As a PHRF racer, I realize that assigning a single rating for a boat sailing in various conditions of wind, waves, etc. is a very poor substitute for a more complicated and more expensive solution such as IRC, etc. etc.
Adding modifications to this single number to account for sail configurations such as spin or non-spin is IMHO similar to adding lipstick to a pig. However, for overall winner determinations, a +15 seconds per mile adjustment to the rating when sailing non-spin has been used in some local distance races in order to award a winner. This seems to work reasonably for our club racing--after all this is club racing and our PHRF certificate costs all of ~ $20 per year! However, I have also raced in events where a combined trophy was awarded where there were spin, non-spin and cruiser fleets. In these events, sometimes the overall award was given to the winner of the most competitive class. IIRC this class was defined as the class in the fleet whose corrected times were the closest or with the smallest spread. Presumably this means that the first boat in this class had to work very hard to stay there. This may not work in your case but it is another way to combine the fleets--whether it is less arbitrary than a single number adjustment is another matter. FWIW, Charlie Nelson Water Phantom C&C 36XL/kcb cenel...@aol.com -----Original Message----- From: Rick Brass <rickbr...@earthlink.net> To: cnc-list <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Thu, Feb 28, 2013 1:46 am Subject: Stus-List PHRF ratings - Spin vs non-spin I help out with a local charity regatta called Pirates on the Pungo. http://www.piratesonpungo.org We are planning to do a couple of special trophies this year, one of which will go to the C&C sailboat that finishes first in the long pursuit race on the first day of sailing. While we plan to have both spin and non-spin classes for the PHRF boats in the regatta (with sub classes to keep the competition fair for all size boats), we want the special awards to span both spin and non-spin. NCPHRF, unlike some other regional PHRF groups, does not grant different spin and non-spin ratings. And the PHRF base ratings that we use for a lot of the casual sailors presume a spinnaker. So we’re thinking about creating an adjusted “NON-SPIN” rating for the boats in the special trophy groups that will let them compete relatively fairly with the spin boats in the same special group. I’ve been told that one of the clubs in Oriental, NC adds an arbitrary 11 seconds to the NCPHRF spin rating to get a “non-spin” rating – regardless of the size or type of boat. That doesn’t sound like it would be fair to the smaller boats like the 24, 25, or 27, and it might be generous for the larger boats like my own 38 or Charlie Nelson’s 36XL. During the past couple of weeks there was some discussion of how various clubs and local groups calculate a “non-spin” rating that lets all boats race in one class. I seem to recall one message that indicated 10% or 15% of the normal rating was added for a boat racing non-spin. But I think there were other methods, too. So the question for the wisdom of the list is this: What is a fair way to adjust the normal PHRF rating (which presumes a spinnaker) for a boat that is racing non-spin? Thanks for your input. Rick Brass Washington, NC _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com
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