Happy Anniversary IRC! Celebrating 30 years in 2014

2014 marks the 30th Anniversary of the introduction of IRC under its original name, CHS.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and L’Union Nationale pour la Course au Large (UNCL) are delighted to have reached this major milestone in providing fair and simple ratings for racing sailors around the world. CHS was first introduced in 1984 to offer a rating system appropriate to the cruiser/racers of the day that were disenfranchised by the IOR rule. CHS grew dramatically through the 1980s and 1990s before being re-named IRC in 1999.

IRC was granted International Rating System status by the International Sailing Federation in 2003 and continued to grow in popularity, reaching a peak of 7,740 boats rated in 2008.

Today, IRC remains the rating rule of choice for close to 7,000 boats of almost every shape, size, style and age imaginable, and for a huge number of high profile and many less well-known events in approaching 40 countries around the world.

The IRC Championships provide a focus for celebration in Great Britain and in 2014 there are more events than ever for sailors to enter. To mark this anniversary year, Spinlock, the sponsors of IRC in Great Britain and France, are generously offering a special prize at each of the GBR Championships.

Championships will be held all over Great Britain including two exciting additions to the calendar, with the inaugural Channel Island Championship being contested at the UBS Jersey Regatta, and a new Double-handed Championship to be held in the Solent.

A full list is published at http://www.rorcrating.com/irc-rating-gbr/irc-regional-champs.

The 30th Anniversary IRC logo is available for download from www.rorcrating.com for race organisers to help promote their IRC events. The RORC Rating Office hopes that sailors and race organisers will join them in celebrating IRC’s 30th birthday – the party’s on the water!

Kick start your IRC racing season with the RORC Easter Challenge

It will soon be time to go sailing again and anyone wanting to have a go at IRC racing, whilst also benefitting from some personal and practical coaching, can count on the RORC Easter Challenge to deliver the goods over the Easter Bank Holiday (29th-31st March). 

In addition to offering a unique training ground for owners and crews, the RORC Easter Challenge is the first Solent regatta in 2013 where owners who only compete occasionally can race under IRC at a reduced cost.  British owners will be able to enter this event with the new Spinlock IRC Limited Validity (LV) TCC which is valid for the full three days of the regatta.  There’s more on this here: www.rorcrating.com/lv-tcc 

Immediate, hands-on, coaching 

In a unique initiative, and as the first event in the RORC racing calendar, the RORC Easter Challenge offers on-the-water coaching, comprising immediate and hands-on advice from coaches and sail makers to climb aboard during racing at the request of crews wanting some tuition. 

Each day’s racing is followed by expert post-race video debriefs in the Events Centre in Cowes Yacht Haven by coaching legend Jim Saltonstall, supported by past Olympian Barry Dunning and America’s Cup coach, RORC’s CEO Eddie Warden Owen. 

Keronimo being coached at the RORC Easter Challenge 2012. Photo: RORC/Paul Wyeth pwpictures.com

There will be a separate race course for J80’s and Class 4 IRC, also supported by coaches and sail makers. 

Big savings for short-term event racing

The Spinlock IRC Limited Validity (LV) TCC has been launched for 2013 by the Rating Office, the technical centre of the RORC in Lymington.  It is aimed at British owners who only plan to enter one or two IRC events a year, or who would like to compete in an IRC event for the first time without committing to a full certificate. 

Andrew McIrvine’s First 40, La Réponse, at the RORC Easter Challenge 2012. Photo: RORC/Paul Wyeth pwpictures.com

Spinlock IRC LV TCCs are issued by the Rating Office and are compatible with full Spinlock IRC ratings. However, the LV TCC application cost for a 33 ft boat is just £30 for a 3-day event such as the RORC Easter Challenge, a saving of 70% on the fee for a full IRC certificate. 

A growing list of regattas around the UK will accept LV TCCs during 2013, in regions ranging from Cornwall to Scotland and including many of the Spinlock IRC Regional Championships.  The RORC Rating Office website http://www.rorcrating.com/lv-tcc offers advice for owners contemplating their rating options and clubs wishing to increase participation, and it also provides details of all approved events.

