GBCA Discussion Forum

I noticed a post where someone took note of our Rum Race Buoy and alerted the USCG of it's location. They noted they were going to push for it to be removed. We will look for alternatives...

Bring her out... I have 4 TGIF's scheduled... It is very informal... Just start using the Rum Race matrix.

Quote from: Bee on July 01, 2019, 07:43:59 PM
This is bullshit.  Stinger turner her results in for Rum #2.  Finished ahead of Harms Way.  Don't see that reported.

The results are auto-populated from what is entered. If the result is not listed, more than likely it was an user error.

A simple email asking the status or issue would have been more appropriate.

Quote from: Tye Dyed Gary on June 27, 2019, 08:21:38 PM
  There is a problem with the NOR's and registration for the Mixed Doubles. The NOR's say October 6&7, 2018. While some of the information is accurate, the dates are all wrong and need to be corrected.
  While trying several time to register for the Mixed Doubles, that web site would not come up and I would be directed to the Single Handed registration. Plus it would not allow me to correct this error.
               PLEASE, Fix this lack of accuracy and registration mix up.

NOR posted this morning. Links below...

http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/19363

http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/19371

I look forward to you taking charge and running the Performance Cup Regatta and thank you for volunteering... It is September 14th, so you have plenty of time to post the NOR. 

I added the link on the front page of the web site. Under Rum Race section

It's that time of year again... Time to prove to your crews that you CAN sail the dang boat by yourself. Infamous GBCA Singlehanded Regatta is July 13th and the Mixed Doubles (Divorce Cup) is July 14th.

The kids are out racing locally... time for your to go racing yourself.. .

I'll get NORs up soon.

I was not able to move the mark. If someone has a powerboat, just lasso it and drag it to where you feel is safe - and post of the new location.

Thanks Jim.  Jay did pass this along to me. I will look at moving the mark north a bit to allow some additional clearance.

Thank you everyone who came out to play Saturday.. It was fantastic wind and a great beat (for a mark placed 6 months ago).  I counted 52 boats. What did y'all get?

Sorry I as not able to make the party and answer questions, but I hear we have quite a few people willing to help volunteer....

I apologize for the technical mishap on the score recording. Thank you Jeff for taking the first 6.. you were smokin'... If you could email them to me, I'd appreciate that.  For everyone else, please send me your: Skipper name, Boat name, Finish time, class sailed, boat behind, boat in front.  I'll work with our Technical Department to get these entered.

To answer previous questions; Racing has become more complicated to have just a simple spinnaker and non-spinnaker. We have the divisions to keep similar boats racing against similar boats.

For the SA/D separation, it was brought to my attention last week (I think) that I had inadvertently swapped the direction and I had made an amendment to the SIs. I had posted on this forum the change. The definition of the Racer/Cruiser distinction can pulled up the phrf-gb web site (www.phrf-gb.com). My apologies for the confusion. Again, the thought is to have like boats sail against like boat, but with decreasing turn-outs and increasing number of boat designs. The "sailboat box" is much bigger now than it was then. This is something you have to deal with.

Quote from: WTnick340 on May 21, 2019, 10:42:20 PM

Quote from: STuma on May 16, 2019, 05:09:03 PM
Boats that are going to race in the Club Handicap Spinnaker class will restart their rating with an assumed PHRF rating.

If we decide to race in the Club Handicap Spinnaker class, how do we get this assumed PHRF rating so we know what our start time on Saturday will be?

Email the Fleet Captain at FleetCaptain@GBCA.org the boat details; type, largest genoa size, prop type (folding 2, feathering 3, fixed, etc..) and keel type and approx depth. With surface research, we will assign a starting handicap. Please keep in mind that this rating will more than likely change as your finishes are reported. With this system, a yacht's rating is adjusted depending on how the yacht finishes and is not to be compared to an official PHRF-GB handicap.

Let me know if you have any questions....

I have made an amendment to the SIs regarding class divisions.

In section VII, I added the verbiage: A yacht that qualifies as Racer/Cruiser may race in the Racing Spinnaker Class with the Fleet Captain's approval from a written request.

Thank you for everyone's input. This is new, and we have several areas in the US watching how this runs.

Quote from: BobCrosby on April 19, 2019, 01:19:35 PM
After careful review of the sailing instructions (and no replies to the contrary) I see a reference to GBCA Club Handicap rating at the bottom of page 1 in the start time equation (which I agree should use 11.25 instead of 12.81). From that I assume there will be a club handicap class. I will start at my club handicap time tonight. It should be a fun fast race tonight.

Sorry for not responding previously. There are no official classes.. Maybe look at it as a big fleet race...

Quote from: ECSimonson on May 17, 2019, 09:49:08 AM
The SA/D class divisions in your post and in the SIs are reversed.  High performance boats have higher SA/D ratios than racer cruisers and the SIs imply boats with lower SA/D are in the racing spinnaker class...

