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ECHO Management Guidelines

Click here to download the PDF file.

Mission Statement

ECHO is a performance based personal handicapping system provided by the Irish Sailing Association for cruiser racing (1) .  The system is centrally controlled to ensure uniformity and continuity of the basic rule and locally administered to ensure efficiency and accuracy of current handicaps.

Recognising the very wide range of boats favoured by owners and the widely differing abilities of different crews the aims of ECHO are:

Assigning Handicaps

By assigning handicaps on the basis of boat and crew performance to ensure that as many competitors as possible in each race, sailing at or near their best, would have an equal chance of winning.

Maximise Participation

To maximise participation in cruiser racing by all levels of sailor in as wide a variety of boats as possible.

Promote Excellence

To promote excellence in racing by encouraging sailors to strive to improve their performance from race to race (2).

Letter and Spirit of ECHO

The letter and spirit of ECHO requires that owners would:
- Make a genuine effort in every race, and not seek to earn a handicap that is not a true and fair reflection of the performance potential of the boat and crew.
- Make the necessary disclosure where there has been a material change in the boat or its crew.

Give results equally under ECHO and IRC

As personal handicapping systems and boat rating or measurement systems are complimentary to each other, the Irish Sailing Association strongly urges clubs and regatta organisers to give results equally under ECHO and IRC in every race (3). 

 

(1). It is important to understand that the ISA is the ultimate authority for ECHO.  This allows it to act as guardian to the rule and to step in and resolve local difficulties as they arise from time to time.  It is also important to bear in mind that it is to the ISA that users pay their subscriptions and not to the local club or ECHO officer and consequently it is to the ISA that they look for answers when they have some question or grievance.

(2).  ECHO equalises the boats plus their regular crew, so that every competitor has an equal chance of winning and therefore the best effort on the day should win.  IRC equalises the boats only so that the most talented sailor should win.

(3).  Because they will generally produce different sets of results for the same race.  The ISA does not support the practice in some clubs of having separate ECHO and IRC 'divisions' and giving ECHO results only in one division and IRC results only in the other.