Sails for a good IRC handicap

[jonjo]

The recent thread on high tech sails was useful for me but I am unsure how these options affect an IRC rating. Some people seem to have inside knowledge of the black box that contains the IRC handicap formula.

What sail technology would the panel suggest for the following?

I will probably buy a racer/cruiser and equip the yacht as a cruiser/racer. I have no intention of racing around the cans but I would like a competitive rating for the occasional short-handed offshore race.

The primary sails would be a main, 110% furling jib and a furling code-0.

I am currently leaning towards Dacron cloth with some high tech fibers woven in, but would these sails get a generous handicap?

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[qsiv]

Sail fabric is not a component of the IRC formula.

For the Code 0, just be sure you can get enough luff tension - ours needs 4000 kg, which we do by easing the backstays, tightening the halyards until the handle wont move, then pumping the backstay back to where it belongs. Also, be sure it measures as a kite, not a headsail, otherwise you have just added a 160% genny as far as the rules are concerned.

FWIW, the new boat has 105% blade, and a non furling code 0, as a big genny (or Jib top) would have made our high rating even higher.

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[bedouin]

IRC no longer takes account of the construction of the sail - so laminates rate the same as Dacron.

You don't say what sort of boat you have - that has a great impact on the optimal wardrobe, and talking with other owners of the same or similar boats can help a lot.

From my own experience I would say that IRC seems to penalise large headsails so in many boats you can get do better by declaring a smaller headsail and using a Code 0 - but that really depends on how close to the wind you can get with the Code 0.

It also depends on what racing you are doing. Round the cans you can't afford to sacrifice too much up wind performance. For offshore racing you often have races that are primarily reaches and so sacrificing some close-hauled performance for a better handicap on the reaches can win you races.

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