The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

The IOR Rule Has a Lot To Answer For

Here’s a nice looking vintage Nautor Swan.

But look at the strange distortion of the stern.

You think this looks weird? Check out the next shot taken from off the quarter.

When shopping for boats, it’s worth looking for this result of designers cheating the station measurements of the IOR racing rule.

Such distortions don’t necessarily ruin a boat, but they sure as heck don’t help, particularly with tracking when sailing downwind in big breeze, just what we cruisers want to do.

Generally, boat design got better under the influence of rules that imaged the whole boat, starting in the early 90s with the MHS that became the IMS and then the ORC, still used today.

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