The Publisher
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Apr 28, 2009, 1:03 PM
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ORCA vs. Anarchy
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From Bill Gibbs, Ocean Racing Catamaran Association (ORCA) President:
I have to take exception to Steve Dashew's comments about ORCA politics (posted in Scuttlebutt 2832). I should mention that Steve Dashew is something of a legend and that I have fond memories of meeting him and seeing his last Beowolf cruising mono, a very impressive boat. He was a pioneer of early multihull racing in California. But his recollections of old ORCA and Vic Stern are 30 years out-of-date. There are no commercial interests in ORCA today, promoting one style of boat versus another.
Virtually all ORCA races today are hosted by yacht clubs primarily focused on monohull PHRF classes. When a multihull capsizes in a race, all racers are disrupted by the need to lend assistance and race results are now determined after redress. When a spat of R33 capsizes occurred a few years back, there was a mono racer backlash at the disruption to their races. They didn't like race results determined after redress. Who can blame them? ORCA was in danger of losing invitations. Secondly, when a beachcat/skiff capsizes, people get wet and climb back on board. When a 30' and larger boat capsizes, boats can break and people can get hurt. ORCA is of the opinion that capsizing in ocean races is dangerous and disruptive to other racers. The ORCA class does not include boats that regularly capsize, like beach cats. This is no different than PHRF excluding skiffs from offshore classes. Does anyone want a Laser to line up against an SC50 in a race to Mexico?
Yes, all multihulls can be capsized. Yes, Vic Stern's Imi Loa capsized 25 some years ago. But since then, the next local capsizes were the R33s, primarily the narrow beam (14') tall rig model. Only the narrow beam-tall rig was excluded from the ORCA class . All other R33s are Orca class legal. ORCA was not involved with the NOSA exclusion of the XS Racing class this year.
Steve is expounding on the all-boats-should-be-able-to-race-together ideal, regardless of type. A real Sailing Anarchy class, like XS Racing today. I am perfectly happy with ocean racing classes that restrict member boats to ocean racing boats, boats that place a high priority on the safety of both crews and boats. There can always be other classes with different standards. We get to pick the class we wish to race with.
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