Do you think that the PY Handicap System works?

Interested in understanding how strongly posters really feel about PY.  I have avoided adding any qualifying criteria ... let's keep it simples

The range of crew skill has the greatest effect. Its a system that is not perfect but doing a reasonable job

Plenty good enough for the job required of it. Class racing is the obvious alternative if a more level arena is your desire.

I was trying to avoid bias.  But now that you invite it, I sail on an estuary, have done handicap and pursuit races inland, on the sea, open water, restricted water, in N12s, Merlins, I14s, Lasers, Solos, Mirrors, Salcombe Yawls.  I have never ever felt hard done by the results.  In most cases I have finished in the same quartile.  My only qualification is that one off races with tidal gates can be skewed, but across a series this gets sorted.

Originally posted by davidyacht I was trying to avoid bias.  But now that you invite it, I sail on an estuary, have done handicap and pursuit races inland, on the sea, open water, restricted water, in N12s, Merlins, I14s, Lasers, Solos, Mirrors, Salcombe Yawls.  I have never ever felt hard done by the results.  In most cases I have finished in the same quartile.

....and it is physically impossible to achieve the same accuracy for tidal and non-tidal waters with one set of numbers that are calculated from non-tidal returns......simple arithmetic says so. In some tidal locations there will typically be up to a 30% loss of speed for a slow boat while the faster boat may lose only 5. Worst case scenario: topper stood still, 400 doing 3 knots.

With all due respect how you feel about it is, of course, very important to you but the facts are going in a different direction. 

Edited by Sussex Lad - 12 Apr 21 at 7:52pm