Good Afternoon Sailors:
In this week’s edition of Home Port Regatta Sailing, I
thought I would take a moment to discuss the Pursuit Race format.
The Pursuit Race format is not new. Sailing organizations have enjoyed using it
for years as a great way to encourage sailors to get out on the water
and have fun racing with friends under rules and guidelines that make it
competitive for fast and slow boats alike.
The concept is simple: first, the
turtles take off, and then the rabbits are unleashed. The goal is for the rabbits to overtake the
turtles before the finish line.
Sometimes it works. Sometimes all
boats finish very close together. And
sometimes, the turtles win. The first
boat across the line is declared the winner.
The modern Pursuit Race depends on the Race Committee’s
ability to properly apply handicaps to all vessels which in turn are used to
determine the time each vessel will start in succession.
First, you must understand “handicap.” In North America, there is a
system of handicapping known as Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF). The purpose of PHRF handicapping is to
essentially cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages of different
classes of boats allowing such dissimilar classes of boats to race against
one another. By and large, most
handicaps are assigned by PHRF or similar body, upon application by a boat
owner. The application includes a
variety of factors relating to the design of the boat. Although it seems like it could be arbitrary,
over many years of analysis, PHRF and similar entities have nearly perfected
their methods and the handicap applied to a vessel works out. At that point, boats “speed up” as a result
of quality seamanship and crew work.
Using PHRF handicapping, it is entirely possible that a 105 year old
wooden yawl could race against a modern sled.
The old yawl might have a PHRF handicap of 300, while the racing boat has a handicap of -100. As such, there
is a chasm of 400 between handicaps.
This number represents time in seconds to be multiplied by the length of
the course resulting in a chasm of seconds per mile. So, in application, if the course is 25
miles, and both boats start at the same time, applying the time per mile handicap
to these two boats, for the sled to beat the yawl, it must do so by more than 10,000
seconds (400 seconds multiplied by 25 nm) or approximately 166.66 minutes, or
2.77 hours. While it is likely that the
sled will already be back in the barn and her crew well lubricated by the time
the yawl finishes, if the yawl finishes at any time less than 2.77 hours after
the sled, the yawl wins!
In pursuit racing, handicaps are used differently. We use handicaps to determine start times. Obviously, the slowest boat in the fleet will
start first and then each boat with a lower handicap will start
thereafter. It is simple
math: First, you compare the handicaps
of the slowest boat with each successively faster boat. For sake of ease, in our example, let us assume
there are only two boats in the race, one with a handicap of 220 and the other with
a handicap of 120. Let us further
appreciate an 1100 start time, and a course length of 20 nm. We know that the slowest boat (the 220) will
start at 1100. The issue is at what time
will the 120 boat start? First, subtract
120 from 220 to get the handicap differential of 100. Then, we multiply this differential by the course
distance (20 nm) to get the number 2000.
Because we are comparing handicaps which are a function of time, this
number represents 2000 seconds between the start time for the 220 and the 120
boat. 2000 seconds is then converted by
dividing by 60 to 33.3 minutes or 33 minutes and 18 seconds. Thus, in application, if the 220 boat starts at 1100, the 120 boat starts at 11:33:18. The goal is to finish first and the excitement lies in the chase: will that 120 slip past in time to finish first, or will the 220 manage to hold him off and glide across the line first to victory.
Obviously, in an event with 30-40+ vessels, all of which have
varying handicaps, calculating the start time for each of the vessels entered is
a significantly more onerous undertaking. Last year, we had 33 boats start the
race with handicaps ranging from 220 all the way to 50 and thus start times
ranging from 1100 to 11:51. Thank goodness for Excel spreadsheets with inaugurated
formulae that make the math automatic.
The 2019 Homeport Regatta is only weeks away. If you haven’t already entered, please do
so. You can pick up an entry package at
the Vintage Marina Office or at the Channel Islands Marina Office. You can also
request a package be emailed to you by contacting us at Homeportregatta@yahoo.com. Remember,
we will be cutting off entries on
April 30.
Please, if you have
friends who wish to join us who keep their boats in Ventura Harbor, Vintage and
Channel Islands Marinas are making slips available for free for the weekend
(Friday through Sunday) for these visiting entrants on a first come first
served basis with paid entry. These
spaces are limited. So let them know.
As always, should you have any questions or desire any
additional information, please do not hesitate to call or email me.
Larry Golkin
Homeport Regatta Sailing
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