IRC Welsh National Championships 2022

Official Notice Board

NOR 9.4 - clarification

There is no requirement to physically attend the skippers briefing in Plas Heli - any points that require clarification can be raised on this WhatsApp group.

The organising committee is aware that boats may be constrained by draft leaving the harbour to make the first scheduled start - the race officers will ensure all boats are present before the first start sequence.

Mark H Thompson
Vice Commodore CHPSC
For the OA

Thursday 4th August 2022    13:00 BST 

The Dates for the 2022 edition of the 'IRC Welsh National Championship' has benen set:

5th to 7th August 2022

The IRC Welsh National Championships 2021, is scheduled to take place from Friday August 13th to Sunday August 15th. Despite the current restrictions, work is continuing from home on all of the organisational aspects of the championships, and we remain committed to running the event if at all possible.

Stephen Tudor - Championship Secretary said - “We continue to move forward with plans for the event and remain hopeful that by the time we get to mid-August - still seven months' away - the necessity to socially distance ourselves will have reduced sufficiently so that we can run some great boat racing in Pwllheli, following an ISORA race over from Dún Laoghaire“

Planned Classes

We will be running both the IRC 1 and 2 Classes inshore from a Committee Boat and  NHC and IRC Cruiser Classes from the Bridge. This year the IRC 1 and 2 classes will race a mixture of windward/leeward and fixed marks races.

This programme of racing is the new suggested format by the IRC congress and matches the style used for the IRC European and World Championship events

Should Government restrictions and guidance restrict our activities, we can adapt some our classes and racetrack styles, switching on or off various components with the minimum of lead time, and allowing us significant leeway, like last year and it’s not until mid-July before we need to make any big decisions.

The safety of participants and volunteers working behind the scenes is foremost in our minds of course, but providing that we can run an event that complies with all guidance in place at the time, then we fully intend to do so.
Notice of Race (NOR)

The Notice of Race is published here and online at the championship website www.ircwelshchamps.com and the Sailing Instructions(SIs) are scheduled to be published by July.

The entry procedure is open for all classes, and camper-van bookings can be made via the Plas Heli website. See Camping booking details here.

Any boat owners requiring accommodation locally, or who have any questions or suggestions relating to the planning of the championships, please reply to this newsletter or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and one of the event team would be delighted to help in anyway.

Social

We have a great social plan arranged, with a hog roast and local live bands on the deck as we come off the water, and this will be tweaked as we get a better idea of how the event will look.

We all look forward to a great long weekend of racing on Tremadog Bay and to welcoming you all to our sailing club and event centre.

Hwyl - Good Sailing

Mark Thompson
Vice Commodore
Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli Sailing Club

Bora Da Pawb

On behalf of the event management team, many thanks to all the competitors showing great patience and understanding with regards to the necessary steps we were required to take to hold our event, whilst interpreting Welsh Government regulations and showing consideration to the local community, to make the event both possible and meaningful.

It’s fortunate we have space at Plas Heli both ashore and in the bay, plus our shore side start/finish facility that helped us achieve this.

Thanks to the three race officers- Mike Butterfield (RDYC + PSC) Robin Evans (PSC) and Peter Dunlop (ISORA, PSC RDYC) assisted by Eilir Evans and Henry Wright at the PSC bridge, John Close on the PSC protector laying marks and providing on course management, Charlie Jones - Commodore RDYC and Gerwyn Owen (CEO RYA CW) for their guidance and advice that I sought leading up to the event, and finally to the flag officers of CHPSC (Jane Butterworth, Gerallt Williams, Stephen and Richard Tudor) who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes supported by their families, and to Jo for her support to.

Planning starts today for 2021 - we hope to get the live bands back on the deck (the event is not the same without seeing Neil Thomas busting his moves!) and a busy social programme to compliment the racing.
provisional dates 13-15th August 2021 with a proposed IRC format that mirrors the IRC World Championship

Hwyl - Good Sailing
Mark

The 2020 Event Results are all listed on the web site here

Amendment 1

Substitution of crew is allowed during the event without seeking consent from the Committee. This changes SIs 16.5

Amendment 2

8.2 (NoR) is herby amended to allow a later date of the IRC Certificate at the discretion of the Committee

Amendment 3

The list of Marks in the Sailing Instructions is amended to include the following:

• SCYC NE - 52 50.00N 004 27.00W (with kind consent of SCYC)
• Tom Buoy -  description changed from 'Yellow Can' - to 'Large Yellow / Orange Inflatable Mark'

 Dated 13th August 2020 11.15hrs

Croeso – Welcome to Plas Heli and the Spinlock IRC Welsh Championships, incorporating the Celtic Regatta.

Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli Sailing Club in conjunction with ISORA has led the way in North Wales, with a considered and steady return to keelboat racing, post the Covid Pandemic lockdown, with three well supported club races and two ISORA offshore events.

Both forms of racing having a careful regard to Welsh Government Regulations, and recommendations made by our sport governing body - RYA Cymru Wales.

It’s important to note that there are hugely differing regulations across the four home nations, and different again to our neighbours across the Irish Sea in Ireland.

For Wales there are regulations around interactions between households, with social distance remaining at 2m between multiple households, in any outdoor or indoor venue, and the number of households who can “exercise” together using their chosen sport remains at two. (of course, a household can be “extended” by joining another household, this can only be done once. This allows more people to interact without 2m distancing)

‍A recent change for us to consider, is the numbers of people that can participate in an “event” which is capped currently at 30 and the number that can gather at a venue. However crucially, in an “event there can be multiple households participating, but must maintain 2m distance protocols

So, where does this leave us? After much debate and taking advice from RYA CW and our partners Plas Heli and the Royal Dee Yacht Club, and discussing all the constraints imposed, we assessed that during an organised activity (event) that multiple households could sail together but must maintain 2m physical distancing. In addition, using “extended” households could be helpful to increase crew number without 2m distancing. However, recognising that not all boat owners could “extend” households, having potentially already taken this step with elderly relatives for example, we took the decision to limit crew numbers, as many other organisations (such as JOG, RORC) have done using the following formula:

IRC Fleets: Half the IRC rating crew number (rounded down) and add 1

NHC Fleets: LOA < 9m 3 crew > 9m 4 crew

Read more: Event Update 11th August 2020