How about no handicap? Run what you brung?
No, I don't think most agree that PN doesn't work. It has limitations on how well/fast it can issue numbers for new designs; otherwise, it's as good (or bad) as any other system.
Most people complain when they lose a race and blame the number (doesn't matter what system is used, BTW). No one remembers their horrible start, blowing tacks, sailing on the unfavored side of the course, etc.
Sitting around coming up with personal handicaps sounds worse than regional PHRF ratings in terms of big-picture fairness and sustainability; but if it gets people on the water, and everyone is happy, I'd call that a win.
WE are US Sailing. It's been said in this thread (and others): join, show up and make a difference. Have a better idea? Propose it, but don't expect someone else to own it.
Mike
Mike its BROKEN.... facts on the ground make it so.
The system is BROKEN when it simply can't turn the crank as it did 20 years ago and generate a current table.
It is broken when the underyling assumptions are no longer valid.
Assumption...
Boats contributing to the rating are in
racing shape
with
racing sails
All of the boats in the dead boat society probably have dead sails and are not in racing shape. Reporting the results for you 25 year old prindle 16 with sunrise sails vintage 1984 won't help! BUT... the system includes these data and the the prindle 16 gets Slower over time... Really? IT IS BROKEN!
Assumption, Boats are actively racing in ONE Design Fleets AND they race in a handicap race to contribute to the data...
Fact of life... ONLY Hobie 14s, 16s, 17s, 18s, 20s, F18s F16s, Nacra 17s, A cats and Isotopes can make this claim.... (They hold a Nationals each year)
The rest of the ratings table should be FIXED in concrete but then you would have to declare the PN system BROKEN...... because now you are using PHRF discretion to set the ratings by freezing the dead boat society.
The active one design sailors rarely if ever compete in handicap... (Dave would rather poke out his eye then race handicap) so... the assumption that the top of the class racers SAILING THE BOAT to its max contributes to the rating is not valid... The SYSTEM is broken.
You also need a fleet of boats racing handicap... So... are two boats a fleet (M20).... is one boat a fleet (CFR20)... How many Nacra carbon 20s are racing? I think of a fleet as 10 boats... So did the PN committe years and years ago.
The reason is.... you don't want to have a class rating determined by one single individual. (it is his personal rating...)
Finally, you need valid data ie WL races with enough bench mark boats racing as a fleet eg more then one ..... to compare the hot new boat performance.. which also should be sailing as a fleet.
We simply don't have that much of this kind of racing anymore.
Portsmouth is dead! the 21st century killed it. It is most certainly broken.
Now... can you make up ratings and add them to the PN table using PHRF... Absolutely... but that is not Portsmouth.... that is a PHRF table for beach cats.
The PN committe can't make up data... and they understandably don't want to go down the PHRF rabbit hole... So... they drag their feet and wait till the multihull world generates a fleet of Flying Tigers who go handicap racing against Hobie 16s.. That is known as waiting for hell to freeze over.
Kaos restates my point... Sailors tell the OA what they want to race under... If you pick SCHRS... you get a sanctioned handicap system. If you pick Portsmouth/PHRF... you get a sanctioned rating system... If you just know that the N17 rating should be XXX then you get the Portsmouth/Phrf/ Race to nowehere rating system..
The difference is transparency!
There is NOTHING for US Sailing to do here..
If US Sailing wanted to help... they could kick in some money to have USA based ISAF certified measurers get the numbers for unique USA only designs and expand the table to boats unique to the North American market... EG Hobie 20s... Supercat 22s and so on.
With a budget of zero... the MHC probably is not a player here.
I won't write that proposal to US Sailing until I have more widespread adoption of SCHRS for handicap racing in the states.
I basically disagree with all of your points except the last one.
That, and the fact that most of us would rather stay home than race under handicap, except for specific events (distance, charity, etc.).
There's an idea...
Mike
someone remind my senile brain... Handicap for most of us is a time-on-distance thing, right?
So if I have a PHRF of 87 and the boat next to me has a PHRF of 80, he has to sail more 7 seconds per mile faster than me to place ahead of me on corrected time?
And if he is sailing 6.0 knots my target speed (assuming we sail exactly the same distance) would be 5.5 knots (my PHRF is 8.75% slower so 6.0 kts x 91.25% = 5.47 kts)? And this would give us an identical corrected time?
So then, if I can achieve my target speed successfully around the course, my mad sailing skilz would focus on sailing a shorter distance and having smoother transitions (up/down) than my faster PHRF competitor?
That's pretty much it.
It sounds so easy, then. Just find a way to slow him down <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />
This is not NASCAR.
speak for yourself... You've seen me sail, right?
It's not that I'm doing it on purpose, but the cluster-f$k around the marks has everyone scattering around me. Apparently shrimping a spin is slow? Jeeze you think I'd get THAT memo....
PHRF time on distance is the most popular version of PHRF Some areas use PHRF time on time.... which is analogous to SCHRS, TEXEL or Portsmouth. In handicap racing... you race the clock... not your opponents... slowing down one boat will lose the fleet in a heartbeat. Clearing you air is paramount versus covering an opponent.
The point about applying PHRF principals to Portsmouth ratings is the idea that a committee, makes their best guess as to a fair rating for your boat. Of course, this is always tough for a one off boat in a particular PHRF region and/or when the types of racing vary (reachy point to point versus windward leeward courses or regions with strong currents). The PHRF/Portsmouth Committee is well intentioned but by definition... not transparent. Key West Race week runs Handicap racing... and owners with million dollar boat go down and race... So, you can get a reasonable amount of buy in for a PHRF rating. At Key west... authority trumps transparency.
Pick your poison....Transparency is really important for racer buy in and support.... especially for sailors who are predisposed to
screw the man.... we are different
points of view.
good to know.
But arguing ratings will never make me a better sailor. Going around in circles will, however. I guess I should focus on that..