IRC
So now you hold a current IRC certificate....
Amended or trial certificates, change of ownership and endorsement
Getting an IRC certificate in the first place is one thing. Keeping it valid and up-to-date for the races you wish to sail is another ! Any changes you make to the boat may affect your rating and/or invalidate the certificate entirely. Dealing with this is straightforward and is explained below.
Please note that VAT at 17.5% must be added to the quoted fee if payment is being made by a company or association of any kind.
To apply for an amended or trial certificate(s), please use the new amendment/trial form or simply send us an e-mail or fax. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Eurocard or Maestro (but not American Express). We have not yet set up a secure method of receiving credit card details by e-mail. Therefore there is a risk, if small, so if you would prefer not to include your Visa, MasterCard or Switch details in your e-mail, please note this in your message and telephone us with the details on +44 1590 677030, or fax them to +44 1590 679478 stating your name and contact number, and the yacht name & sail number to which they refer.
Alternatively write to us with a sterling cheque payable to Seahorse Rating Ltd, to the address shown above.
AMENDED CERTIFICATE
If you change anything on the boat, or buy new sails etc. that may affect your IRC Rating, you will need to apply for an amended certificate. You can make any number of changes for the price of one amendment.
If you are not sure whether a change you are making will require an amended certificate, PLEASE CHECK WITH US. In some cases we may just ask you to write us a note about a change which we can keep in the file for our information.
Common changes which require an amended certificate are :
new sails, either larger or smaller
addition or removal of sails
new or changed rig details
added or removed internal ballast
keel change
hull change, eg. fairing of IOR crease
weighing/measurement
If your certificate is Endorsed and you wish to keep the Endorsed status, we will usually require official verification of the new measurements. For instance, if you are having new sails it will save time if you ask the sailmaker to let you (or us) have the new measurements in writing. In other cases we may require a measurer to check new measurements.
We reserve the right to refuse to amend a certificate if we believe that the amendment is intended to take advantage of specific race conditions (eg. rating with a No.3 only, two days before a weekend when it is forecast to be windy!)
TRIAL CERTIFICATES
See trial certificates - conditions
Running a trial certificate allows you to see what the rating effect would be if you made proposed changes to the yacht, rig or sails. Any number of changes can be made on each trial certificate. Trial certificates are NOT valid for racing : if you decide to implement the change you will need to apply for an amended certificate.
We reserve the right to refuse to run trial certificates if we feel that an attempt is being made to take advantage of the Rule.
Please make sure you give full details of the proposed changes, to avoid any misunderstandings.
If your certificate is Endorsed and you decide to go ahead with the amendment, we will usually require official verification of the new measurements. For instance, if you are having new sails it will save time if you ask the sailmaker to let you (or us) have the new measurements in writing. In other cases we may require a measurer to check new measurements.
CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP (Re-registration)
If you sell your boat and it has a current valid certificate, this will be automatically invalidated.
If you buy a boat which has a current valid certificate, you will need to apply for re-registration. If the last certificate has expired you will need to renew it. Please contact us for a form (we can then check that we are sending you the correct form).
ENDORSEMENT
This is explained fully in the Endorsement section of this site, and in the the IRC Yearbook.
We suggest you check whether any regattas you intend to enter require Endorsement, and apply for it early as some measurement may be required.