IRC: Notes from the Kingdom

Here are some updates from the Royal Ocean Racing Club Rating Office, administrative home of the IRC handicap rule…

Removing standard fittings or changing your boat
It is (we hope!) common knowledge that removing items such as the saloon table or doors from your boat will increase the Hull Factor and therefore the rating, and must be declared. However, did you know that changes such as removing hull fittings such as toerails, or changing a production boat coachroof to facilitate sheeting, must also be declared? This may seem penal, but by our logic nobody makes this kind of change to make the boat go slower.

If you are planning changes to your boat and are not sure whether it needs to be declared, please get in touch with the Rating Office (or your local Rule Authority) and check. It is far better to do that and be told that it is fine, than to have your competitors complaining about it and spreading rumors.

IRC 2013 technical changes
IRC is a ‘live’ rule, in other words the maths behind the ratings is developed annually to reflect developments in design and research on generic features; this is why ratings often change from year to year and may go up or down. Although age allowance is automatically applied, this does not mean your rating will go down every year! For 2013, the IRC Technical Committee has made a number of changes to the calculation of IRC TCCs. Most of these have small effects, or affect only a small minority of boats. A summary of the changes has been published on the IRC website.