RORC and UNCL are pleased to announce that IRC has been accepted by ISAF as an International Rating System at their 2003 annual meeting.

It had already been recognised by both the RORC and UNCL that the current somewhat British and French dominated governance system was in need of overhaul. This has now therefore been comprehensively reviewed recognising this and also complying with ISAF requirements.

This has resulted in the creation of an 'International IRC Owners Association' and associated Constitution, which can be found on p.61 of the 2004 IRC Yearbook. To summarise:

An International Congress will be formed, which will consist of one elected member from each country with an IRC fleet of at least 25 boats. For immediate purposes the RORC Rating Office will act as the secretariat for the Congress.

At a day to day level, IRC will continue to be managed by the two Rating Offices, our own in Lymington and UNCL's Centre de Calcul in Paris under the direction of the IRC Technical Committee.

There will additionally be an IRC Committee charged with overall management between Congress meetings.

Within Great Britain, the current (essentially GBR) Council will be dissolved to be replaced by a formal GBR IRC Committee. It is intended that initially this committee will comprise the current GBR members of the IRC Council plus additional members, who must be holders of an IRC certificate. Nominations for membership of this committee should be sent to the RORC Rating Office by 31 March 2004.

The anticipated timetable during 2004 is:

31 March Closing date for nominations for GBR IRC Committee

1 July National elected representatives to the Congress notified to the secretariat.

1 August Submissions received by the secretariat from national committees.

15 August Secretariat issues papers for Congress.

24 September GBR IRC Committee meets.

27 September Amended or further submissions received by the secretariat from national committees.

1 October IRC Congress meets in GBR (future venues to be decided).