Eric, you're right.. corrected.. thx.

Quote from: derklauer on May 17, 2019, 08:39:31 AM
Scott, why are these class/rating decisions not being put to a community vote (maybe I missed it)? I just went through the same issue with the Shoe Regatta class divisions PHRF w/l vs ORC w/l which resulted in a class being killed. I think the intent here is good but it's going to be a lot harder to get the boats who leave because they are tired of these seemingly random changes to come back, then to attract the boats that are sitting at the dock.

You coherently outlined why you think "your" approach is better and I appreciate it...now put it to a vote.  At the moment the only mechanism to vote is to register for a race or not, and the numbers don't lie.

I understand your point. But, not every decision a board makes needs or can go to a community vote. This is why the community elected a group of people to make these decisions. If you have an opinion on how races should be run or how an organization should be run, I encourage you to get involved. I would love to have you on the board next year... I can make that happen. I could really use your help in running the Singlehanded and Mixed Doubles regatta (an easy two one day events) this year.

But you're right, you can vote by entering or not entering regattas. I see you voted in agreenance with the split. There have been several events that I have not entered because of something associated with it I didn't like or agree with. Luckily, you have a dozen races you can do locally. I would be willing to sit down and listen to why you think participation is down. I'll even set up a meeting between all the clubs. I would be willing to pass this enlightenment to other clubs across the US, because I talk with them constantly on how to improve participation. I have been racing on Galveston Bay for almost 40 years and have seen a lot of changes. I understand that things have to change as society changes and people acquire different priorities. I have many opinions on why participation is down, but I'm working to stop the bleeding and bring boats back out.

I truly appreciate your concern about participation and how to keep people on the water and look forward to seeing you on this side of the flags...

We have the Sailing Instructions for 2019 Rum Races posted. We have made a few changes to hopefully make the racing more fair and the sailing more fun. We have learned that the facet of racing is changing rapidly; sometimes faster than we can keep up. I say 'we' as the Galveston Bay community as a whole. We all are struggling to keep boats on the water and come out sailing. We are having to change how we run races, how we score boats, and how we divide classes. We have taken input from the fleet and observations from the board being out on the water (and discussions with the racers) to reorganize some of our race management methods. Our main goal is to make racing as fair as possible and keep it fun as well.

Some of the big changes are: I. Rum Race Buoy mark change of location II. Class breakdowns

I. I moved the Rum Race Buoy N-NW about a mile hoping to avoid any underwater obstructions. I have noted the new coordinates in the Sailing Instructions. Obviously, it did shorten the course a bit and changed some of the angles to Kemah #2 and the High Range Mark.

II. Something that has been contentious is the class breakdowns. With so many different design boats, what is the most fair way to group boats? We decided to go with like performance and comparing Sail Area to Displacement ratios (SA/D) is the simplest. Unfortunately, we do not have a huge pool of boats to chose from so therefore the groupings will have wide spans. If you group boats by ratings, you will get a lot of bias based on wind conditions. For simplicity, let's compare a J-80 and a Cal 40. They both rate 120 spinnaker. Tell me the wind and I'll tell you the winner. If you absolutely have to, they can (and have) race against each other. The SA/D of the J-80 is 25.93 and 18.48 for the Cal 40. On your valid PHRF-GB certificate, the SA/D is in bold towards the middle bottom of the certificate. The Cal 40 would be more competitive against a Catalina 30 with a SA/D ratio of 17.21. Yes, one can argue that boats close to either side of 19 may be a better fit. The break has to be somewhere. We are simply using the Racer/Cruiser definition already set by PHRF-GB.  The biggest contention is in the spinnaker fleet. This R/C definition applies to the spinnaker fleet. We will have a Racing Spinnaker Class (SA/D < 19.0) and a Racer/Cruiser Spinnaker Class (SA/D >= 19.0).  In each of these classes, fly the chute you have. The Non-Spinnaker class will stay unchanged. The GBCA Club Handicap class will have a split between spinnaker and non-spinnaker. Yes, the original class allows either spinnaker or non-spinnaker, but the benefit of a spinnaker drops the adjustment to a point a boat would have a hard time going back to non-spinnaker and being competitive. Plus, we had some in the class flying spinnakers ask to separate out. Basically, if you race with a spinnaker and use your PHRF-GB handicap, you will either race in the Racing Spinnaker Class or the Racer/Cruiser Spinnaker Class. If you prefer to use the adjustable Club Handicap, you will either race in the Club Handicap Spinnaker or the Club Handicap Class. If you need training wheels, you will race in the multihull class. Boats that are going to race in the Club Handicap Spinnaker class will restart their rating with an assumed PHRF rating. For more information and a more detailed explanation, follow the link to PHRF-GB in the SIs.

I hope this helps with any confusion or misunderstanding there may be. Sailboat racing is not simple anymore.