Boat Performance Index

The whole point being made, (apart from a bit of teasing !) is that the PN system does not and cannot adequately measure boat potential the way it is ..... 

The guy or guys who choose for whatever reason NOT to race on a particular day in a particular boat also has an impact on the aggregate figures - 'He' or 'they' could drive it 'up' or 'down' simply by absence.   Is this really the sort of logic that should partly underpin handicap sailing in this millenium ?  I'm sure most of you can find other examples of sampling related issues not managed that well.  Are the RYA really not prepared to apply or consider or, heaven help us all, capable of a more sophisticated approach ?  

Like it or not handicap racing is a major part of racing today.  'Pure' fleet racing is a minority pastime albeit many of us do regard it as the ideal and still attend major class opens and championships.   Handicap therefore is here to stay but has outgrown the 'fairness' of a 1950's methodology ... even with the tinkering and tinsel additions at the edges of recent years.  Originally it got the 'back of the boat park' fleet in their menagerie of 'non-adopted' classes at clubs involved a couple of times a year for a bit of fun.  No problem with that.   But can you really stretch or even reform the same system to deal with the modern scenario of large handicap fleets often sailed by highly 'competitive' individuals and fleets in many classes?  The sampling model that underpins everything has the claimed advantage of being 'simple' ... but that is about it really !   'Simple' invariably produces simplistic numbers.  All the time this approach conspires to ignore the real potential of all classes .... with the implied and occasionally explicit justification that you cannot really improve things in the background.  

The RYA (and to some extent Great Lakes) handicappers are not to be envied.  But the importance to the modern age and future of dinghy racing of what they 'do' has risen greatly.   I personally lean more towards the GL approach as it does produce good multi-class racing and attract good examples in most classes that get involved and this can be critically important.  Their sampling is smaller but more factor specific and related.   Heck it is now the 'default' handicap system around outside 'regular' club racing.   Regular club sampling in contrast is highly variable, patchy in its make-up, and can require the use of 'pressure' on many clubs that frankly don't need it every year !    Local club handicap racing imo is far far less indicative of underlying and inherent boat capability than is now needed.  Compared with the smaller sample available from the 'major' handicap events as run under the Sailjuice banner and beyond it really is less indicative. 

'Weighing' the sample and ignoring the 'quality' and source of the bulk of the data involved does nobody much good in the long run.  

Want to have a play with the figures out of curiosity without getting too tangled up in it   ?  You could start by looking at the delta between GL and ‘official’ PN numbers across a range of classes.  Many seem to be  growing  .... !  

Anyway - only my opinion and I'm sure this one will go on for some time ... and on and on again 

Mike L.