12:08 AM Tue 9 Mar 2010 GMT
Yachting Australia is advising owners to take care in declaring changes to your boat and is helping to explain changes to IRC ratings.
Getting an IRC certificate in the first place is one thing, but keeping it valid and up-to-date for racing is another. Any changes made to the boat may affect the boat's rating and/or invalidate the certificate entirely. Fortunately dealing with this is straightforward.
To apply for an amended or trial certificate(s), contact your local IRC Measurer or Yachting Australia. The IRC Measurer will help clarify the requirements of IRC and check any measurements to accompany your application.
The IRC Measurer will provide instructions and new measurements to Yachting Australia in writing and payments for applications can be made via cheque or credit card, with those applications for 2009 IRC certificates, received from 1 March to 31 May 2009, receiving a 50 per cent discount.
Any changes on the boat may affect your IRC Rating, and if so you will need to apply for an amended certificate. Any number of changes can be made for the price of one amendment.
For those unsure whether a change will require an amended certificate, please check with Yachting Australia. In some cases you may just be asked to write a note about a change which can be kept on file.
Common changes which may require an amended certificate are:
? new sails, either larger or smaller
? addition or removal of sails (e.g. additional spinnakers for a passage race)
? new or changed rig details
? added or removed internal ballast
? keel change
? hull change, e.g. fairing of IOR crease
? weighing/measurement
? alterations to interior/fit out
When any of these changes are made, Yachting Australia requires that official verification of the new measurements is made by an IRC Measurer. Please note that sails must be completed before measurements can be taken and the application submitted.
Please keep in mind that Yachting Australia and the RORC Rating Office reserves the right to refuse to amend a certificate if they believe that the amendment is intended to take advantage of specific race conditions (e.g. rating with a No.3 only, two days before a weekend when it is forecast to be windy!)
If you wish to see the impact changing your boat will have on your rating before committing to the costs, you can run a trial. Running a trial certificate allows you to see what the rating effect would be if you made proposed changes to the yacht, rig or sails. Any number of changes can be made on each trial certificate but trial certificates are not valid for racing. If you decide to implement the change you will need to apply for an amended certificate. Please make sure you give full details of the proposed changes, to avoid any misunderstandings.
No more than six trial certificates will be permitted in any one calendar year for any existing boat, of which not more than three may concern modifications to the hull and appendages. The RORC Rating Office reserves the right to refuse to run trial certificates without stating a reason.
If you decide to go ahead with the amendment, Yachting Australia requires official verification of the new measurements by an IRC Measurer.
Owners should note that as you revalidate, your rating may go up, down, or stay exactly the same, depending on how it is affected by changes to the IRC calculations. It will not automatically go down each year due to age allowance, although this is an integral part of the TCC calculation. Please remember that IRC is a live rule, meaning that the mathematics behind the calculation of TCC is continually adjusted on an annual basis to reflect changes in elements such as design and sailing practices. The changes affect generic types and characteristics, not individual boats or designs.
This is an important facet of IRC to understand. Each year a number of boat owners, whose ratings have increased after revalidating, contact Yachting Australia seeking an explanation. In most cases no changes have been made to the boat, as people generally accept a larger spinnaker will mean a higher rating. Great care is taken to explain what has changed is the mathematics controlling the calculation of ratings, and these changes are applied across the entire fleet of IRC boats worldwide, not just theirs.
Those planning towards the 2010 IRC year can see the 2010 IRC Rule Changes as outlined in the IRC Yearbook and on the IRC website. The IRC Yearbook and revalidation packs will be mailed to all eligible boat owners during April 2010. Yachting Australia will provide copies of the 2010 IRC Yearbooks to major yacht clubs for the benefit of their members from May 2010.
For more information please contact Amy Howie at amy.howie(at)yachting.org.au or by phoning 02 8424 7410.
by Craig Heydon
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North Bondi, NSW
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