Conference unifix::sailing

    Our boat is a full-keel Alberg design, a Sea Sprite 23, built circa
    1968. Does PHRF have a place for boats of this type (heavy
    displacement) or is it pretty much restricted to the newer, lighter,
    fin keelers. 
    
    Ed

    I don't believe there is a boat that can't race PHRF.  That is the
    benefit of the system.  Supposedly, any boat can race any other
    boat and the handicap will offset the designed in speed differences.
    There must be other notes explaining the philosophy and practical
    application of the rule, but the point is you should contact your
    local PHRF committee and fing out where they race nearest you. 
    There is also a standard rating for the Sea Sprite, being a production
    boat that others have raced before, so it should be no problem to
    get a rating.  Should be well into the high 100's or 200 area I
    would think.
    
    Try it, and you will rapidly improve (out of necessity) your basic
    sailing skills.
    
    Dave
    
    P.S. Newer. lighter, fin keelers get hammered in the rating process.

    The Time-Life book on racing is the best introduction to racing
    tactics and sail trim I've read.  Unfortunately, it's out of print
    but many libraries have copies.  Lots of pictures, not too much
    text, and easy to remember.  Turner & Jobson's "Racer's Edge" is
    also good.  Fewer pictures, more text, but still pretty staightforward.
    The North Sails "Fast Course" and "Smart Course" books  are popular
    but expensive.  It's not necessary to take the actual courses. 
    The books are available by mail order from most marine catalogs.
    There are more books out there but I haven't found any as good as
    the first two.
    
    One solution to the four eyes problem is to carry one or more plastic
    wash bottles on board.  Everyone on Touche wears glasses or sunglasses.
    The wash bottles really make finding the marks easier.  The only
    problem is remembering to keep them filled.
    
    As far as the eligibilty of the Sea Srite, I think the PHRF minumum
    loa is 22'.  In theory a boat's rating should compensate for its
    sailing characteristics.  So it shouldn't matter if boat is light
    or heavy.  In practice, the racing is best if there are other boats
    of roughly similar size and type in your class.  A copy of the Hingham
    PHRF roster should give a good idea of the potential competition.
    
    - gene ho

re .2:

>>>   Supposedly, any boat can race any other boat and the handicap 
>>>   will offset the designed in speed differences.
    
Ha! Utter nonsense. A casual glance at the Marblehead PHRF fleet shows 
that all or virtually all of the boats racing have mylar/kevlar/spectra, 
etc, sails. Racing with dacron sails is an exercise in futility. The 1980 
PHRF rating for our 32' cutter was 168 seconds per mile. The last time 
we wasted our money getting a rating it was 186 seconds per mile, same
boat, same sails, same fixed propeller, etc. And 186 is too low compared
to the current competition. The allowances (if any) for a fixed
propeller, no spinnaker (I can't convince my partner in life that she
wants one), moderately heavy displacement, and small genoa are much too
small. The PHRF ratings seem to assume high tech (expensive, short life)
sails, folding propeller, stripped interior (racers were recently
reminded that they have to leave the settee cushions aboard), big crews,
multiple spreader, bendy rigs (that would promptly fall down in an offshore 
gale), etc. I doubt anybody could sail our boat to its rating in a wind
of less than 10 knots (the average summer wind in Boston). You try
tacking a heavy cutter quickly in light wind. I've been trying to do it
for nine years without much success. There is no way a serious cruising
boat (eg, I'll be damned if I'll haul 500 lbs of ground tackle ashore
every time I want to race) can have fun racing, at least in the
Marblehead fleet. Besides, the number of boats racing with high ratings
is so small that there is nobody to sail against (at least last time I 
raced in the Marblehead fleet).
    
>>>   P.S. Newer. lighter, fin keelers get hammered in the rating
process. 

Oh really? Try getting a reasonable rating for a moderate displacement, 
more than ten year old design. 

