The boats were built to a box rule that permitted 60 feet length and beam and a 100-foot mast.

The one design Mod70 was created to continue the heritage of large blue water racing multihulls, while addressing the issues that had arisen with the ORMA 60 designs.

[3] [4] Several ORMA 60 boats continue to compete in handicap races.

The 'first to finish' winner of the 2017 Transpac race was the ORMA 60 class boat Mighty Merloe, which set a new course record of 4 days, 7:03:30, beating the previous record by almost a full day.

[5] Several high-profile yacht races cater to these classes, such as the Route du Rhum, the Transat Jacques Vabre, the Quebec-St Malo and the Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race.