Adjusting handicaps is often a thankless and very difficult task- helm skill is very often the main factor.
I find 2 or 3 sailors in other classes of the same experience, age etc in any handicap event and am not surprised to finish fairly close to them.
The best solution to the py? work hard on getting some more people to buy a Solo and enjoy racing them and treat the other classes as a nice background to " real racing".
When I was out on the Solo open circuit I had a simple measure of a good race- if I could read Jim Hunts sail number when he finished, I had done okay!
Hi Graham, I think it's fair to say that very few clubs adjust their handicaps. At Hayling Island all classes have amended numbers, essentially, from the idea that the slower boats are (generally) sailing against the tide for a longer period of time relative to the faster boats. I'm not involved in this, but my general observation is that the slower boats do better in handicap races in lighter winds and the faster boats do better in a breeze. That said, there are so many factors involved it's better to concentrate on racing those close to you and accept every dog has its day. To be fair to the RYA/PY group, they have the biggest pool of data to make handicap calculations, so I'd go with those numbers. It's a lot less contentious :-) If you have a small set of club numbers to work from you effectively end up with personal handicaps... which may also be something to consider if you sailing friends can get agreement, but it's always tricky, hence going with the published numbers in most cases.
Thank you for your reply, the RYA do encourage adjusted handicaps and help by giving guidance and doing the calculations required. Looking at their web site Chew Valley also appear to use adjusted Handicaps. I guess i will have to carry on scanning web sites, as I said in my recent PM, members responses on this forum appear fairly limited, though I do appreciate your input.
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Adjusting handicaps is often a thankless and very difficult task- helm skill is very often the main factor.
I find 2 or 3 sailors in other classes of the same experience, age etc in any handicap event and am not surprised to finish fairly close to them.
The best solution to the py? work hard on getting some more people to buy a Solo and enjoy racing them and treat the other classes as a nice background to " real racing".
When I was out on the Solo open circuit I had a simple measure of a good race- if I could read Jim Hunts sail number when he finished, I had done okay!
Dabchicks Sailing Club uses RYA adjusted handicaps. Solos currently rate at 1167
Hi Graham, I think it's fair to say that very few clubs adjust their handicaps. At Hayling Island all classes have amended numbers, essentially, from the idea that the slower boats are (generally) sailing against the tide for a longer period of time relative to the faster boats. I'm not involved in this, but my general observation is that the slower boats do better in handicap races in lighter winds and the faster boats do better in a breeze. That said, there are so many factors involved it's better to concentrate on racing those close to you and accept every dog has its day. To be fair to the RYA/PY group, they have the biggest pool of data to make handicap calculations, so I'd go with those numbers. It's a lot less contentious :-) If you have a small set of club numbers to work from you effectively end up with personal handicaps... which may also be something to consider if you sailing friends can get agreement, but it's always tricky, hence going with the published numbers in most cases.