Clubs in the Bay area need to seriously consider splitting the PHRF Spin fleet into A & B fleets. Having raced three different small boats in the Galveston Bay area, always in PHRF Spin A Fleet, the match up simply doesn't work for the little guy. By the time we've beat our way to the first weather mark, our ToD differential has evaporated. The Shoe was a good example. Leading up to the weekend of the race, registration showed 10 boats in PHRF Spin, 5 under 30' and 5 over 30'. Lumped together, one of the smaller boats dropped out before the event. The rest of us could only watch the big guys horizon us. While the PHRF numbers are fair and square, the delta is simply too large to compete, usually. Since most fleets need only three to form a class, no reason not to have a PHRF A & B. We might see more of the smaller PHRF orphans return to the race course if they believed they could be competitive. PROs could simply score PHRF A & B separately, and keep them on the same start/finish sequence.
Sincerely,
PHRF Hack
Sincerely,
PHRF Hack