The Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) is an international body for the sport of competitive sailing and is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of rating and classification standards used to define offshore, that is marine as opposed to inland, yacht racing handicap categories.
The combined ruleset, the International Offshore Rule or IOR, was initially successful.
While still maintained, the IMS [1] has been largely superseded by the Offshore Racing Congress Rule in its International [2] and, simpler, Club [3] forms.
The VPP is used "to rate boats of different characteristics in size, hull and appendages shape and configuration, stability, rig and sails measurement, propeller installation and many other details affecting their theoretical speed".
General technical matters, including responsibility for the maintenance and development of the VPP and other software, are encompassed by the "International Technical Committee" (ITC), chaired by Andy Claughton.