Race Director, Joff Bailey, explains the IRC Handicap Rating
When Cork hit a submerged reef last February, the fleet of Clipper 68’s was reduced to nine. They were built specifically for the Clipper Race and are unique. As such, it was impossible to find a direct replacement and building a new yacht would not have been completed before the end of the race. A yacht of similar dimensions was sought and the Challenge 67 came closest to meeting the requirement. They are proven yachts that have circumnavigated the world on several occasions with amateur crews on board.
As Cork is a foot shorter and weighs eight tonnes more than the Clipper 68s, the fleet is now racing under IRC Handicap Ratings to take account of the differences, Race Director, Joff Bailey, explains:
“Because the replacement Cork boat is one foot shorter than the Clipper 68 its sailing speed is not identical. The Race Committee therefore are using a well tested handicap system called IRC which is run and managed independently through a third party. The final race position for Cork is calculated by multiplying their overall elapsed time once they have finished by the ratio of the two handicap correction factors and then working out what there finish time should have been. The ratio of the handicap correction factors is 0.91 or 91 percent.
“The downfall in this system when applied to long ocean races such as the Clipper Race is that you do not know what position Cork is lying in at each of the three-hourly updates on the Race Viewer, as the position can only accurately be calculated once the yacht has finished. As a guide however, 91 percent equates to approximately five minutes and 20 seconds every hour, or 128 minutes every 24 hours. If you assume the teams are averaging seven knots boat speed this equates to about 15 nautical miles each day.
So this figure can be used as a guide each day to determine how well Cork is doing and should be based around the 1800 position report figures on the Race Viewer as that is the closest position report time to the race start.”