Do I sound anti-PHRF? You betcha. Take a second casual glance at the
Marblehead PHRF fleet. You won't see many, if any, older designs. You
won't see Valiants or Cape Dorys or Tayanas or Shannons or older
Hinckleys, etc. And it isn't because there aren't any of these boats
around. PHRF is fine if you have a recent vintage, racer/cruiser and are 
willing to spend copious amounts of money on sails and other go fast 
goodies. Just don't tell me PHRF is fair for all boats. 

Alan

    
    re .4
    Average wind speed is 10 knts in summer. Interesting from this side
    of the puddle. A couple of years ago when I took delivery of my
    Moody 28 we noticed a couple of Moody 346's with masts significently
    higher than those near them. The explanation from the yard was they
    were for the US market where winds are lighter....The forcast for
    the Solent area this weekend is SW 20-30 knts of wind. Not uncommon
    this summer. The average in the Solent in summer I am told is 18
    knts but we have had a lousy summer. What are the average wind speeds
    in other parts of the US?
                             
    Pete                     
                             

    RE .4
    
    Alan,
    
    As usual, your anti-racing bias is showing.  Let's try not to throw
    cold water on somebody else's fun for trying, OK.
    
    As far as "utter nonsense" goes, your reply has plenty in it.
    
    >> Racing with dacron sails is an exercise in futility.
    
    Bullsh*t!  At least HALF of the boats in the National Offshore
    One-Design Regatta in Newport last week had dacron sails.  And I've got
    the pictures to prove it.  We race with Kevlars, but in light air our
    old baggy dacron North main is the more effective sail.  And our 7 year
    old, blown-out mylar #1 headsail has proven to be more effective in 10
    knots or less than our nice (reasonably) new kevlar.  So much for fancy 
    sails.
    
    >> The allowances (if any) for a fixed propeller, no spinnaker (...),
    >> moderately heavy displacement, and small genoa are much too small.
    
    Allowances are made for all of these.  And one of the MOST competitive
    boats in our (Jubilee YC) fleet is a small boat with a fixed prop, no
    spinnaker, and small genoa (PAO'S CAT, a Catalina 25).  They have a
    cruising class for boats with no spinnakers.  If you took the time to
    look into it you'd probably find that you could be quite competitive in
    this class, assuming you know how to handle your boat (which I gather
    from your notes that you do).
    
    >> The PHRF ratings seem to assume high tech (...) sails, folding
    >> propeller, stripped interior (...), big crews, multiple spreader,
    >> bendy rigs (that would promptly fall down in an offshore gale), etc.
    
    Nothing could be further from the truth.  True, if you're sailing in
    the "A" class you want all these things, but if you're in the top
    echelons of ANY sport you want all the latest high-tech advantages.
    As to bendy rigs falling down in a gale, get off that kick.  Our
    "bendy" rig has withstood 70+ knots of offshore gale very nicely, thank
    you very much.  Not that it was fun, mind you.  But I have a LOT of
    faith in the seaworthiness of the boat from six years of
    racing/cruising in all kinds of weather conditions.
    
    >> There's no way a serious cruising boat can have fun racing.
    
    Oh no ??  Go talk to the owner of YETI, a C&C Landfall over at the JYC. 
    He races with a crew of 2-3, no spinnaker, dacron sails, fixed prop. 
    They have a lot of fun, and probably do better in their class than we
    do in ours.
    
    >> Besides, the number of boats racing with high ratings is so small
    >> there is nobody to sail against (at least the last time I raced in
    >> the Marblehead fleet).
    
    There's a small element of truth in this if you're talking about the
    serious PHRF week-end races in Marblehead.  But the Wednesday night
    (non-spinnaker) Marblehead races and the Thursday night (non-spinnaker)
    Jubilee races attract more cruising boats than racing boats.  I tend to
    think it's been a LONG time since you've tried.
    
    >> Do I sound anti-PHRF?
    
