IRC Europeans Headline Poole Regatta 2026 Notices of Race

24th December 2025

Afloat.ie Team

IRC yachts race during International Paint Poole Regatta, with large fleets expected again in 2026 as Poole prepares to host the IRC European and Southern Area Championships.

IRC yachts race during Poole Regatta, with large fleets expected again in 2026 as Poole prepares to host the IRC European and Southern Area Championships.

Notices of Race have been published for the 2026 IRC European Championship and IRC Southern Area Championship.

Both events will form part of the International Paint Poole Regatta, scheduled for May 2026.

Organisers say interest is already strong, with 100 IRC boats having registered and total entries expected to reach between 125 and 150.

The IRC European Championship will run from 22 to 25 May over four days.

Racing will be open to IRC-rated yachts holding endorsed certificates.

Courses will be set in both Poole Bay and Bournemouth Bay.

The IRC Southern Area Championship will take place from 23 to 25 May.

This event will include a Two-Handed class alongside the main IRC fleet.

Racing will be spread across five separate race areas.

All competition will be managed by experienced race management teams, with an emphasis on fairness and race quality.

A full shoreside programme and preferential berthing are also planned for competitors.

Further details are available on the Poole Regatta website and the IRC website.

Entries are expected to open shortly, with competitors invited to register their interest online.

Published in RORC IRC Europeans

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IRC Europeans Championships

Alternating between the North and the South of Europe (the Channel and the Mediterranean Sea), the IRC European Championship is a flagship event of the IRC season and typically aims to bring together more than 60 boats.

IRC is a World Sailing-recognised rating system and the principal yacht measurement system for the rating of racing yachts worldwide.

The event is open to all IRC-rated boats. Typically, it will consist of a minimum of four coastal or tactical races (coefficient 1) and a long coastal race (coefficient 2).

Following the inaugural championship as part of Cork Week in 2016, the event sailed in Marseille in 2017, Cowes in 2018, and San Remo in 2019; the event sailed in Hyères, France in 2021 before moving to Brekens, Holland, in 2022 and in Cannes, France last June.

The IRC rating rule is administered jointly by the RORC Rating Office in Lymington, UK and UNCL Centre de Calcul, Pôle Course du Yacht Club de France, in Paris, France.