New Offshore Racing Organization Established to Increase Regatta Participation

March 23, 2010 - PRLog -- The Offshore Racing Rule Owners Association (ORROA) was recently created to promote and encourage offshore racing under the Offshore Racing Rule (ORR) by providing a more scientific, research-based handicapping system. By providing a fair and accurate handicapping system, the organization encourages participation from a broad group of boat owners, inviting them to become active participants in this new association and championship racing series.

ORROA will provide information on the rule, measurement and procedures to its members and prospective members, and through its soon-to-be-launched website, chronicle ORR race results and other pertinent information concerning the rule. It will be a regular resource for boat owners and help them understand the rule, obtain ORR certificates and establish geographic fleets in different areas of the country.

The ORROA, in cooperation with the Offshore Racing Association (ORA), is developing a new racing series called The Great Lakes Championship Series. The association's spokesman, Frank Kern, states that utilizing the Offshore Racing Rule on the Great Lakes will fulfill a dual purpose as, "it provides a common rule among different venues on the Great Lakes, making it more attractive for owners to participate in racing, and it provides an objective rule that does not give an advantage to certain boat types. Being a boat owner myself, I sensed a grass roots desire among others to be able to compete in different regattas under one fair objective rule." Using the Great Lakes series as a model, ORROA and ORA will help establish similar championship regattas in other parts of the USA.

Interested racers can follow ORROA on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Offshore-Racing-Rule-Owners...) or on the soon-to-be-live website, orroa.org.  The website will provide information on rules, regattas, and will allow racers to sign-up for the series and follow their standings throughout the racing season.  The association encourages feedback from boat owners and welcomes regattas that would like to participate in the 2010 Great Lakes racing series. Jerry Bober, Rear Commodore of the Chicago Yacht Club states, "We are very excited at endorsing this series to celebrate our Great Lakes, encouraging racing-sailing, and providing great events for sailors. Many sailors have expressed interest in fostering competition on the Great Lakes and we are proud to support this series to support our sailors."

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In 2004, three major USA yacht clubs, the Chicago Yacht Club, Cruising Club of America, and Transpacific Yacht Club formed an alliance called the Offshore Racing Association (ORA) which was formed to promote and support the use of VPP-based handicapping and has undertaken the task of developing a new measurement-based rating rule that provides the fairest handicapping possible. This rule, the Offshore Racing Rule (ORR) (http://www.offshorerace.org/) was implemented during the 2006 racing season, administered by ORA and US SAILING, the national authority for sailing in the United States. The ORR predicts relative time allowances between boats to permit boats of different sizes, types and ages to compete with the fairest ratings possible.