World Sailing’s In-House Certification supports fair play throughout the sport

To date, 30 World Sailing Class Associations and the IRC International Rating System, 26 National Class Association and the SRS – Swedish National Rating System – have signed up, as well as four Member National Authorities (MNAs), which together with World Sailing act as IHC Authorising Authorities for sailmakers around the world.

IHC applies to sailmakers and allows lofts to self-certify sails – once they have met certain standards. Certification can be obtained through the application of a Certification System Manual under licence issued by the World Sailing directly or the MNAs.

Sail Measurement Training is provided during the initial audit of manufacturers and at least every 4 years in order to ensure uniformity of measurements and confirm that the Equipment Rules of Sailing definitions and procedures are correctly applied.

All the Class Associations and Rating Systems accepting the IHC program have their Class Rules aligned with the World Sailing Standard where the Equipment Rules of Sailing applies. This ensures that the same standards and certification apply worldwide, leading to greater integrity in competition and confidence throughout the sport that the equipment being used is certified.

Jaime Navarro, World Sailing’s Director of Technical and Offshore, said, “In-House Certification is essential in supporting the long-term development of World Sailing Classes and the standardisation of the definitions and measurements procedure between sailors, manufacturers and measurers. We are very pleased with the widespread adoption of the system and encourage all sailmakers mass-producing one design sails of World Sailing classes and international rating systems to apply in order to maintain the very high standards of sails production and support sailors by producing equipment that is ready to race”

Twenty-five sailmakers are assisted by the MNAs and 10 directly by World Sailing, with Wilfer Sails (China) and Aqua Dynamics (Sri Lanka) recently registered to be part of the program after World Sailing Technical Specialists audited and trained the lofts.

World Sailing, as part of the wider project to bring the two international rating systems closer together, bring clarity within boat owners and spectators and, make sail measurements easier to understand within the sailing community, is working closely with the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) International Rating System to make it part of the IHC Programme and developing a universal measurement system (UMS) sail stamp.

A full list of participating sailmakers, classes and MNAs, along with more information on the program and how to become certified can be found on the World Sailing website.