Irc 52
Cookson · Botín & Carkeek · 2009
Updated
The Irc 52 is a 15.85 m planing racing yacht designed by Botín & Carkeek and built by Cookson, first launched in 2009. It races in Class 0.
Length
15.85 m
52′ 0″
Beam
4.43 m
Draft
3.50 m
Displacement
7.2 t
Sail area
168 m²
On the podium
Where a Irc 52 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
17%
of 23 starts by 2 boats
Wins
4%
Read from 23 starts by 2 boats between 2024 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Irc 52 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
73° Loro Piana Giraglia2026
Rolex Middle Sea Race2025
ORC European Championship 2025 / 43rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE2025- ORC World Championship2024
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
14%
of these races end on the podium
Offshore & coastal
—
Not enough data yet: 9 races over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a Irc 52 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Farr 45 (7 meetings), Mat 122 (6 meetings), Grand Soleil 44 (Polli) (5 meetings), Sly 42 (5 meetings), Mat 124 (5 meetings), First 44.7 (5 meetings), Botin 44 (4 meetings), ClubSwan 42 (4 meetings), Grand Soleil 48 (4 meetings), Cape 31 (4 meetings), Sun Fast 3600 (2 meetings), Sun Fast 3300 (Andrieu) (1 meeting), Sun Fast 3200 (1 meeting), JPK 10.30 (2 meetings), Comet 38 (Vallicelli) (1 meeting), Dufour 34 (1 meeting), Arcona 380 (1 meeting), First 40 (1 meeting), Botin 56 (1 meeting), Farr 30 (1 meeting), J/109 (1 meeting), Elan 450 (1 meeting), IMX 40 (1 meeting), Cookson 50 (1 meeting), J/111 (1 meeting), First 45 (Briand) (1 meeting), X-41 (1 meeting), Xp 44 (2 meetings), Dufour 44 (1 meeting)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Irc 52 has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
7.47
36°
Beam reach
13.95
90°
Broad reach
16.44
135°
Downwind VMG
13.47
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
It needs pressure to show what it can do. Give it a fresh day and long legs and it delivers more than it promised; in a drifter it is working uphill.
Where it gains
Its best ground is on a reach once it pipes up, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage off the wind as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
There is no condition where it falls away badly, which is worth something over a season of mixed weather.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 1.0 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the upwind.
How fast is a Irc 52
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 5.05 | 6.63 | 7.14 | 7.47 |
| 52° | 7.73 | 9.53 | 10.20 | 10.81 |
| 60° | 8.20 | 9.96 | 10.74 | 11.47 |
| 75° | 8.56 | 10.49 | 11.59 | 12.68 |
| 90° | 8.45 | 10.53 | 12.26 | 13.95 |
| 110° | 8.06 | 10.57 | 12.27 | 15.16 |
| 120° | 7.75 | 10.58 | 12.71 | 15.42 |
| 135° | 7.02 | 10.05 | 12.79 | 16.44 |
| 150° | 5.87 | 8.80 | 11.02 | 15.55 |
| Run VMG | 5.08 | 7.62 | 9.55 | 13.47 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 1350 kg.
Rigging
Irc 52 rig and sail dimensions
A Irc 52 carries 21.13 m of mainsail hoist on a 7.18 m boom, a forestay 20.32 m above the deck and a 9.45 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 2 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails