The Rule onlIne
www.ircrating.org
The Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Union
National pour la Course au Large, joint owners of
the IRC Rule, have given IRC its very own website
which was launched in March 2009.
The two clubs felt it was time to give IRC its
own identity now that it is established in over 38
countries worldwide.
The new website is packed with information,
with news feeds from both the RORC Rating Office
and UNCL, new boat information from builders and
designers and news of IRC events, race reports
and results. A monthly feature is the ‘Concentric
cIRCles’ articles, covering areas of IRC not usually
in the limelight.
It is a one-stop shop for IRC technical
information covering all of the following topics:
■ IRC Rules and Definitions
■ Guidance on measurement including stability Any feedback from the visitors to the website
and safety indexing is welcomed, to make it as useful and practical as
■ Worldwide IRC Rule Authorities’ details possible: webmaster@ircrating.org
■ Online TCC listings
■ Race management and advertising guidelines MyIRC foR GBR BoaTS
■ Notices and interpretations Meanwhile, on the redesigned RORC Rating Office
■ Congress and Committee information, including website www.rorcrating.com, British-based
minutes of meetings boats can register to pay online through a new
■ Online yearbooks from RORC Rating Office and system called MyIRC and claim a discount on rating
UNCL Centre de Calcul fees. See page 32 for more details.
IRC. At the time of writing, the outcome
of these is not known. It is, of course,
correct that IRC should have the right
to hold a world championship, but
should there be one? And if so where,
when, what range of boats, how many
classes, would it result in one world
champion or multiple champions, one
from each class, etc?
Is a world championship for a rating
rule class meaningful anyway? And
would a world championship send the
right philosophical message to those
who only ever race locally under IRC?
Might it be a disincentive to that large
group from racing under IRC at all?
I don’t know the answer to any of commonplace. Sailcloth has improved their owners and of the market place. IRC has contributed to
these questions. I do know that if an out of all recognition. Composite Experimentation (rigs, canting keels, the development of
IRC world championship is ever standing rigging is increasingly seen. water ballast, twin rudders, keels and modern yachts and
considered, all these and many other Twenty-five years ago, spinnakers almost every other feature of boat encouraged events
questions will be properly addressed. were symmetric. Today we see boats design) is rife. worldwide, from the
with mixed symmetric and asymmetric As a result of all of this, boats are Round the Island Race
Dramatic changes inventories. Twenty-five years ago, now lighter, faster, easier to sail, last off the Isle of Wight
So, IRC continues to be used by all, boats all had spinnaker poles, all exactly longer and are proportionately (top), to the Giraglia
from the occasional racer to the full-on the length of the foretriangle. Today we cheaper. A modern 40ft cruiser/racer is Cup off St Tropez
professional campaign. That can only still see boats with poles, but often now as fast or faster than an IOR one- (above)
be good, but it does create its own set longer and more useful. Bowsprits, with tonner. At the same time, it is a much
of problems on the technical side. all the ease of use and handling nicer boat: more controllable without
It also raises the question ‘Where advantages, are increasingly common. the nasty downwind habits of the one-
are we going’? The past 25 years have Twenty-five years ago, designers tonner; stiffer with better sail-carrying
seen dramatic changes in the boats we were constrained in what they did by ability; more usable in the sense that
race. Materials, and the understanding the rules of the day. Today, under IRC, nobody in their right mind ever took the
of how to use them, have improved designers have the freedom to design one-tonner cruising; more durable with
enormously. Carbon boats and rigs are boats to suit the wants and needs of a structure that will last. And the
5
IRC2010 Opener.indd 5 27/11/09 09:49:48
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