STORM TRYSAIL CLUB

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Barby MacGowan, Media Pro Int’l, 401-849-0220, barby.macgowan@mediapronewport.com or Marcy Trenholm, Storm Trysail Club, 914-834-8857, stormtry@aol.com

West Coast Makes Way for Northern California
IRC Championship Series

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. (May 20, 2008) – The Storm Trysail Club and the San Francisco Bay IRC Owners Association have agreed to partner and organize the Northern California IRC Championship Series, which will consist of one popular ocean race and four around-the-buoys weekend regattas.

The 2008 series started in mid-May with the two-day St. Francis Yacht Club Stone Cup Invitational and ends in mid-September with the St. Francis Yacht Club's Rolex Big Boat Series.

"The Storm Trysail Club was one of the early promoters of IRC in this country, and IRC racing actually kicked off in the U.S. right here at the St. Francis Yacht Club's Rolex Big Boat Series," said local Storm Trysail Club member Jim Gregory. "so all the pieces have fallen into place quite nicely. IRC has been growing in the region ever since, and a regional IRC series will provide a focus for IRC here."

Gregory explained that the regattas in the new Northern California IRC Championship Series will consist of the following events:

• St. Francis Yacht Club Stone Cup Invitational - 5/17 - 5/18
• San Francisco Yacht Club/MPYC Spinnaker Cup (dual-scored IRC/PHRF event) - 5/23
• Santa Cruz Yacht Club Big Boat Regatta - 5/31 - 6/1
• St. Francis Yacht Club Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta (West Coast IRC
   Championship) - 8/1 - 8/3 4
• St. Francis Yacht Club Rolex Big Boat Series Invitational - 9/11 - 9/14

"The Storm Trysail Club will lend all the support it can to this series," said John Fisher, the commodore of that national organization, which is for sailors with extensive offshore experience. "We will be able to offer help marketing the events and assistance recruiting sponsorship. We are pleased to be able to help while growing our involvement in West Coast Sailing."

Currently there are over 40 boats with IRC certificates in the Northern California region. This past winter, a number of IRC boat owners gathered to form the San Francisco Bay IRC Owners Association and selected a number of existing regattas from San Francisco to Monterey Bay and in Santa Cruz to form the Northern California IRC Championship Series.

For more information, visit the San Francisco Bay IRC Owners Association website at www.Sfbay-irc.org or contact Jim Gregory, jim@jdgregory.com, 925-360-1186.

About the Storm Trysail Club

The Storm Trysail Club, reflecting in its name the sail to which sailors must shorten when facing adverse conditions, is one of the world’s most respected sailing clubs, with its membership comprised strictly of skilled blue water and ocean racing sailors. In addition to hosting Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex in odd-numbered years, the club holds various prestigious offshore racing events (among them the annual Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race and the Pineapple Cup Montego Bay Race); annual junior safety-at-sea seminars; and a regatta for college sailors using big boats.

About the San Francisco Bay IRC Owners Association

The San Francisco Bay IRC Owners Association was organized in 2007 to promote and support big boat buoy and ocean racing under the IRC measurement rule in Northern California and to encourage high-quality racing by supporting race organizers with a track record of providing excellent race management.

About US-IRC

The United States-IRC Foundation, Inc. (www.us-irc.org) works to support and develop use of the IRC rule in co-operation with US SAILING (www.ussailing.org), which is the authorized body that issues IRC certificates under the auspices of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) (www.rorcrating.com).

The US-IRC's mission is to promote and enhance inshore and offshore yacht racing throughout the country by expansion of the use of the rule. An IRC certificate is, in effect, an international passport for a yacht, enabling it to travel across national and international borders using the same certificate wherever it goes. The supporting partners for the US-IRC rule are Rolex Watch U.S.A., Inc., New York Yacht Club, Storm Trysail Club and St. Francis Yacht Club.

The annual US-IRC Gulf Stream Series, which starts in January and finishes in November, offers a comprehensive racing opportunity for sailors entering the major IRC events in the Caribbean and on the East Coast.

The IRC has been granted "international" status by ISAF. It has been in existence since 1999 (adopted in the U.S. in 2004) and is now the basis for more than 7500 certificates issued worldwide and 625 IRC yachts active in the U.S. The rule is used worldwide at a variety of different levels, ranging from local club races to major offshore events.

(end)