 sailing season, a decision could be made on the next steps.

Afloat sources say that a major Irish regatta and at least one of the big racing clubs are currently assessing the ORC rule for use in results this season.

The group stressed this month's D2D shadow results produced were 'for information purposes only and are not part of the formal race'.

The results were produced on behalf of the group by ORC.

The ORC officials used Weather Routed Scoring (WRS) for the race – a system that integrates weather routing and performance data to create, which, they claim, is 'a more accurate and fair way to score races'.

Separately, experienced Dublin Bay handicapper, John Kelly, has been generating shadow or tandem results using the 'ORC scorer' system for trial purposes.

At its March AGM, ICRA committed to hosting a further meeting on handicapping issues following questions from the floor. ICRA has been approached for comment.

Published in ORC

Tagged under

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

About the ORC Handicap System and Its Use in Ireland

The ORC (Offshore Racing Congress) handicap system is a measurement-based rating rule used to create fair competition between sailing yachts of different designs. Rather than relying on performance data alone, ORC ratings are calculated from detailed measurements of each yacht’s hull shape, rig, sails and stability. These measurements generate a Velocity Prediction Program (VPP) model, which estimates how fast the boat should sail in various wind strengths and angles. Race results are then corrected using one of several scoring options, such as Time-on-Time or Time-on-Distance, aiming to reward crew performance rather than inherent design advantages.

In recent years, there has been exploration in Ireland toward broader adoption of the ORC system, particularly ORC International (ORCi) and ORC Club certificates.

Clubs on both east and south coasts have explored ORC as an alternative or complement to the IRC rating rule, which has traditionally dominated Irish handicap racing. In 2025, events such as the D2D Race and Calves Week trialled ORC scoring or dual-scoring with IRC to ease the transition.

The move is driven by a desire for transparency, international alignment and access to the robust technical framework that ORC offers. Some Irish sailors are asking for consistency with European events where ORC is already well established.