Scheveningen hosts ORC ITC Meeting 2025: Key discussions ahead
by Offshore Racing Congress 25 Feb 02:30 PST
1-2 March 2025
Hydrodynamic modeling is among the topics discussed by the ITC © YCCS / Studio Borlenghi
The technical backbone of the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) rating systems is developed by the International Technical Committee, whose first meeting of the year will be held at Jachtclub Scheveningen in The Hague, Netherlands over March 1-2, 2025.
Nearly all ITC committee members and technical experts are expected to attend, ensuring valuable discussions and progress in ongoing ITC research and other topics related to the development of the ORCi, ORC Superyacht, ORC J Class and ORC Multihull rule systems.
The weekend will kick off with a presentation by Andy Claughton, ITC Chairman, held at Jachtclub Scheveningen (Hellingweg 98, Den Haag) on Friday, February 28. Claughton will provide insights and discuss the development of the SuperYacht, Multihull, and J Class rules, as well as weather routing and scoring methods.
A Q&A session will allow members and guests to ask questions. The evening will be divided into two parts, with a break for mingling and drinks in between. The event will be recorded and published on JCS-TV, the club's YouTube channel.
More details and registration for this presentation evening can be found here.
While ITC meetings were traditionally held behind closed doors, recent years have emphasized transparency and openness. Therefore the ITC meeting will be open to all observers, either in person or via Google Meet, with a registration form available online. Once registered observers will be sent the meeting log-in details soon. Those attending in-person are urged to register no later than Tuesday February 25th and those attending online in Google Meet should register by Thursday February 27th.
Lunch will be provided at the clubhouse to ensure an efficient meeting process.
Schedule - Saturday, March 1, 2025:
Jachtclub Scheveningen
Coffee & Tea provided by JCS
09:00 (CET) Meeting begins
13:00 Lunch at Villani
14:00 Meeting continues
17:00 Break
19:00 Dinner - individually/collectively (to be organized, reservations strongly advised)
Schedule - Sunday, March 2, 2025:
Jachtclub Scheveningen
Coffee & Tea provided by JCS
09:00 Meeting resumes
13:00 Lunch at Villani
14:00 Meeting continues
16:00 Projected end time
Key Discussion Points for the ITC Spring Meeting:
- Sail Force Model: Enhancing the coherence of force models, with a focus on:
- Headsail de-powering strategy
- Spinnaker de-powering and single spinnaker coefficients
- HSF sheeting and rig envelope
- Reaching Heel Angles: addressing the over-prediction of heel angles when reaching.
- Hydro Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD): Evaluating resource allocation for multihulls and long-keel yachts
- Multihulls: Reviewing planned updates to the 2025 ORCmh VPP
- Performance Database: improving the comparison of predicted vs. logged performance data
- Weather Routing Scoring (WRS) and RaceFlow App: Enhancing understanding and application of WRS for race scoring
The ORC ITC meeting in Scheveningen will once again serve as an essential platform for discussions on yacht handicapping, rule development, and the future of technical standards in sailing.
With an open policy for observers and the option for digital participation, the event fosters broad engagement and increased understanding of ITC's work.
"Observers at this meeting will get a snapshot of the big issues," said Claughton, "and contribute to the discussion if they wish."
For more information or to register as an observer, please sign up via the official ITC Meeting registration form.