IRC heads up coast

Talbot Wilson looks forward to this summer's regattas in the US

As regatta action moves up the Atlantic coast from Key West, Miami and Charleston Race Weeks, IRC racing on the east coast is off to a good start for the season. Events up east began with the American Yacht Club Spring Series sailed over two weekends April 28-29th and May 5-6th out of Rye, New York. 24 boats in three of the six divisions sailed under IRC while the others were one-design.
 
Stephen DeVoe in his Swan 45 Devocean took first in Division 1, Craig Albrecht sailing his Farr 395 Avalanche came first in Division 4, and in Division 4, Andrew Weiss and his J/122 Christopher Dragon took the silver.
 
On May 12th, 16 IRC boats in two classes, along with six PHRF spinnaker boats and nine PHRF non-spinnaker entries, sailed the Larchmont Yacht Club’s 52nd Annual Edlu Distance Race. The course was 32 miles from Larchmont Breakwater to Gong 11B off Eaton's Neck and back.
 
In IRC 1, Andrew Berdon took honors in his J/109 Strider. Carl Ollson’s J/105 Morning Glory won the IRC 2 division. PHRF spinnaker winner was Froza, a Frers R3 sailed by Tony Tertiropolous. Double Handed first place went to Macrae Sykes in his Santa Cruz 52 Bombardino, and the non-spinnaker winner was Helium sailed by Harrison Gill. All boats were finished before 1900 hours.
 
IRC racing on the weekend of May 18th includes Great Lakes Yacht Club Leukemia Cup Regatta in St. Clair Shores, MI, and the 2-day Jamie Boeckel Fund Memorial Regatta in Oyster Bay, NY. The Storm Trysails Club’s Block Island Race is May 25th and is the IRC highlight of the Memorial Day Weekend. This 185 nm race from Stamford CT down Long Island Sound, around Block Island and back is an annual rite of passage for many racing yachts.
 
The Block Island Race is a qualifier for the NORT series and for the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series. To qualify for the Gulf Stream Series you must have an endorsed IRC rating and you must sail at least one of the three long distance races, the Annapolis to Newport Race, the Pineapple Cup Montego Bay Race or the Marblehead to Halifax Race.
 
June 1st is the start of the Annapolis Yacht Club’s 475-mile Annapolis to Newport Race. Boats with a PHRF rating of 90 or less are eligible to enter IRC. Endorsed certificates are not required. New for 2007 is the addition of a Double-Handed Division. The Double-Handed Division will race under IRC and will have no rating restrictions. A popular feature of the last race was the Yacht Club Challenge. Get any three boats from your club to form a team and compete.
 
The Annapolis Newport Race is a qualifier for the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series and also a qualifier for three series trophies that are offered by Stamford Yacht Club. Boats racing in the IRC Division are eligible to compete for the Northern Ocean Racing Trophy. Boats in the PHRF Division are eligible to compete for the New England Lighthouse Trophy and boats in the IRC Double-Handed Division are eligible to compete for the Double-Handed Ocean Racing Trophy.
 
Over the June 1-3 weekend IRC racing will also be offered in the Leukemia Cup Regatta in Keyport, NJ, the Sail Newport Halfway Rock Regatta in Newport, RI, and the Stamford Y.C. Double Handed Regatta in Stamford, CT.
 
The US-IRC North American Championship will be raced in conjunction with the Storm Trysail Club’s Block Island Race Week June 17-22.