Fleet Archetypes
Eleven structural strategies. Five families. One fleet.
When you map the dimensional profiles of 11,207 boats — ORC-rated and IRC-rated, eleven natural groupings emerge — not by class or rating band, but by structural strategy. Each archetype represents a distinct combination of hull, rig, and stability characteristics that shapes performance across the wind range.
11,207 boats in the corpus; 10,623 carry archetype assignments from the MPAE model — 9,493 directly clustered, 1,130 inherited via sister-hull lookup.
Rig power defines the strategy.
Rig power defines the identity. Aero-driven boats convert sail area into forward drive with high aerodynamic efficiency. Their structural signatures are dominated by rig-power metrics, depower behaviour, and upwind VMG characteristics. These boats win by extracting lift efficiently and holding optimal angles.
AEROMAX
AEROMAX boats are the fleet's structural upwind specialists. They carry the largest and most efficient rigs relative to displacement, producing the strongest upwind VMG bias in the aero-driven family. Their dimensional profiles show rig-power metrics dominating the first principal components, and their performance rewards crews who can maintain tight pointing angles and precise trim. These boats express their identity most clearly in medium-air upwind regimes.
AEROBLADE
AEROBLADE boats achieve aerodynamic efficiency through refined rig geometry paired with pronounced heel sensitivity. Their stability curves show steeper penalties at excessive heel, meaning performance depends on disciplined load management. When sailed flat, they deliver rapid response to trim changes and high drive efficiency; when overpowered, the penalties arrive quickly. Their directional bias leans toward upwind and close-reach performance with condition sensitivity.
Stability is the defining axis.
Stability is the defining axis. Balance-sensitive boats operate in a narrow stability envelope where small changes in heel angle or trim produce large changes in speed. Their identity is driven by righting-moment behaviour, heel-slope characteristics, and the interaction between keel geometry and displacement.
KEELFLEX
KEELFLEX boats combine compact rigs with high heel sensitivity, creating a design that is fast when perfectly balanced and punishing when mis-trimmed. Their race-to-race variance is the highest in the fleet, reflecting a platform where crew skill in managing heel angle directly determines realized performance. Directionally, they show neutral upwind bias, moderate reaching strength, and condition-dependent downwind behaviour.
BALANCECORE
BALANCECORE boats share KEELFLEX's heel sensitivity but pair it with a more stable, conservative rig profile, widening the usable performance envelope. Their dimensional signatures cluster near the fleet median for rig power, distinguishing themselves through stability and platform behaviour rather than raw drive. They exhibit neutral directional bias with predictable performance across moderate conditions.
Hull form and reaching angles.
Hull form and reaching leverage. Downwind-optimized boats trade upwind rig power for hull forms that excel on reaching and running angles. Their signatures include low wetted-surface drag, favourable prismatic distributions, and strong downwind VMG relative to upwind.
GLIDEFORM
GLIDEFORM boats achieve downwind advantage through hull efficiency, not rig size. Low-drag hulls with efficient waterline-to-beam ratios allow smooth acceleration and speed retention through lulls. Their SailEdge predictions show the largest positive delta between downwind and upwind VMG in the fleet. Directionally: strong downwind bias, moderate reaching, weak upwind.
GRAVITYRUN
GRAVITYRUN boats generate downwind speed through momentum and power, not finesse. They are heavier displacement platforms with larger rigs and higher drag coefficients — slow to accelerate but formidable once moving. Their performance improves disproportionately in sustained breeze above 14 knots. Directionally: downwind-strong, reaching-moderate, upwind-neutral to weak depending on subtype.
Stiffness as a structural advantage.
Stiffness as a structural advantage. Platform-rigid boats share low heel sensitivity and high righting-moment stability, producing predictable behaviour under load. Their identity is defined by stability metrics and conservative rig-to-displacement ratios. These boats reward consistency and disciplined execution.
IRONWIND
IRONWIND boats carry large rigs on stiff, high-RM platforms. Their defining trait is stability under load: they generate drive without the heel-angle penalties that affect more tender designs. The rig profile is stable rather than high-volatility — predictable depower, low heel amplification, and consistent aero–hydro coupling. Directionally, IRONWIND boats show neutral-to-moderate upwind bias, steady reaching, and VMG-oriented downwind behaviour rather than planing explosiveness.
STEELFORM
STEELFORM boats pair platform rigidity with compact rigs, producing a design that is less powerful than IRONWIND but more manoeuvrable. Their dimensional profiles show the lowest variance in race-to-race performance of any archetype — a stiff platform and modest rig create a boat that delivers predictable results across a wide range of conditions. Directionally: neutral upwind, neutral reaching, VMG-downwind.
DEEPFRAME
DEEPFRAME boats distinguish themselves through hull-driven efficiency. Deep canoe bodies with favourable displacement distributions produce low-drag hull forms that complement the stiff platform. Their SailEdge predictions show the strongest hull-efficiency metrics in the platform-rigid family, especially in 8–12 knots where drag differences matter most. Directionally: upwind-neutral, reaching-moderate, downwind-VMG.
Power meets sensitivity.
Power meets sensitivity. Mixed-mode-power boats combine high rig power with sensitivity traits — heel response, drag penalties, or condition dependence — that create volatile but potentially explosive performance. These boats show the widest spread between best and worst corrected-time finishes.
STORMLINE
STORMLINE boats pair big rigs with efficient hulls and pronounced heel sensitivity. They produce exceptional speed when sailed flat and significant penalties when overpowered. Their dimensional profiles show the highest rig-power-to-stability ratio in the fleet. Directionally: upwind-moderate, reaching-strong, downwind-moderate, with high condition sensitivity.
HEADFORCE
HEADFORCE boats achieve upwind performance through pressure-driven force, not rig efficiency. Compact rigs drive through higher-drag hull forms, producing an unusual combination: upwind-biased performance despite modest rig metrics. They improve disproportionately in heavy air, where their ability to drive through waves compensates for drag penalties in lighter conditions. Directionally: upwind-strong, reaching-weak, downwind-VMG.
See Fleet Archetypes across the fleets.
FleetEdge reads fleet archetypes across every governed fleet — ORC domestic, IRC events, and Superyacht.
Browse Fleet AnalyticsEleven strategies. One fleet.
FleetEdge reveals the structural diversity hidden within the ORC rating system.