Breathing new life IRC
Universal Measurement System The Universal Measurement System (UMS) was originally proposed to World Sailing a number of years ago by the RORC rating office, the idea being that a yacht has a single measurement ‘passport’ that can be used for all major international rating systems. This of course relies on the fact that the systems mostly use the same yacht measurement definitions. The UMS has been knocked about for a few years now in World
Sailing corridors, with little real progress until the IRC and ORC tech- nical offices got together for the 2018 combined Offshore World Championships in The Hague. At this event data had to be passed between both rating systems to ensure consistent IRC and ORC data was being employed. In general there proved to be good cor- relation between the measurement definitions of the two systems, but the process of synchronisation did identify variations elsewhere. Differences between the way we define and measure boats can
cause significant confusion, particularly if you are a sailor involved in using both rating systems. Identification of these differences has led to 2019 rule changes in IRC in respect of rig measurement
at this substantial worldwide cruiser-racer constituency. Over the course of each year the IRC technical committee work
proactively on a long list of projects where they would like to improve the IRC formulations. The agenda is largely set by feedback and observations from competitors and designers or where the technical committee have themselves identified areas of innovation and yacht development that may need some rating attention. l Most recently the committee have examined the rating of boats with relatively inefficient or low sail area, and heavy boat weight, after a collaborative study with the British Classic Yacht Club (BCYC) and naval architect Jack Gifford. A research project involved looking back at BCYC race results over the past decade and gaining a better understanding of the dynamic performance of this type of yacht. This study will benefit many heavier cruising boats together with most classic yachts. l Historically in IRC the default number of spinnakers has been set at three with an option to declare additional spinnakers. While three spinnakers have been generally considered a minimum number for boats racing competitively, this does not account for the fact that many club-level boats and also one-designs only use one or two spinnakers and have felt disadvantaged under the rule. To encourage boats with a reduced spinnaker inventory IRC has changed to allow boats to declare that they will carry fewer than three spinnakers – and they will now see a rating benefit as a result. l The treatment of draft has been researched and reviewed by the technical committee following a general acceptance that deep-draft boats have been favoured (at least not discouraged) under IRC. The review has resulted in a lower rating cost for relative shallow draft and higher cost for relative deep draft. The IRC technical committee also receives proposals and feed-
back from the representatives of the 48 IRC countries who meet annually at the IRC Congress. The IRC Congress is the governing body of IRC – it agrees all rule changes and also shares develop- ments and experiences of IRC racing around the world. At the 2018 meeting there was a request to remove the decla-
Narrow narrow but a pretty good IRC boat in its day, and for most days thereafter. An extraordinary no expense spared preparation programme plus a top crew have somehow kept the Reichel/Pugh 100 Wild Oats on top of the Hobart fleet for the past 13 years – not a bad testament either to how the IRC rule treats big boats at the same time as dealing with a ridiculous spread of smaller designs of every type. Oats began life in CBTF twin (fore-and-aft) rudder configuration. Since then she has raced with a DSS foil, canard and just about everything else that can happen below the water. But as a simple canting-keeler she now seems faster than ever…
definitions, to match ORC, and conversely ORC have tabled other rule changes to better match IRC. The managers and users of both systems are learning from each other’s experiences to improve both systems and make life easier for sailors worldwide. So, in part prompted by these developments, the Universal
Measurement System has gained renewed energy, with an eye also on the next combined Offshore World Championships at New York Yacht Club in 2020 for which there is a strong desire to make the task of joint rating certification simpler for everyone.
IRC 2019 Many of our pinnacle classes, including the Maxi72s and Fast40+, compete under IRC, a level of competition that provides an important testing ground for rule development, pushing the limits of the system and its rating formulations. However, a larger proportion of our certificates are issued for club-based cruiser-racers, where we are just as determined to deliver fair and close racing. This year has seen some important developments, largely aimed
32 SEAHORSE
ration of a forestay ‘adjustable but never adjusted while racing’, an option that until now had no impact on rating. The request was due to the difficulty of ever policing such a rule and the parallel desire to adjust the forestay when conditions change during an offshore race, especially on larger boats where a light wind setting could be dangerous in strong winds. So, for 2019, all boats may now adjust the forestay while racing if they have an appropriate system onboard, but all such boats will now receive a rating penalty regardless of whether they use that system or not. There have also been rule and definition changes for rig
measurements and setting of sails while racing. The 2019 IRC rule is at:
www.ircrating.org.
And now IRC had another good year in 2018 with all our usual big events going off well, including the Rolex Middle Sea Race and Sydney Hobart, as well as the IRC Europeans in Cowes, plus the first ever IRC/ORC combined Offshore World Championship in The Hague. The latter, notably, also led directly to today’s much improved
technical co-operation between IRC and ORC – which benefits the users of both systems. 2019 looks to be another exciting IRC year with another (instantly sold-out) Rolex Fastnet in August, the IRC Europeans in San Remo in June, the IRC North American Champion - ships, the Fast40+ and HP30 circuits, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and numerous other major IRC championships around the world… No peace for the wicked.
Finally IRC certificate holders… don’t forget to download your digital editions of Seahorse for more IRC information and features. Jason Smithwick, rating office director
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