Half price IRC certificates

US Sailing launch initiative to get more yachts competing

US Sailing has once again taken an initiative to get more yachts sailing in IRC events this fall offering a special discount on IRC certificate costs. In co-operation with US-IRC, US Sailing has agreed that all new certificates or re-validations issued after September 30, 2008 will be priced at 50% off the regular price.

Discounted certificates will be issued after September 30th. They will be valid for all IRC events from October 1 through December 31, 2008.

US-IRC and US Sailing hope that yacht owners considering racing under IRC in Fall events everywhere will apply for a new certificate or re-validation now to be issued after September 30th.

Applications and a list of measurers can be found at http://www.ussailing.org/offshore/IRC/ . Completed applications and any questions should be directed to IRC@ussailing.org < mailto:IRC@ussailing.org >. This discount applies only to the certificate processing cost.

The renewal of this special offer for 50% discount on certificate costs follows the continuing nationwide effort to support sailing under IRC and make IRC racing more accessible to sailors.

US-IRC recommends the use of 'standard certificates' for IRC events other than championships where 'endorsed certificates' are often required. Final choice of standard or endorsed certificate is left to race organizers.

The standard certificate allows the yacht owner to submit specifications for the yacht based on his own or designer's and builders measurement data. This data could be supplemented by information from earlier rating certificates and manufacturer's brochures. In this event the boat will be assigned the lightest weight (least favorable) of others of its kind that have been weighed and measured. Custom boats will normally require weighing because there is no comparative data available.

The endorsed certificate requires the services of a US SAILING certified measurer and actual weighing of the vessel. The endorsed certificate will result in a more accurate rating vs. the standard rating for a similar boat.

Organizing authorities wishing to adopt IRC for their events should contact US-IRC Executive Director Luiz Kahl for help with the process at info@us-irc.org .

The US SAILING Offshore office administers the IRC rule in the US. Yacht owners should contact Nathan Titcomb at irc@ussailing.org for help with certificate application or with rating questions.