Trophies rounded up for new US-IRC Gulf Stream Series

New IRC race series to start with Ft Lauderdale-Key West this month

Team and individual performance perpetual trophies for the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series donated by friends of IRC across the country have been unveiled. Along with the 2006 keeper trophies donated by Premier Racing, they will be on public display first at the finish of the January 11th Fort Lauderdale Key West Race and at Acura Key West 2006 January 16-20.  

The US-IRC Gulf Stream Series starts with the Key West-Fort Lauderdale Race, one of the two optional medium distance offshore races. The other medium offshore option is the Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race starting May 26th.

Yachts may enter the series up until the start of their first event of choice.

The Gulf Stream Team Trophy is a solid one-piece cast bronze wave with two seagulls rising from and above the crest on a fine wire, all mounted on a sculpted mahogany base. It is awarded to the top two-boat team in the series. The Gulf Stream Trophy is a large cast bronze sloop on a sea of green patina, mounted on a mahogany base.  It is awarded to the overall individual winner. 

Prizes will be awarded at a special celebration ceremony at Barrs Bay Park in Bermuda at the conclusion of racing in the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta on June 23rd 2006. 

The Notice of Series for the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series is online here. Entry will be online through the same site.  Yachts will enter individually, and they may also form two-boat teams to compete for additional honors. Team entries do not have to participate in the same events throughout the series.

The US-IRC Gulf Stream Series starts this January with the Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race and concludes with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club’s Anniversary Regatta following the Centennial Bermuda Race in June. Premiere Racing, organisers of Acura Key West 2006 and Acura Miami Race Week, will donate the 2006 Keeper Trophies. Friends of the IRC have donated perpetual trophies for individual and team competition.

Scoring for the series will be managed by 1bigthink's Regatta manager package. To handle the diversity of courses and racing in both offshore and inshore venues, and to include one-design classes sailing in some events, David Ross’s company has developed a special scoring system that computes an IRC Corrected Average Speed (CAS) for the courses. 

Each yacht’s individual score in each event will be determined by her finish position in the fleet as determined by their CAS ranking divided by the number of starters in that fleet. Details are included in the NoS.

The US-IRC Gulf Stream Series includes racing in prominent, world-class events organized by some of the finest racing clubs in the world. Sailors have the choice between events best suited for their sailing programs.

The NYYC Annual Regatta and the RBYC Anniversary Regatta are required as is one of the two medium distance races... Ft. Lauderdale to Key West or the Block Island Race.  Two of the other events from the list of participating events must be sailed at the owner’s choice to complete the series:
 
• Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race January 11
         http://www.keywestrace.org/
• IRC races of Acura Key West 2006 January 16-20
         http://www.premiere-racing.com/
• IRC races of Acura Miami Race Week March 9-12
         http://www.premiere-racing.com/
•  St. Maarten Heineken Regatta March 3-5
         http://www.heinekenregatta.com/
• The Rolex International Regatta St Thomas March 24-26
         http://www.rolexcupregatta.com/
• The BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival March 27-April 2
         http://www.bvispringregatta.org/
• The Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race May 26-27
         http://stormtrysail.org/
• The New York YC 152nd Annual Regatta June 9-11
         http://nyyc.org/
• IRC Divisions of The Cruising Club of America and
     The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club
        Centennial Newport Bermuda Race starting June 16
         http://www.bermudarace.com/
• The Royal Bermuda YC Anniversary Regatta June 23
         http://www.rbyc.bm/