IRC

Last night I put in one of my rare appearances at a GMORA board meeting.  Most of the business was mundane stuff - yearbooks and schedules and nominating committees - but the interesting item on the agenda was IRC. 

IRC is,of course, the new flavor of handicap rule that is sweeping into American sailing like a powerful squal line.  It is a hybrid between completely objective, often very technical,  measurement rating rules, like IMS, and the slightly simpler Americap, and completely subjective, empirically based handicap systems, like PHRF.  The formula that is used to derive a handicap from a set of measurements under IRC is secret.  The idea is that if no one knows what it is, no one can find loopholes to exploit.  Also, if the formula is secret, no one knows whether the results of the formula have been subjectively tweaked in any case.

This system started as the CHS (Channel Handicap System) in England, and has been quite successful there, spreading to France and other parts of Northern Europe.  Now, several events have adopted or announced adoption of the system for regattas in the US, and there is beginning to be a bandwagon effect.

I have mixed feelings about this, but on the whole I think it is a positive development.  There is certainly a need for an objectively based rating rule at the higher levels of the sport.  The trouble with PHRF and similar completely empirical systems is their inability to distinguish between the performance of the boat and the performance of the sailors who sail it. 

The history of non-secret, objective rating systems has been discouraging.  Smart designers,  backed by deep pockets owners, have brought more resources to bear attacking the rule looking for an advantage than the rule makers have had to defend it.  That, coupled with the natural reluctance to change the rule too quickly and thus make obsolete the investment in recent custom racing boats, have led to type-forming of boats with generally undesirable sailing characteristics.  For instance, the current IMS boats are tippy and slow, but not as tippy and slow as the rule thinks they are.

In Maine, the PHRF system still seems to work fairly well.  I hate to see what handicap racing we have diluted by the introduction of a separate set of classes.  Moreover, IRC is more expensive for the user, especially if one wants an 'endorsed' certificate, where your boat's measurements are checked by a designated measurer, which may discourage some would-be racers.

It does seem that IRC is quickly approaching critical mass. Races in Maine are sure to offer it at least as an option.  Whether it brings better racing or not is something we will have to wait and see...