GBCA Discussion Forum

Well, getting more boats on the line (PHRF or 1D) was why I even started the thread.  Well managed PHRF values and close(ish) rating bands leads to (almost as good as) one design racing.  When the PHRF spread approach a minute or more a mile, it gets difficult for the little boys to keep up.  Couple recommendations:

1.  Consider using Time on Time (ToT), instead of Time on Distance (ToD).  ToT is generally recognized as superior in that it can take into account small boats getting stuck in dying breeze well after the biggies have finished, etc.

2.  Keep a single start for A & B fleets, just score them separately.  You get the illusion of bigger fleets with enough gold stars & blue ribbons to make us ALL fill better about spending our time & money to get out on the H2O.

Cordially,

Whinny Little PHRF Hacker

Same old wackos going offshore in a boat with no lead in its belly....whooooaaa

It does matter and it depends.  If you're the one winning the hardware in the fleet, OK.  If not, it's a problem  .  You have no idea how scary it is to line up your #1100 20 footer against a 1D-35 charging the line at 8 knots.  Like all PHRF whiners, I'd like a gold star just for showing up.   

Hey. It's me, your whiny  PHRF slacker again.  Check out the Leukemia Kup PHRF registrations so far

1.    Ken Womack
Texas Corinthian Yacht Club    35037    Revolution    PHRF Spinnaker /    Carroll Marine / 1D35    36
2.    Dmitriy Yegorov
HYC    23540    Aravaca    PHRF Spinnaker /    / J-24    172

Still don't think we need a separate A & B fleets?  These boats are 2 minutes, 16 seconds per mile apart  .  That's 10 minutes in a typical 4 leg 1.2nm course.  Perhaps we would be seeing more registration action if the fleet were split into A & B.  It could be accomplished mathematically without necessitating separate start/finishes.

B FL

Excellent idea.   Just put them into the appropriate PHRF class (B).

Didn't seem that close as we limped back to port with a broken rudder gudgeon in the 2nd race Sunday.  Exilerating, but exhausting trying to keep 1200# of boat upright in those breezes while slamming into chop.  The M24s are more resilient than the U20 and other PHRF B boats and I still think a numeric fleet split for scoring purposes might attract more boats under 30' back into the pack.

Someone at LYC gotta the actual Shoe results with minutes shown?  Bet is way more than you think.

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 

Saturday's now covered.  Sunday anyone?

Need one more crew for small sport boat.

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