RORC Rating Office to deliver series of Cruiser/Racing Seminars

by Peta Stuart-Hunt on 29 Jan 2013 World renowned as a centre of excellence for measurement, the UK-based RORC Rating Office, the technical hub of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), is delivering a series of Seminars to clubs around the UK this Spring. The main focus of the presentations is to examine the current state and future opportunities for club cruiser racing at a local level. The aim of these 'roadshows' is to encourage all the clubs in a specific region to work together to offer cohesive and attractive racing to club sailors for the benefit of all.

The idea for the seminars came from a survey run by the Rating Office last winter, which showed that sailors had many varied priorities and concerns about racing, either under Spinlock IRC or local handicap/PY.

The Seminars are being presented by Mike Urwin, RORC's Technical Director, who explained: 'These seminars will offer a discussion forum about improving turnouts generally; the advantages of dual scoring, class splits, types of courses, and any other issues relating to cruiser racing. They should also dispel some of the many myths surrounding IRC, such as the idea that it is only suitable for grand prix racers, which is very far from the truth!'

Mike will also be explaining the highly practical initiative for 2013, the Limited Validity TCC, for those who might like to do one or two IRC events a year.

In addition, members of the RYA Technical office will be attending at least one of the seminars to introduce the new National Handicap scheme for Cruisers (NHC).

The RORC Rating Office is urging all the individuals undertaking key roles at the local clubs to attend, such as the sailing secretary, club secretary, captain of racing and other flag officers; and of course the sailors, whether they usually race PY/ local handicap or Spinlock IRC. All are welcome.

There are currently nine events scheduled between the end of January and the end of March, with venues stretching from the Isle of Wight on the South Coast to Inverkip on the Clyde in Scotland. Others include South Wales, the East Coast and the Channel Islands.

Full details of the venues and dates can be found here.