Industry Partners:

2008 IRC East Coast Championship

With the 2008 IRC East Coast Championship (October 31 - November 2) just around the corner, I wanted to remind you to register soon. The Notice of Race, along with entry information can be viewed - and processed --  on-line at www.yachtscoring.com .

Now in its 9th edition, this regatta, organized by the Storm Trysail Club's Chesapeake Station, and again supported with the help of Annapolis Yacht Sales, Beneteau USA and Lewmar,  has quickly become one of the premier events on the East Coast for competitive yacht racing, with growing participation from boats and crews from New England, the West Coast and Canada.

Last year's Overall Champion, John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti (TP 52) from Los Angeles, CA will return to defend his title. We expect heated competition from Jim Mitchell's Vincitore (RP 52) from Switzerland as they continue the battle from the recently-concluded "Rolex Big Boat Series" in San Francisco. They'll be joined by Ashley Wolfe's Mayhem (TP 52) from Calgary, Alberta and Ennio Staffini's Anema & Core (TP 52) from Annapolis. And that's just the Class 1 boats.

We are also pleased to see the return of several Class winners from 2007, including Bill Sweetser's Rush (J-109) and Art Silcox's KA'IO (Ben 36.7). We expect tight competition in all classes, with a strong showing from a growing class of Farr 40s, including Larry Bulman and Jeff Scholz's Yellow Jacket and Erik Wulff's Endorphin.

As usual, the regatta will begin with a distance race on Friday, October 31 and followed by a full schedule of up to 6 Windward-Leeward races on Saturday and Sunday. Annapolis Yacht Club will be the venue for social events, with food and beverage service scheduled for Saturday evening and the awards party will be Sunday afternoon, following racing.

If you have already entered and your plans are confirmed, thanks from all of us. If you have NOT entered, or are still trying to decide, we encourage you to make your plans TODAY. This will be another great regatta:

Please remember that all entrants MUST have a valid IRC certificate for 2008. Thanks to US Sailing and US-IRC, you can get a 2008 certificate for 50% discount and it is valid for any events from October-December 2008. You do NOT have the have an Endorsed certificate. Visit www.ussailing.org for more details.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Bill Kardash
Regatta Chairman
2008 IRC East Coast Championship
bkardash@columbiadirect.net

Interested in using IRC?

Owners and Organizing Authorities wishing to adopt IRC for their events should contact US-IRC Executive Director Luiz E. Kahl for help with the process luiz@us-irc.org.

The US SAILING Offshore office administers the IRC rule in the US. Yacht owners should contact Nathan Titcomb at irc@ussailing.org for help with certificate application or with rating questions.

For all US-IRC latest news, events and seminars check out the US-IRC web site at www.us-irc.org and go racing with us.

Interested in using IRC?

Owners and Organizing Authorities wishing to adopt IRC for their events should contact US-IRC Executive Director Luiz E. Kahl for help with the process luiz@us-irc.org.

The US SAILING Offshore office administers the IRC rule in the US. Yacht owners should contact Eric Baittinger at irc@ussailing.org for help with certificate application or with rating questions.

For all US-IRC latest news, events and seminars check out the US-IRC web site at www.us-irc.org and go racing with us.