The RORC Rating Office, company name Seahorse Rating Ltd, is a part of the Royal Ocean Racing Club in London.   The Rating Office is based in Lymington on the central south coast of England, with a small team of full time staff. 

 

What is a rating ?

 

Boats who wish to race need to obtain either a "handicap" or a "rating" so that they can race fairly with boats of different designs.

 

A "handicap" is a system, usually locally administered, which allocates a time allowance to a boat to reflect its performance on the water.  This allowance can be reviewed based on actual performance and race results. 

 

A "rating", on the other hand, is a time corrector based on the measurements of the boat, rig and sails, and takes no account of crew ability or race results.

 

What do we do ?

 

The RORC Rating Office obtains measurements for boats which apply to us for a rating, and calculates a time corrector based on that data.  There is only one such office in the UK and we also issue rating certificates to many other countries worldwide.

 

There are several different rating systems worldwide; the RORC Rating Office administers the Spinlock IRC rating 'rule', and assists with the administration of various One Design classes.   

 

Spinlock IRC is a self-measurement rule, meaning that boats do not have to be officially measured. The boat owner submits an application form and we issue a rating certificate.  The maths behind the calculation are unpublished, so that boats cannot be designed specifically to take advantage of the rule.

 

The office also undertakes many other tasks and provides services to clubs etc. Members of staff sit on several GBR and International committees and councils.

 

The Rating Office overlooks Lymington Seawater Baths, hence the name of our Newsletter 'Poolside'.