Re: [Cal_Boats] CHRF and time on time handicap

Allen Handicaping is a very difficult task. There will always be dissatisfied racers because there is no perfect formula. In my opinion, whenever boats are separated by big gaps in handicap there is going to be advantages and disadvantages for one boat or the other, and often times it has to do with wind strengths. Some times it does not take that big of a handicap spread to achieve dissatisfied racers. In our fleet here in Santa Barbara we were put in a fleet with a number of "Like Boats" and then there was a J-22. The J-22 is a "Race Boat" which sits on a trailer until race day. Here we are, much heavier cruisers with bottom paint trying to compete with a "Race Boat" which of course won 99% of the time. Now these guys are good sailors, but they do have an equipment advantage, especially in light winds. Between the J-22, the short courses given to us because of a really slow boat and being the last fleet to start, and finding it too much work to switch the boat from race trim to cruise trim, I went to the CHRF fleet, and have been loving it ever since. Our CHRF fleet starts before all the other fleets, has 26 boats (of which we are in 2nd place), has a reaching leg and long courses CHRF also its disadvantages. One in particular is, because of it's design, Ma & Pa Kettle with their Catalina 30 or other heavy cruiser, whom lack of skills and knowledge of the rules, get out there, so a certain amount of chaos and crashes do occur. You must anticipate your competitors and stay ahead of the boat. After a while you know who to keep a close eye on, and even then they do something, which baffles the mind and you find yourself crash-tacking or some other drastic maneuver to avoid collisions. One boat in particular has been involved in a number of crashes. In fact a few weeks back we were running the line with 20 seconds to go and this same boat was between me and the line, so as I am coming up trying for a good start (and forcing them over early) I am yelling to bring it up, she looks me dead in the face and says "you cant force me over the line early" yes I can, I reply, "no you can't" she says, to which I replied "I promise you I can!" Eventual outcome, she never budged, I was late and in dirty air. The very next week she collides with another boat causing $10,000 in damage. Welcome to CHRF Racing. Bottom line for me, I love our "H" Fleet compared to the "C" Fleet I was racing in before. It is fun and exciting. Every year we get a few more defectors from other fleets, so I feel they will have to change something at some point because the start-line is getting quite crowded and some would say a bit on the dangerous side. On the Santa Barbara Yacht Club website there is an explanation of how CHRF works. _http://www.sbyc.org/H_Fleet.php_ (http://www.sbyc.org/H_Fleet.php) I hope this helps. Cheers; Daniel Casey AirTime CAL 9.2R Santa Barbara 3-B-24

That is very interesting. You have two fleets, CHRF and PHRF and boats pick their fleets. I read the web page and see what is involved. Thanks for your input. The web page calls it the "popular" CHRF rating system but any other clubs usiing CHRF? SB is the only club I found in several Google searches that is using CHRF. Anyone else? Allen On S at, Sep 4, 2010 at 12:38 PM, <ai… [at] aol.com> wrote: > > > Allen > > Handicaping is a very difficult task. There will always be dissatisfied > racers because there is no perfect formula. > In my opinion, whenever boats are separated by big gaps in handicap there > is going to be advantages and disadvantages for one boat or the other, and > often times it has to do with wind strengths. Some times it does not take > that big of a handicap spread to achieve dissatisfied racers. In our fleet > here in Santa Barbara we were put in a fleet with a number of "Like Boats" > and then there was a J-22. The J-22 is a "Race Boat" which sits on a trailer > until race day. Here we are, much heavier cruisers with bottom paint trying > to compete with a "Race Boat" which of course won 99% of the time. Now these > guys are good sailors, but they do have an equipment advantage, especially > in light winds. Between the J-22, the short courses given to us because of a > really slow boat and being the last fleet to start, and finding it too much > work to switch the boat from race trim to cruise trim, I went to the CHRF > fleet, and have been loving it ever since. Our CHRF fleet starts before all > the other fleets, has 26 boats (of which we are in 2nd place), has a > reaching leg and long courses > CHRF also its disadvantages. One in particular is, because of it's design, > Ma & Pa Kettle with their Catalina 30 or other heavy cruiser, whom lack of > skills and knowledge of the rules, get out there, so a certain amount of > chaos and crashes do occur. You must anticipate your competitors and stay > ahead of the boat. After a while you know who to keep a close eye on, and > even then they do something, which baffles the mind and you find yourself > crash-tacking or some other drastic maneuver to avoid collisions. One boat > in particular has been involved in a number of crashes. In fact a few weeks > back we were running the line with 20 seconds to go and this same boat was > between me and the line, so as I am coming up trying for a good start (and > forcing them over early) I am yelling to bring it up, she looks me dead in > the face and says "you cant force me over the line early" yes I can, I > reply, "no you can't" she says, to which I replied "I promise you I can!" > Eventual outcome, she never budged, I was late and in dirty air. The very > next week she collides with another boat causing $10,000 in damage. > Welcome to CHRF Racing. > Bottom line for me, I love our "H" Fleet compared to the "C" Fleet I was > racing in before. It is fun and exciting. Every year we get a few more > defectors from other fleets, so I feel they will have to change something at > some point because the start-line is getting quite crowded and some would > say a bit on the dangerous side. > On the Santa Barbara Yacht Club website there is an explanation of how CHRF > works. http://www.sbyc.org/H_Fleet.php > I hope this helps. > Cheers; > > > Daniel Casey > AirTime > CAL 9.2R > Santa Barbara > 3-B-24 > > >