Rosebud /Team DYT Wins 2009 US-IRC Gulf Stream Series
2010 Series Announced

Posted Wednesday, December 23, 2009

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(December 21, 2009) -- Rosebud/Team DYT, the Farr-designed STP65, sailed by
owner Roger Sturgeon of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has won the 2009 US-IRC Gulf
Stream <http://www.us-irc.org/> Series (GSS) Trophy. The award will be
presented next summer at the New York <http://www.nyyc.org/> Yacht Club
Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex, which will also host the 2010 Rolex
US-IRC National Championship from July 21-24.

"The US-IRC Gulf Stream Series is a fantastic way to judge sailboats on a
level playing field," said Sturgeon. "There were plenty of different inshore
and offshore races that we could enter to qualify for the series, and the
comprehensive ratings system allowed for boats to be ranked against each
other in an extremely fair manner. Rosebud/Team DYT is optimized for
all-around racing, not just downwind or upwind, and this series is a true
test of all racing conditions. The GSS scoring formula is complicated
enough that we didn't know if we actually won the series. It is an honor we
proudly accept, and we challenge others to campaign their way to the top
next year."

On the way to winning the fourth annual US-IRC GSS, Rosebud/Team DYT logged
some impressive finishes. It finished first in the Ft. Lauderdale to Key
West Race, Pineapple Cup Montego Bay Race, Ft. Lauderdale to Charleston Race
and Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex. It also finished second in
the Acura Key West Race Week and the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta
presented by Rolex before going to Europe where its successful season there
ended with a fallen rig in rough conditions at the Rolex Middle Sea Race.

Finishing second overall for the 2009 US-IRC GSS series was Privateer, a
Cookson 50 owned and skippered by Ron O'Hanley (Ipswich, Mass.). The boat
finished first at the Pineapple Cup Montego Bay Race and Block Island Race
Week, second in the Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race, Acura Key West Race
Week and New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta, and third at the Ida Lewis
Distance Race.

"US-IRC is delighted to have had two excellent programs at the top of this
year's GSS," said US-IRC President John Brim, who won the series in 2008.
"The wide range of events these two boats entered in 2009 show the great
diversity of the Gulf Stream Series, and we are looking forward to an
exciting and expanded series for 2010."

Brim explained that 19 events will make up the 2010 GSS (an increase of
three events over last year), with events running as far north as Newport,
R.I., and this year stretching deeper into the Caribbean to include the
second running of the RORC's Caribbean 600.

2010 US-IRC Gulf Stream Series Announced

The US-IRC Gulf Stream Series (GSS), America's only year-long racing series
that spans the entire East Coast of the U.S.A. and Caribbean islands,
returns for its fifth annual running in 2010 with an expanded list of events
that starts with the 2009 Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race (January 13) and
ends with the Storm Trysail Club IRC East Coast Championship (October
29-31).

The 2010 series will follow the format of the 2009 series with a few minor
differences.

Yachts will be entered in the series automatically when they compete in
their first series event. All yachts that qualify by sailing the required
number of long distance, medium distance and regatta events will be scored
for the series.

The races and regattas will be divided into three groups as they have been
in the past. To qualify for the series a boat must participate in the
required number of events from Group 1 - Buoy Races (5 required), Group 2-
Medium Distance Races (2 required) and Group 3 - Long Distance Races (1
required).

The Groups are:

 

Group 1 - Buoy Races (5 events required)

Key West Race Week, January 13, 2010

Miami Grand Prix, March 4-7, 2010

International Rolex Regatta, March 26-28, 2010

Charleston Race Week, April 8-11, 2010

American Yacht Club Spring Series, April/May 2010

New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex, June 11-13, 2010

New York Yacht Club Race Week by at Newport presented Rolex/Rolex US-IRC
National Championship, July 21-24, 2010

US-IRC Long Island Sound Championship, September 18-19, 2010

American Yacht Club Fall Series, September, 2010

Storm Trysail Club IRC East Coast Championship, October 29-31, 2010

Group 2 - Medium Distance Races (2 events required)

Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race, January 13, 2010

Miami to Nassau Race, November, 2010

Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race, May 21, 2010

Around Long Island Regatta, July 29, 2010

Ida Lewis Distance Race, August 20, 2010

Stamford Vineyard Race, September 3, 2010

Group 3 - Long Distance Races (1 event required)

Ft. Lauderdale to Charleston Race, March 31, 2010

Newport to Bermuda Race, June 18, 2010

Royal Ocean Racing Club Caribbean 600, February 2, 2010

For more information on the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series and US-IRC Foundation,
please visit www.us-irc.org or contact Luiz Kahl at luiz@us-irc.org

More About US-IRC

The US-IRC Foundation, Inc. (www.us-irc.org) works in cooperation with US
Sailing (www.ussailing.org) to support and develop the use of the IRC rule
in the USA. US Sailing is the authorized body that issues IRC certificates
under the auspices of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC)
(www.rorcrating.com). The US-IRC Foundation is governed by a Board of
Directors comprised of leading offshore sailors from throughout the US.

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.
Supporting partners for the US-IRC rule this year are Rolex Watch U.S.A.,
Inc., New York Yacht Club, Storm Trysail Club, St. Francis Yacht Club and
Oak Hill Yacht Club.

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 8000 certificates issued in over 35 countries and 625 IRC yachts
active in the U.S.

For more information on US-IRC, contact Luiz Kahl, (313) 886-4539,
luiz@us-irc.org or visit www.us-irc.org