Big test for IRC in Rolex Sydney to Hobart

by Rob Kothe on 25 Dec 2004 When the Royal Ocean Racing Council in Britain conceived the Channel Handicap system, it was very much aimed at Club racing. However as IMS waned on the Australian keelboat scene, Channel morphed into IRC and over the last years it has accommodated water ballast and now canting keels.

In the 2003 Rolex Sydney to Hobart, the most successful yacht in the fleet was the Beneteau 40.7 First National Real Estate, co-skippered by Michael Spies and Peter Johnston, which won under the IMS handicap rule and was declared the Overall winner.

Interestingly she was also the IRC winner and would therefore have won overall, had the IRC handicap rule reigned supreme.

In the IRC category last year First National Real Estate took overall honours from Toecutter, the 31-footer designed, carbon racer. Third place went to Chutzpah, Bruce Taylor's production cruiser race, a Sydney 38.

In the 1998 Hobart, the IMS rule was encouraging tippy boats, not a good look for some of the toughest ocean racing conditions and certainly not good in breaking surf in the middle of Bass Strait.

In the record 1999 year, 40 foot IMS boats raced to Hobart faster than the 80 foot maxi Sayonara had a few years before, but tippy as they were, they all had stories of laying their masts in the water.

Australian sailors want to sail fast seaworthy stiff boats and that is exactly what the IRC rules have encouraged, in contrast to the IMS system and skippers decided that IRC was a much better offshore rule. A good decision, considering the forecast for tomorrow's race.


On January 29th last, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia announced the Tattersalls Cup for the Overall Winner of the 60th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race would be the first yacht on corrected time in the IRC handicap category. The decision means that almost the entire fleet will be eligible for the overall first place and to be winner of the historic Tattersalls Cup. Certainly the switch to IRC has dramatically increased the competition for 2004 with up to 90 boats competing for the Overall prize.

Tomorrow, the most high tech and fastest ocean racing fleet in the world will provide the biggest test ever for the IRC handicapping system, with 98 footers racing against 32 footers, the latest purebred high tech racers against 25 year old timber yachts.

Over the last six months, the American sailing community has embraced IRC, perhaps more as a reaction to the problems of its much criticised localised PHRF handicapping than anything else.

They too, rugged up enjoying a white Christmas will be watching an epic battle, raced under IRC.

Its seems that Santa has placed IRC supremo Mike Urwin under offshore sailors Christmas tree.http://rorcrating.com/