One-design racing is highly competitive with all boats built to strict class rules, fostering tight, tactical racing. A step away from this is single-class racing, with a degree of flexibility in design but usually with constraints on key parameters such as length, displacement, sail area, draft and sometimes materials.
What does this have to do with IRC racing? If you had the chance to race your optimised IRC boat against a fleet of identical boats, would you adjust your sailing and development approach? Without the variable of differing boat designs, your focus would likely shift entirely to optimising boat speed, crew work and equipment within a fixed set of constraints. This shift can lead to significant performance gains.
Read more in the April 2025 IRC article.