    No, you sound anti-racing.  And it all sounds like sour grapes to me.
    You're entitled to your opinion of course, and I respect your sailing
    knowledge.  But when it comes to racers you're just not being fair.
    
    ... Bob
    

    Hoo boy, what have I done?  The key word in my explaination was
    "supposedly".  I will never defend the perfection of PHRF.  It does,
    however, give the opportunity to at least participate in the sport.
    Not knowing your boat, it sounds like an extreme cruiser just as
    you could say ours is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  We could
    cruise ours, but not as comfortably as yours, and you could race
    yours, but couldn't reasonably expect to burn up the fleet.  Cutters
    are just plain hard to tack, and unless you race in the cruising
    class there is too much downwind work not to have a spinnaker. 
    By the way, the above comments are directed to Alan.  Sorry for
    not making that clear in the beginning.
    
    As to the dacron vs. kevlar, I think the important point really
    is blown out and baggy vs. well shaped.  The simple fact is that
    kevlar and spectra hold shape longer than dacron.  I HATE, HATE,
    HATE kevlar and love spectra.  I suspect cruising sails will be
    made out of spectra in the future, allowing better shape holding
    qualities.
    
    PHRF is biased toward the racer/cruiser species that dominate the
    boating scene today.  Any extreme, either toward older IOR racers,
    or strictly cruising oriented floating Winnebagos :^) take the pipe.
    A Sea Sprite should be able to find decent competition in the class
    C or D fleets and not be relegated to the tail end of the class.
    
    Alan, you are also right in that to succeed consistently you need
    to orient your boat toward racing rather than cruising.  A good
    example of this is a Hinckley named Dragon Fire that has been tearing
    up the PHRF circuit for the last few years.  Technically a cruiser
    that has been optimized for racing.  It can be done.
    
    I guess the bottom line is that a rating system can only go so far.
    The rating assumes you are going to do all you can (including removing
    non-essential gear) to go fast.  If you have a production boat the
    rating is very fair in that they have a large sample to predict
    performance.  So I still recommend that the Sprite go racing and
    have a good time.  This is supposed to be recreation!
    
    Dave
    

Ah ha, I'd knew I get some outraged replies!

re Wednesday and Thursday night racing: Great if you are able to leave 
work early. My salary continuation plan and distance from Marblehead 
preclude weeknight racing.

Yes, PHRF does include allowances for things like fixed propellers and 
no spinnaker. I was allowed 12 seconds per mile for no spinnaker. Assume 
one-third of a race is sailed under spinnaker. Thus my allowance is 
effectively 36 seconds per mile when sailing downwind. If my boat speed 
is 5 kts without a spinnaker, 36 seconds per mile implies that my boat 
speed should be about 5.25 kts with a spinnaker. Really, now, isn't the 
downwind speed gain from a spinnaker considerably more than this? I can 
increase my downwind speed by half a knot simply by poling out a 100% 
jib. Also, according to a Practical Sailor article, a fixed propeller 
can reduce speed half a knot or so (whee, and for a fixed propeller I 
get a 6 second per mile credit). The PHRF rating form asks for keel 
configuration. I honestly checked the fin keel box. But, my fin is long 
and relatively shallow and is thus much less efficient than the usual 
fin keel. No extra credit. Plus, the underbody of my boat is quite 
V-shaped, rather like the comfortable cruising designs of years ago. No 
extra credit. We have a heavy, single spreader rig with no hydraulics. 
No extra credit. And yes, old sails, even dacron sails are better in 
some conditions. But you do have an inventory of mylar/spectra/etc sails 
for the other conditions, right? Not me. Sure, some, even many, multiple
spreader bendy rigs do stay up in heavy weather. But too many fall down.
When we were desparately trying to get insurance for our passage to
Bermuda last year, we were told by insurance agents and our surveyor
that one of the major reasons insurance was hard to get was the number
of rig failures offshore. When the mast comes down several hundred miles
offshore, and there isn't enough fuel aboard to motor to the the nearest
port, the boat is almost always a total loss. Or so said the surveyor.

