MORC Revival

Saw this posted on Sailing Anarchy. I don't know much about the MORC rule, only that my dad raced his Soverel 28 under it and that I have seen "MORC" in the original Ariel brochure. So this might be of interest to some of you.

"There’s been some serious buzz as of late with a sizable contingent of MORC boat owners/crew who wish to revive the rule. A core group has come together to work toward this effort with the ultimate (short-term) goal of an organized MORC Mid-winters and/or Nationals, then to follow with a (long-term) goal of sanctioned regional events and an organic revival of the rule reaching to the local level. Fundamental to the effort is establishing a database of MORC boats & owners. The objective is a starting point from which to build an informed MORC community and garner support for racing under the rule. You will be kept apprised of developments geared specifically to MORC racing. Please email with the following details:

1. Boat Type
2. Boat Name
3. Contact Person
4. Email
5. Telephone
6. Boat Geo-Location
7. MORC Certificate – Y or N
8. If Y, what year?
9. Comments, if any

There is a lot of work to be done for a bona fide and concerted effort to launch a "revival". A number of people have stepped up to help. If you are interested in getting actively involved, please share your constructive comments and suggestions, or connect us with anyone you know who may be interested in this "revival"."

I downloaded the MORC Measurement doc to try to set Sea Smoke up with a rating. I'm a little stumped by some of the data that they're asking for, and since I'm 1500 miles from the boat, it's a bit tough to measure them. If anyone is interested in helping out, I'll attach the Worksheet.

In the Association Manual original brochure pages and lines drawings of Commanders and Ariels are reproduced. On page 105 the Ariel has a
"LOA: 25'7".
LWL: 18'6"
Beam: 8'
Draft: 3'8"
Ballast, lead 2500# (Commander: 2700#)
Displacement: 5500# (Commander: 5100#)
Sail Area (100% foretriangle) 311 sq.ft. (Commander: 305 sq.ft.?)

MORC Rating: 20.5 est." (Commander: 22.9)
(these Commander numbers taken from ppg 108, 109 Association Manual.)
Commander brochure text on page 110 says it carries 273 sq.ft. of sail.

[Certainly interesting that updated MORC rules state that all jibs and genoas must be drum furled.]

Don't know if this is accurate enough but you can take the drawings** to a copy shop
and have them bring the lines up to a scale you can measure from.
EG. Reproduce the image to 25 1/2+",
or as I did, to a little more than 12 3/4". [Waterline 9 1/4", a good measurement to check accuracy of enlargement.]
The sails and shroud plan can also be scaled to one inch equals two feet and fits an 18" paper size.
Down load a 1" = 1 ft rule (inch is in 12 segments rather than 8) and get a fairly close
overhang measurement:
Stern: 3' 4 1/2". Bow: 3' 8" - at least to what lines we have and what Pearson published in the brochures.
(Art supply shops sometimes have 'dollhouse' scale rulers.)

There also are lines drawings signed by Alberg reproduced in the Manual that you can scale to
- but that is no quarantee as to what Pearson delivered to the buyer.*
EG: No drawing has cabin port lights sized to what we actually have on our Ariels.
We have to assume that the various lines available to us represent an average, given the number of reproductions the images go through reaching us, are proportionately correct.
Image lines get wider when enlarged, so assumptions have to be made.
Accurate measurements have to be taken from actual existing craft, not images.

Ariels and Commanders that spend most of their years in the water will, no doubt,
have longer waterlines and shorter overhangs:D

*A most noticable example is the virtual curved sheer line in ALL Manual drawings,
yet the actual boat (certainly A-338) has a straight FLAT sheer from stem to stern.

**ARIEL OWNERS MANUAL AND MAINTENANCE GUIDE by R. William Phelon. Second Edition Copyright 2000 - pages 144 to 149b