'Occasional' Racers to Qualify for New Limited IRC Handicap Cert

11th October 2012

#rorc – The RORC Rating Office acting as the GBR IRC Rule Authority will be introducing a new initiative in GBR in 2013. Owners who only enter one or two IRC races a year will be able to apply for an IRC Limited Validity (LV) TCC at a reduced price.

At the end of 2011 the Rating Office undertook an online survey primarily aimed at owners and clubs that do not currently use IRC. One finding of the survey was that a potentially considerable number of boats do only a single event each year and are deterred by applying for an IRC certificate because of the cost. Mike Urwin, RORC Technical Director, explains the idea behind the initiative:

"The Limited Validity TCC is aimed at encouraging these boats to try IRC with the hope that they will then upgrade to a full certificate in the future. It will be offered on a trial basis in GBR only for 2013, with a view to extending it to other IRC countries if the trial is successful. It will be a loss leader for the Rating Office since producing an LV TCC will involve the same amount as work as a standard certificate, but this is all about encouraging people into IRC racing".

The LV TCC is not available to boats that hold a current valid certificate, and is defined as "an IRC TCC issued by the IRC Rating Authority for use by a boat for a race or regatta (or part of) comprising races run over not more than 9 consecutive days including any lay days". Boats will be limited to holding two separate LV TCCs per year. The TCC will be compatible with standard IRC ratings so that Clubs can incorporate boats into their IRC classes with no changes other than some extra words in the Notice of Race. However, no certificate will be issued and the boat will not appear on the online IRC listings; clubs and events that have been approved to accept LV TCCs will receive a list of the ratings specific to their event. Clubs are encouraged to consider LVs for their main events and contact the Rating Office in good time if they want to participate.

The cost of an LV TCC in 2013 will be £1.50 per metre LH plus £5.00 per day of validity. An example cost comparison for a 10 metre boat entering a single 4-day event would be: Standard IRC certificate £101.50 (online fee), LV TCC £35.00. In addition, if an owner subsequently wishes to upgrade to a full IRC certificate a discount will be applied to the application fee.

Published in RORC

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