I am not anti-racing per se. My point is that the PHRF pretends to rate 
ALL boats fairly. Quite simply, I don't think it does. I would have no
quarrel with the PHRF if it were stated that 'the PHRF fairly rates recent 
designs that have been optimized for racing'. There has been 
considerable complaint in these notes from some of you racers about the 
ratings of your competitors. You really can't argue it both ways: Either 
the PHRF ratings are fair, or they aren't. Which is it? If they are 
fair, you shouldn't be complaining. It was mentioned that some 
'cruising' designs do well in PHRF. Indeed, some do. But, as I said 
before, there seem to be very few older boats racing in PHRF. Raced
against a Hinckley Bermuda 40 recently? Nor do very many all out
cruising boats race. Do you race against many Tayana 37s? The PHRF is
fine for what it does. But it doesn't fit all boats and all sailors. 

Alan

    I really ought to keep my mouth shut on this this one since I've
    said enough on the topic in other notes, but I can't resist.  Come
    on Alan, anyone who puts NNN lbs of lead ballast under his starboard
    seat to balance the weight of the water tank on the port side is
    clearly not making ANY concession at all to getting in racing trim.
    The 300 feet of chain rode isn't exactly optimizing your rating
    either.  
    
    I'm convinced that any boat can be opimized for either cruising
    or racing but not both at the same time.  Any boat that falls outside
    of the bandwith of boats for which the rating is established will
    be a rule beater or a dog.  But it's a real wide bandwith.  There
    was plenty of evidence of this at the NOOD regatta.
    
    Bob Bailey mentioned that Tom Blackaller got raffled off at regatta.
    It wasn't exactly a random drawing.  Only those boats exhibiting
    egregiously poor results got their names into the hat.  The J36
    that won had just been purchased by a group that had no racing
    experience.  Only one member of the crew knew how to set a spinnaker.
    In the first race it took them so long to set the chute they were
    at the takedown mark by the time they got it flying.  All the cruising
    luggage had to be carried on board because they had no shore facility
    in which to store it.  The sails, of course, were old classic dacron.
    These folks were definitely at the cruising end of the bandwith.  What
    could you expect from a boat whose port of call is Killington Vt.
    
    Tom had them out there early the next morning, without any ringers
    on board, and went over steering technique, sail trim, and told
    them what a countdown timer was for.  When the warning gun went
    off, he had them bop up and down the line a few times, shot the
    wind once or twice, then did a perfect amy vanderbilt start, hitting
    the line at the favored port end just as the gun went off.  First
    at the windward mark and gibe mark.  During the gibe, a gear failure
    let two boats ahead but they hung in there to finish third.  And
    it wasn't third by much.   They were real close to the leaders.
    The advice must have taken.  The next day they had a solid middle
    of the fleet finish without Tom.  Left a lot Kevlar, including
    ourselves, in thier wake.  Nothing umcompetitive about their boat.
    
    The controversy over sail materials and go-fast gear is mostly smoke
    at the local racing level.  If the sails have decent shape and the
    sail trim gear functions, all the speed potential needed is there.
    Knowing where to go, how to trim sails, organizing crew, etc just
    take attention to detail and practice.  It helps to have a good
    teacher but it's all in the books.
    
    Racing is not generally ego gratifying, especially when beginning.
    But with effort it gets better.  Almost no top boat started there.
    It does take some time on the race course as opposed to on the water
    to get the knack of it.  The Sunday races are hard core.  Wednesday
    and Thursday races are the way to go to get the feel of things.
    A lot of cruising oriented boats come out for these.  They save
    their weekends for serious cruising.
    
    Alan, I thought you had a chute.  You mean that beautiful 15 foot
    mast mounted pole is just a whisker pole?
    
