IRC rating and performance

I'm looking at two boats, one is a radical racer with a big lead bulb at the bottom of a high aspect keel, and a wide, flared hull. It looks like it ought to go like a rocket. The other is a more traditional design, with around the same displacement, same length, and a less deep, cast iron keel, and a slightly smaller rig.

I would have thought the former would be significantly faster, but in fact, according to its IRC rating, it is only about 3% faster. Is the IRC rating an unrealistic guide to performance, or do all the radical features make little difference in practice?

 

If you ask me, an IRC (or any other) rating is only relevant if you actually plan to do some serious racing.

If you're interested in a good all-round boat for cruising and maybe a bit of friendly club racing, I wouldn't even bother with the boat's rating. There are many other factors that are far more important if you're actually cruising the boat.

A speed difference of 3% is 158 feet per mile- not much of a gap. Odds are your first boat is designed to cheat the rule to some extent, thus earning a rating that makes it appear slower than it really is. Of course, just because something looks fast, doesn't mean that it is fast- or that it will be able to keep up that pace in rougher conditions.