Boat Performance Index

I ran some race training yesterday in a mixture of boats where PY made no difference at all - the first boat over the startline was the winner...

Obviously not a great format for racing in reality, but it did make me think that we are all rather stuck in our ways, thinking about methods to tweak the handicapping here and there, imagining that that will be the great new thing to get more poeple racing. In reality, even the majority of people who race now would hardly notice the difference, or care that much.

Originally posted by Peaky Think your getting a bit carried away in lala land there zippy. The idea is to help organise handicap racing by accepting that it is the new norm. Not strong arming people into predesignated classes. As someone who makes a self employed living I'm all for light touch, but no touch at all is as bad as too much.

the problem is when you get into the realms of approved official calaenders  etc the slippery slope  starts and that is what both Jimand I were cautioning against ... 

a lot of other sports are far more heavily regulated  as a norm 

Aren't there plenty of handicap events in the summer with things like Fed week and so on? If they haven't proved to gain the same status as some of the winter events: what's that phrase about "can't buck the market"?

But I'd hate the RYA to "step up" and organise events, doubtless at the bigger clubs only, that were somehow official and competed with other club's events. A medium sized club like mine can happily put on half a dozen open events in the summer that serve 20-50 competitors (80 was a bit of a struggle!), but why would you want to travel to a handicap event with 20-50 entries if your own club racing has handicap racing for 20-50 entries every week?

Why would you hate the idea of RYA coordinating events (which doubtless would still have local organisation) but not mind a class organising one?

And a weeks annual leave to sail around Chi harbour? Not likely. But apart from masochistic appeal, wouldn't the BM be nicer in warmer weather? Would it have added kudos if it was somehow sanctioned by the sports governing body?

At a class level this happens anyway, because it is what CA's do. But handicap racing is demonstrably as popular yet has no united body to represent it.

But I'm not just talking about organising handicap racing. In the same way the ISAF approve some classes for Worlds status, why shouldn't tje RYA do the same for Nationals. That doesn't mean they have to randomly select some classes in the hope of them becoming popular. On the contrary, like the ISAF with Worlds, have some predefined criteria that any class can potentially achieve, such as minimum number of entries.

Nearly every sport has a British Open (sanctioned by the sports governing body) and corresponding champion. Who is dinghy sailings Open champion?

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Edited by Chris 249 - 24 Mar 15 at 8:59am