I'll begin the week with a bit of information about the boat I've been racing on for the past 5 years, which is also the boat I'll be racing on in the 100'th Chicago Yacht Club race to Mackinac, Cyclone.
Cyclone is a J/92. This is a model built by the company J/Boats. The model name is an indication of the length of the boat in decimeters. It draws a bit less than 6 feet deep, and has a beam of 10 feet in width. Though a bit smaller, the J/92 is rather simlar to the J/105. It has a fixed keel, an open transom, and a retracting bowsprit. In addition to the smaller size, a significant difference in design between the J/105 and the J/92 is the use of a tiller in the J/92 instead of a steering wheel. While it is capable of running downwind with a symmetric spinnaker and a spinnaker pole, it is not typical to rig a J/92 for symetric spinnaker. On Cyclone, the only spinnakers we carry and use are asymmetric spinnakers .
When multiple boats of an identical model race against each other it is referred to as "one design" racing. In a one-design race the boats typically all start together and the first one to cross the finish-line is the "winner". If there aren't multiple boats of a particular design near enough to each other and willing to race, boats can be handicapped according to various specification of the design of the boat along with real life testing of the limits of the boat. One such handicapping system is known as Performace Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) This handicapping system assigns each boat an expected difference in seconds-per-mile as compared to a standard. PHRF is the handicapping system we use in most of the races we participate in.
Example:
We race a 7.5 mile course. Cyclone's PHRF rating is 111, indicating 111 seconds slower per mile than the defined standard when sailed optimally. One of the boats we race against has a PHRF rating of 126. We cross the finish-line 2 hours, 30 minutes, and 13 seconds after the start of the race. Our competitor crosses the finish-line 80 seconds after us (2 hours, 31 minutes, 33 seconds). Since his boat is rated as being slower than ours by 15 seconds per mile, after our times are adjusted our competitor's finish time improves by 113 seconds more than ours does(15 seconds per mile X 7.5 miles, rounded up). We end up officially placing behind this competitor by 33 seconds.
In theory, if both teams sail their boats optimally with respect to the boat's design, we would finish 112.5 seconds before the competitor and after adjusting for the handicap, the race would result in a tie. By handicapping the boats, the race measures the teams ability to sail the boat, rather than the boat owner's ability to purchase a faster boat design.
In reality each boat has particular sea/weather conditions in which it performs best. When sailed optimally without any mistakes, the boat which happens to encounter favorable water/weather conditions will end up winning. The course of the race is typically set up attempting to neutralize any water/weather condition advantage a design might have over another. While the advantage is not always entirely eliminated by the choice of course, it is generally reduced to a manageable level. If one team is more skilled and sails their boat better, the difference in skill will generally overcome any small advantage their competitor might gain from water/weather conditions.
There are other handicapping systems (The Chicago Yacht Club uses Offshore Racing Rule, ORR, for the race to Mackinac). While I am unfamiliar with the specifics of any of the other systems, they all attempt create a race that measures crew sailing skill by adjusting appropriately for the intrinsic speed of the design of the boat.
Cyclone is a J/92. This is a model built by the company J/Boats. The model name is an indication of the length of the boat in decimeters. It draws a bit less than 6 feet deep, and has a beam of 10 feet in width. Though a bit smaller, the J/92 is rather simlar to the J/105. It has a fixed keel, an open transom, and a retracting bowsprit. In addition to the smaller size, a significant difference in design between the J/105 and the J/92 is the use of a tiller in the J/92 instead of a steering wheel. While it is capable of running downwind with a symmetric spinnaker and a spinnaker pole, it is not typical to rig a J/92 for symetric spinnaker. On Cyclone, the only spinnakers we carry and use are asymmetric spinnakers .
When multiple boats of an identical model race against each other it is referred to as "one design" racing. In a one-design race the boats typically all start together and the first one to cross the finish-line is the "winner". If there aren't multiple boats of a particular design near enough to each other and willing to race, boats can be handicapped according to various specification of the design of the boat along with real life testing of the limits of the boat. One such handicapping system is known as Performace Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) This handicapping system assigns each boat an expected difference in seconds-per-mile as compared to a standard. PHRF is the handicapping system we use in most of the races we participate in.
Example:
We race a 7.5 mile course. Cyclone's PHRF rating is 111, indicating 111 seconds slower per mile than the defined standard when sailed optimally. One of the boats we race against has a PHRF rating of 126. We cross the finish-line 2 hours, 30 minutes, and 13 seconds after the start of the race. Our competitor crosses the finish-line 80 seconds after us (2 hours, 31 minutes, 33 seconds). Since his boat is rated as being slower than ours by 15 seconds per mile, after our times are adjusted our competitor's finish time improves by 113 seconds more than ours does(15 seconds per mile X 7.5 miles, rounded up). We end up officially placing behind this competitor by 33 seconds.
In theory, if both teams sail their boats optimally with respect to the boat's design, we would finish 112.5 seconds before the competitor and after adjusting for the handicap, the race would result in a tie. By handicapping the boats, the race measures the teams ability to sail the boat, rather than the boat owner's ability to purchase a faster boat design.
In reality each boat has particular sea/weather conditions in which it performs best. When sailed optimally without any mistakes, the boat which happens to encounter favorable water/weather conditions will end up winning. The course of the race is typically set up attempting to neutralize any water/weather condition advantage a design might have over another. While the advantage is not always entirely eliminated by the choice of course, it is generally reduced to a manageable level. If one team is more skilled and sails their boat better, the difference in skill will generally overcome any small advantage their competitor might gain from water/weather conditions.
There are other handicapping systems (The Chicago Yacht Club uses Offshore Racing Rule, ORR, for the race to Mackinac). While I am unfamiliar with the specifics of any of the other systems, they all attempt create a race that measures crew sailing skill by adjusting appropriately for the intrinsic speed of the design of the boat.
1 comment:
Interesting post, tho a bit technical. Some of your readers may doze off halfway through the 2nd paragraph. :) Nice job hotlinking all the jargon.
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