First IRC European Championship

...to run in conjunction with Volvo Cork Week this summer

The International IRC Rating Rule, jointly owned by the RORC and l’Union Nationale pour la Course au Large (UNCL) will be attracting boats from all over the world to the port of Crosshaven in Ireland this year. From 10-15 July the inaugural European IRC Championship will be take place during the already well-established and popular Volvo Cork Week hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club. 

This addition to the global IRC racing calendar promises to bring boats together from all corners of Europe, where over 4,300 boats are rated annually under IRC, but is open to all 6,000 IRC-rated boats worldwide.

The Championship invites entries from boats with a valid 2016 IRC rating between 0.850 and 1.320.

The RCYC is expecting entries from around the globe. Early entries include boats from Ireland, Northern Ireland, the UK, France, the USA and Australia, with interest from South Africa. 


Back in 1990 Cork Week was one of the first regattas in the world to use the now ubiquitous windward-leeward race format, but even then the regatta included an innovative and varied mix of racing and 2016 is no exception: courses at the European IRC Championship will include Olympic, trapezoid, slalom and windward-leeward courses plus an eight hour coastal race, so every boat has a chance to shine on their preferred course type.  Results will be calculated using the simple time-on-time IRC time corrector, so competitors can easily see how they are performing around the course.

Another addition to the Week this year is the inaugural International Inter Services Sailing Competition, the Beaufort Cup.