Time to Renew

A message from Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Commodore Richard Colwell ...

“Now that we finally have some clarity as to this coming sailing season’s fixtures, it is timely to remind you about handicap certificate renewals.

IRC and ECHO CERT COSTS

Much of the cost is simply used to cover the admin of having these certs monitored, renewed and processed; as well as to cover the fees from RORC for providing IRC ratings in the first place.  The remainder of income from certs is ring-fenced to fund initiatives that support cruiser racing in Ireland, which are organised through the Irish Cruiser Racing Association.  

In recent years, ICRA has used this funding to promote and develop the sport, the bulk of which includes significant funding delivered to encourage and support the development of under 25 cruiser racing teams in clubs across the country.  Over and above this, cert income also supports regional bodies such as SCORA and WIORA to promote cruiser racing, and for ICRA to deliver a National Championships.  Funding from certs in any given year covers costs for that year and provides funding to ICRA for the following year.  As such the funds for 2021 are already greatly reduced to support these important initiatives, as many didn’t take out certs in 2020.  We hope that you agree these initiatives including the under 25 programme are also worth supporting.

Last year some Clubs allowed the use of 2019 certificates but this will not be the case this year.

REMINDER

A non-expedited cert can take up to 4 weeks to turn around before any event and would encourage you all to organise now before the season kicks off in earnest again.

Wishing all our members a very enjoyable 2021 season and don’t forget to register for the ICRA National Championships."

Richard Colwell
ICRA Commodore