    - gene

re .9: 

You're right Gene, my boat now isn't optimized (or even suboptimized)
for racing. Back when we raced occasionally the 300' of anchor chain,
etc, was ashore. My point is, though, that even if I optimized my boat,
the PHRF rating scheme is such that we would have an unfavorable rating
and little if any chance of doing well in round the bouys racing. I'm
sure Tom Blackaller could make my boat go faster than I can. I rather
doubt he could finish in the top three with it without a rating change.
If I were seriously interested in racing, I'd own a different boat
because the rules would force me to. And yes, that spinnaker pole on
the mast is just a whisker pole. I have no desire to wrestle with a 3
inch diameter, 15' long pole all by myself without one end firmly
attached to the mast. 

Alan

    I hate to discourage Ed's future participation in racing with all
    this talk of rule bias.  I just don't really believe heavier boats
    have the deck stacked against them (no pun).  If anything the raters
    bend over backwards to encourage their partcipation.  I've looked
    at the sterns of too many Tartans, Pearsons, and Morgans to think
    otherwise.  
    
    Nothing is fast out of the box.  It really takes a lot of tweaking
    to get speed out of any boat.  True of J's, C&C's, and Etchells,
    even Hinckleys.  All the boats that I've owned or raced on were
    initially thought to be dogs.  But they all seem to speed up over
    time.  However, it did take a lot of sandpaper and surreptitious midnight
    sessions with a measuring tape to do it.  That and picking the heads
    of fast guys to see how they do it.  This is real important.  The
    state of the art on tuning and trim changes continuously.  I've
    got to many anecdotes that demonstrate this and not enough time
    to write them down.  How's about you and Julie inviting Amy and
    me out on Toward Morning and we'll discuss it.
    
    The feeling that a boat can never be made fast or that the techniques
    required to acheive speed are too arcane to learn have dramaticlly
    reduced the numbers of boats that race.  True of both one-design
    as well as offshore.  $$$ have something to do with this but judging
    from the number of J35's at NOOD, it's not that big an impact. 
    
    Sharing the knowledge is the only way to encourage partipation.
    Winning is satifying only if the competition is good.  That happens
    only when those at the front of the fleet are willing to tell those
    at the back how they did it.  Of course it's not always easy
    understanding what's being said.  There definitely is a base level
    of knowledge required for the interchange.  It's often painfull
    for me to ask some one who hammered me how he did it.  But they're
    usually helpfull and having that info won't make the boat any slower.
    
    I'd encourage Ed to get out there.  If there aren't that many in
    his class, maybe his presence may encourage others.  If the others
    blow you away, use that as an excuse to check out their boats. 
    Good way to get free rides.
                               
    - gene
     

    I just love this controversy!!!  The rule is fair; it isn't
    fair.  The boat is optimized for cruising, no, for racing, bla
    bla bla.  Wasn't the original intent of this note to discuss how a guy
    with a Sea Sprite might get into some racing?
    
    I used to sail a Sea Sprite, and for the record, I'd MUCH
    rather cruise on Fat Tuesday than aboard one of those 23 footers.
    I mean, we're talking a modest sized day-sailor without any
    headroom, let alone living space.  But yes, the boat is servicable
    for ocean passages, as proven by Bob Gainer several years ago.  

    For racing, however, the sprite used to have a significant 
    one-design following on Narragansett Bay.  I don't know 
    if that's still the case, or whether this note's "originator" has 
    access to the bay, but there are lots of Sea Sprites around.  
    If you have the option of racing one-design, do it and forget 
    about ratings!  (All you have to do is conform with the one-design
    rules for your class -- generally limits the sails you can use
    and forbids modifications that enhance performance.)
    
