The XR 41 remains eligible to win after recalibration of the handicap calculation for the 2026 season. This allows the association to take the pressure off the controversy surrounding the ORC formula's inaccuracies.
On Thursday evening, the General Assembly of the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) unanimously approved a revised proposal for the recalculation of the speed prediction data. This VPP data forms the basis for the ORC ratings in the new regatta season. The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting. So far, nothing has been made public. However, designers, association officials and shipyard representatives have unanimously confirmed to YACHT online that the measurement dispute between X-Yachts and the ORC, which we reported on earlier, has been settled. had reported in detailis now finished.
The ITC paper on the recalculation of the race value (APH)
Sliding ability still difficult to calculate
Back in December, the International Technical Committee of the ORC, or ITC for short, began to revise the calculation of handicaps, which is carried out using neural networks. The reason: the performance of modern designs with fully planing hulls, such as the Xr 41, which won the ORC World Championship in Estonia last summer, had not been correctly recorded.
Instead of comprehensible values, the algorithm delivered "hallucinations", as ITC member and designer Jason Ker admitted. Therefore, after analysing the World Championship results, the committee introduced corrections that were derived reasonably plausibly, but outside of the actual formula. The procedure was more reminiscent of the usual Yardstick pi times thumb penalisation than the data basis that the ORC itself praised as "scientific". X-Yachts protested against this and offered to help revise the formula.
Controversial calculation using artificial intelligence
There had already been doubts about the comprehensibility of the AI-supported calculation after its modification three years ago; at the time, they were simply ignored by the ORC. This time, however, the pressure was far greater because a renowned shipyard was involved and a new development in the form of the XR 41, which had been publicised at great expense, promised to make regatta racing noticeably more attractive for crews and spectators alike.
For the ORC, nothing less than the credibility of its formula and its transparency were at stake. That is why the ITC trained and validated the neural networks at the end of last year with new data, especially from modern offshore racers with fuller bow sections. In its draft resolution for the ORC meeting, the ITC wrote: "This work, which included a thousand more computational fluid dynamics analyses on a variety of hull shapes, showed what VPP changes would ultimately be needed to adequately evaluate these new designs."
On 28 January, the ITC therefore proposed a different procedure for capping the performance values than the one originally adopted in the autumn. It is based on Froude's number, a dimensionless resistance value depending on speed and fuselage length. What exactly prompted the technicians to make this change and what the calculation method looks like in detail will soon be published in the VPP documentation for 2026 on the association's homepage (orc.org) are published.
X-Yachts' in-house designer Tobias Merkel had suggested a different method, with a different parameter for the calculation, but had not succeeded. The ITC had already made up its mind too much. Nevertheless, the shipyard can be satisfied with the result of the recalculation. In the All Purpose Handicap (APH), the world champion yacht type XR 41 was originally supposed to be measured 10 seconds faster per nautical mile - a penalty that could hardly be equalised. The correction value was then reduced to 8 seconds and finally to 7.4 sec/nm. Following Tobias Merkel's last intervention during boot Düsseldorf, the ITC has now reduced the "penalty" to just 4.6 sec/nm - less than half of the value decided in autumn.
The XR 41 leaves the competition behind when the wind is on the beam
The amazing thing: When the XR 41 is sailing at speeds of 15 to 18 knots in more windy conditions, she is less penalised in her rating than in moderate conditions downwind. So there is still room for further improvements in the formula. The ITC itself has already announced its intention to make further improvements next year. In its draft resolution, it states: "The ITC strongly supports this new proposal for 2026. It is a coordinated step towards 2027, when the ORCi VPP will be able to adequately rate modern designs, including scow bow designs fully geared towards offshore operations."