Entries close for the RORC Easter Challenge on 14th March, and interested owners can find the details and enter online at www.rorc.org.

ENDS

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as exclusive GBR sail number goes up for auction on Valentine’s Day!

The RORC Rating Office is offering sail number GBR 1000 R for sale by auction, and will donate 50% of the sale proceeds to Toe in the Water, the charity that offers competitive sailing opportunities to injured servicemen and women.  

This could make the most unusual and unique of Valentine’s Day gifts!  The closed auction commences on February 14th and runs until noon on February 28th and is only open to British owners.

The Rating Office, the technical arm of the Royal Ocean Racing Club based in Lymington, Hampshire, issues sail numbers in the ‘R’ series to British racing boat owners. RORC sail numbers have long been revered amongst the sailing fraternity since the RORC was formed in 1925.  

The most desirable sail numbers were rapidly snapped up by boats racing under the RORC and IOR rating rules during the last century, but it has only just come to light that sail number 1000 was never officially allocated.

The Rating Office is pleased to support Toe in the Water, recognising the charity’s dedication and success in its mission:  “Competitive sailing is a physically and mentally challenging adventurous sport and provides a unique opportunity for injured men and women to sail and race on equal terms with their able bodied contemporaries.”   (www.toeinthewater.org)

A cheque will be given to representatives from Toe in the Water by staff from the RORC Rating Office at a presentation in March at the RORC Clubhouse in London.

Owners interested in bidding for GBR 1000 R should contact the RORC Rating Office at info@rorcrating.com for further details and the Terms and Conditions of the auction, or you can read these at:

http://www.rorcrating.com/images/stories/pdf/2013/2013_sail_no_auction_tc.pdf

RORC Rating Office takes to the road with Cruiser/Racing Seminars at local clubs

World renowned as a centre of excellence for measurement, the UK-based RORC Rating Office, the technical hub of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), is delivering a series of Seminars to clubs all over the UK this Spring. The main focus of the presentations is to examine the current state and future opportunities for club cruiser racing at a local level. The aim of these ‘roadshows’ is to encourage all the clubs in a specific region to work together to offer cohesive and attractive racing to club sailors for the benefit of all.

Sailors have different priorities & concerns about racing 

The idea for the seminars came from a survey run by the Rating Office last winter, which showed that sailors had many varied priorities and concerns about racing, either under Spinlock IRC or local handicap/PY.

The Seminars are being presented by Mike Urwin, RORC’s Technical Director, who explained: “These seminars will offer a discussion forum about improving turnouts generally; the advantages of dual scoring, class splits, types of courses, and any other issues relating to cruiser racing.  They should also dispel some of the many myths surrounding IRC, such as the idea that it is only suitable for grand prix racers, which is very far from the truth!”

Mike will also be explaining the highly practical initiative for 2013, the Limited Validity TCC, for those who might like to do one or two IRC events a year.

In addition, members of the RYA Technical office will be attending at least one of the seminars to introduce the new National Handicap scheme for Cruisers (NHC).

All are welcome 

The RORC Rating Office is urging all the individuals undertaking key roles at the local clubs to attend, such as the sailing secretary, club secretary, captain of racing and other flag officers; and of course the sailors, whether they usually race PY/ local handicap or Spinlock IRC. All are welcome.

There are currently nine events scheduled between the end of January and the end of March, with venues stretching from the Isle of Wight on the South Coast to Inverkip on the Clyde in Scotland.  Others include South Wales, the East Coast and the Channel Islands.

Full details of the venues and dates can be found here: http://www.rorcrating.com/component/content/article/40-irc-rating/irc-misc/220-cruiser-racing-seminar-roadshow

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• The RORC Rating Office is situated in Lymington, Hampshire, UK. It is the technical hub of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, responsible for the administration of the IRC Rating system and other technical aspects of the sport. It is recognised globally as a centre of excellence for measurement.

• http://www.rorcrating.com

• Twitter: @RORCrating

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rorcrating

• There is also a dedicated website for IRC: http://www.ircrating.org

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ircrating

• Twitter: @IRCrating

• A simple explanation of IRC can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC_(sailing)

• From January 2013 IRC is sponsored by Spinlock in Great Britain and France.