Rating & Classification
The ORC certificate as a multi-dimensional design fingerprint.
The ORC certificate is the most detailed technical profile of any racing yacht in the sport. Most of the sailing world reads it as a handicap number. FleetEdge reads it as a multi-dimensional design identity — and the difference matters.
The certificate produces GPH and TCC — the numbers that level the playing field for corrected-time racing. But the certificate contains far more than a single rating. Hull geometry, rig dimensions, appendage configuration, stability curves, and the VPP-predicted polars that underpin the rating are all encoded in the document.
Each parameter describes a design choice that the naval architect made and the rating system evaluated. FleetEdge treats each of these parameters as a feature in the dimensional model — preserving the multi-dimensional structure rather than compressing it into a single time-correction coefficient.
What the certificate reveals.
| Dimension | Source | Unit | Role in Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPH | ORC Certificate | sec/nm | Fleet speed positioning — where the boat sits in the overall performance hierarchy |
| TCC | ORC Certificate | ratio | Time correction baseline — the multiplier that defines corrected-time performance |
| Upwind Allowance | ORC Scoring | sec/nm | Predicted upwind strength relative to fleet — angle-specific rating advantage |
| Reaching Allowance | ORC Scoring | sec/nm | Predicted reaching performance — captures hull efficiency at intermediate angles |
| Downwind Allowance | ORC Scoring | sec/nm | Predicted downwind advantage — reveals rig and hull form contributions at depth |
| Rating Band Position | Derived | percentile | Relative position within the fleet rating distribution — normalised for cross-event comparison |
Rating tells you how fast. Classification tells you what kind.
Two boats with identical GPH can belong to different archetypes. One achieves its speed through a large, aerodynamically efficient rig with strong upwind VMG bias — an AEROMAX strategy. The other achieves the same corrected-time performance through a powerful rig on an efficient hull with pronounced heel sensitivity — a STORMLINE approach. The rating is the same. The boats are fundamentally different.
FleetEdge's archetype system is a classification, not a ranking. It groups boats by structural strategy — the specific combination of hull, rig, and stability characteristics that define how each design converts wind into speed. Two boats in the same archetype share structural DNA, regardless of their rating.
Where the rating expects you to excel.
ORC scoring allowances vary by wind angle — upwind, reaching, downwind. These angle-specific allowances reveal the boat's predicted strengths and weaknesses across the wind range. A boat with a strong upwind allowance and a weak downwind allowance has a different performance signature from one that is fast at depth but slow on the beat.
FleetEdge uses these scoring allowances as dimensional features, capturing not just how fast the boat is rated overall, but where in the wind range the rating expects it to perform. These angle-specific features contribute directly to the archetype assignment — they help distinguish between boats that achieve the same aggregate speed through different wind-angle strategies.
FleetEdge does not modify, challenge, or replace ORC ratings. It reads the certificate as data — the same data ORC publishes to every boat owner, every class association, and every regatta organiser — and finds the multi-dimensional structure that individual numbers obscure.
The rating remains ORC's domain. The classification — understanding what kind of boat you have and how it compares structurally to every other boat in the fleet — is where FleetEdge begins.
See Rating & Classification in the ORC World Fleet fleet.
ORC World Fleet racing brings rating & classification into sharp relief — see how the physics meets the fleet's regime and rivalries.
Explore ORC World FleetThe certificate tells you more than you think. FleetEdge shows you how.
Every ORC certificate becomes a multi-dimensional design fingerprint in the FleetEdge analytical framework.