Dart 18 with spinnaker py

Originally posted by Scooby_simon [QUOTE=Sprint Bob][QUOTE=stewart smith]   You miss the point that the D18 number is skewed by the fact that the 18's do little handcap racing and when they do they are more interested in racing when there is wind "so we can have a chance" as D18's don't go until a good F4.   So; when D18's do race on PY; there is usually wind and thus the handicap gets skewed by the better performance (relative to the mono's they are racing) in more wind.  Simple problem with the way PY works.    It measures the performance of the boat; the performance of the sailors and the effect of the wind on the boat the races were sailed in.    Thus because the D18 sailors do not bother in lighter wind; the effects the results; because the D18 is woefully underpowered and an inefficent hull shape for slower speeds.   How many actual returns were made last year for the D18 to PY? Not many I would guess.

Hi Simon, No I do not miss this point either. You and I have had that debate many times and I agree with what you say. Cat sailors tend not to sail against monohulls, particularly in light winds when it is unrewarding and they do not do very well. This applies equally well to F18s as Dart 18s. I do not have data on the returns but I bet the returns for the Dart 18 racing against monohulls over the years by far outweigh those of the F18 so the Dart 18 relationship to SCHRS is just as valid and probably more so than the F18 - it's just that the SCHRS choose to use the F18 as the point to use for conversions. If conversely they picked the Dart 18 as the point on which to base the conversion we would not be having this debate.

Yes but I bet it is not sailed against monohulls in the UK as much as the Dart 18 has been over the years so it not the best basis for conversion from SCHRS to PYs. This is actually confirmed by the status of the PY ratings. The Dart 18 is a Primary Portsmouth Number whereas the F18 is just a Recorded Portsmouth Number. The Recorded is the third tier showing that it is not supported by as much data as the Dart 18.