    But could a sprite do well in PHRF?  Maybe yes, maybe no.  If you 
    like to race then don't be discouraged by the sour grapes here
    (and yes, I've done my fair share of complaining -- isn't it
    great we have this outlet called NOTES!?).  Give PHRF racing
    a try!  You may or may not rate "fairly" at first, but ratings 
    often get adjusted subjectively, so you shouldn't have to live 
    with a horrible rating forever -- nor could you expect a favorable 
    rating to last.  Of course, I sail on a boat that rates 75 
    in every other PHRF fleet in NE, but Mrblhd PHRF beleives we 
    deserve a 72, so even evidence to the contrary doesn't always hold sway.
    So what else is new?!  At least we're in the ball-park.  With a couple
    of seasons of evidence, I believe PHRF can put any boat in 
    the ball park.  
    
    But for all you die-hard cruisers out there who just can't
    get racing completely out of your blood, there is another alternative:
    It was my impression that the MHS rule was made for you guys --
    Tanyanas, Ryders, Pearsons, Morgan Out Islands, and you name it.  
    Of course, I don't know anything about MHS events (I'm too much of an
    elitest) but your "local USYRU representative" might be able
    to point you in the right direction.
    
    Cheers and happy sailing!
    Dean  ;)

    I feel a bit like Pandora! :-)
    
    I crew for my friend Al on his S2 6.9. He got the boat used this
    Spring. It came with good sails (a mylar 150 that had never been
    used) and is in good condition. We joked about racing but did nothing
    about it. Then a notice appears in the Club news about a 3 race
    series at the end of the summer on WEd nights. Why not! So Al signs
    up and rounds up a crew. One of the guys (now referred to as Mentor)
    has raced and knowes of what he speaks. Our basic intent in racing
    is to learn more about sailing and to have some fun on the water.
    
    The two races so far have been incredibly absorbing and I've enjoyed
    myself immensely. No major new lessons learned so far but a lot of
    little things, the sort of things that give you a nice feeling of
    accomplishment inside when you can do them and also smooth out some of
    the bumps in sailing. 
    
    I asked about racing the Sea Sprite only as a remote possibility. My
    almost 11 year old daughter is showing interest in sailing and has been
    asking about the racing. If AL decides not to continue after we blow
    his sails out :-) then I'd think seriously about giving it a go with
    Zendia as a fun family thing. I will contact the PHRF guy at the
    club for information on how Zendia might fare in the Hingham Bay
    set. 
    
    And Gene, thanks for that tip on the bottles. I'm at the bifocal
    stage of life and can't read with my contacts so looking at charts
    is bit difficult. :-)
    
    Ed

RE:.13 by LDYBUG::FACHON 

> I just love this controversy!!!  The rule is fair; it isn't fair.  The 
> boat is optimized for cruising, no, for racing, bla bla bla.  
> Wasn't the original intent of this note to discuss how a guy with a 
> Sea Sprite might get into some racing?

If the Sea Sprite is a common older boat,  it may be a great boat to race.
Why you might ask?  Most of older cruising boats have rough bottoms,  baggy 
sails,  old rigging,  etc.  Sand the bottom,  buy a new jenny,  update and 
repair the rig...  Figure on spending 20%-30% of the price of the boat if
it was an average old boat.  It will still be as just as good of a cruising 
boat if not better.  It will have the rating of an older, slow boat.  It 
will have speed that starts to approach the newer boats.  I have seen a 
Morgan 25 that had the highest rating in a PHRF class C fleet,  that often 
won the line honors as well.  But it might get boring, winning all the
time.  :-)


Phil

    This is why yacht clubs make so much money at the bar.
    
    Re .13 Amen.
    
    Re. Bob's flame.  Yikes! Remind me to NEVER p*ss you off.  I'm going
    to save this on hard copy and read it back to you to psych you up
    for a day of grinding!
    
    Alan, if you really wanted this much abuse you'd read CARBUFFS.
    
    Ed, Gene and Dean (has a nice ring to it, don't you think?) have
    offered some good advice.  Have fun.
    
    Dave

Oh good grief! At the risk of further abuse .....

I'm not bashing racing or racers (heck, years ago when I was young and 
foolish I spent vast amounts of time and money becoming a somewhat 
competent motorcycle road racer -- now that makes sailing in a gale seem 
downright safe). I'm just bashing a racing rule that purports to rate 
all boats fairly. I don't think it does (and maybe no rule can), and to 
say otherwise strikes me as false advertising. If you race, you have to 
play by the rules, fair or unfair. Julie and I prefer, after trying a 
bit of racing, to optimize our boat, more or less, for comfortable cruising. 
Some replies back Gene made the point: one boat cannot be optimized for both 
racing and cruising. 

Alan

Careful -- don't annoy the moderator too much! (Said with a very big 
smile.)

	I'm a foreigner and do not know the rule that was discussed, but
	I suppose the handicap you get is the result of some kind of calcu-
	lation (anybody made a VAX application for that) ?

	Now, if somebody want's a real CPU killer, you could adopt the rule
	that is the (by far) most polpular here in Scandinavia. It's called
	LYS, but that may not tell you a lot. The idea is that any "standard"
	production boat get's a rating based on how the best performers of
	the same kind have done in previous years races. The first year out
	for a new boat, the rating is "guessed" (some spectacular wins due to
	this), but after a year or so of fairly active sailing, the rating
	for bigger classes are very stable. This eavens out a lot of the
	differences on the axis racing-cruising.

	You're not allowed to take out any normal gear (cushions etc) and can't
	make any type modifications (new rudder, keel or rig, nor use sails
	with an area bigger than the maker specifies). At this point, 
	you do better if you know your stuff and have the boat in good condi-
	tion than if you throw marks (local $) after the problem.

	H�kan 

RE:.19 by HSK01::MITTS "H�kan Mitts, CNT/Finland (FNO)"

> It's called LYS, but that may not tell you a lot. The idea is that any
> "standard" production boat get's a rating based on how the best performers
> of the same kind have done in previous years races. 

LYS is very much like PHRF.


Phil

    
    Is this what happens when sailors sense the end of summer coming?
    
    re: keeping your glasses clean
    
    	i recently bought some cheap polaroid clip-ons to darken up
        my sunglasses a bit...  and found serendipitously (don't get
        to use that word much) that they can be shed after they get
        salted up so that you're always using clean glasses.
    
        - jim
    

    How do you think the PHRF rules would judge my S-boat, no engine, wooden,
    6,600 lbs disp, deep keel, dacron sails (426 sq. ft.), boat built in
    the mid 1930's)?
    
     Would I be wasting my time? Or would I get a handicap that would
    put me in the running?
    
    		Thanks,
    
    			Gregg

    I've been considering making a suggestion to the local boat club
    (Regatta Point Community Sailing in Worcester) that we try some "open"
    racing. Normally we race the fleet of antique Daysailors, and it works
    out quite well so I don't want to rock the boat, so to speak, but just
    for fun maybe we should try a handicapped race among other the other
    boats we have available. Here's a rough list:
    
    Daysailor
    110
    Finn
    Trak 14 catamaran
    Laser
    Force 5
    Lark (similar to 410)
    sailboards
    
    There's two things I'd like to know. First off, given that the
    conditions are always pretty light wind, which of these is likely to
    be the fast boat in light conditions? I'm guessing the Finn and/or
    Laser, given that the usual problem with them is keeping them flat in
    any kind of heavy wind.
    
    Second, has anybody actually tried running short races (total length of
    course is less than a mile) under these conditions? Are Portsmouth
    numbers going to have any connection with reality or do we have to come
    up with our own numbers?
    
    Doug.

    
    	Portsmouth's are a good start; easy and free. Cull out the
    multihulls and sailboards; they're so different dynamically that you'd
    be looking for hassles.
    
    	Another thought is to pile more people into a few boats that are
    more closely matched in shape/size/mass, hold another start for
    singlehanders like Lasers and Finns.
    
    	Just 2� from your friendly PHRF'er.