IRC in the US and Caribbean

Further details of the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series announced

The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta scheduled for 3-5 March is now included as an event of the 2006 US-IRC Gulf Stream Series. St Maarten’s 26th annual Heineken Regatta joins the BVI Regatta as the only two Caribbean events in the series that begins in Florida with Ft Lauderdale to Key West  on 11 January and concludes with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary in Hamilton Bermuda on 23 June. Entry information for the Gulf Stream Series can be found  here , while for the St.Maarten Heineken Regatta entry details click here . Entry in the series can be made up to the time of the first series event that a boat enters.

The St Maarten Heineken Regatta had originally been included in the series but had been dropped from the series by mistake when event director Mirian Ebbers’ computer caught a virus and she lost communication with the organisers.

The Heineken Regatta and the BVI Regatta are both part of the Caribbean Big Boat Series for boats over 60 feet. According to Marion Ebbers one sailor who enjoys the St Maarten Heineken Regatta and the Caribbean Big Boat series, too, is American Robbie Haines. Robbie has been to St Maarten before with a couple of Roy Disney’s Pyewackets, but for 2006 he is coming back with Randal Pittman’s Ed Dubois-designed 90ft, canting keel hot shot, Genuine Risk. 

They’ll be lining up against Hasso Plattner’s Morning Glory and Tom Hill’s Titan 12 - two swing keels against the conventional appendage attached to Titan. Lately Russell Coutts has been steering Morning Glory, so perhaps he’ll be sailing in the Heineken Regatta  and the BVI Regatta, too.

About the Gulf Stream Series

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 in January ’06 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 Keeper Trophies. Perpetual trophies for individual and team competition are still being sought from other donors.

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 11th
         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/