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NewsSt. Croix Sailing School The St. Croix now has a sailing school for kids (and adults). Click here for more information.
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RacingRule Book | SCSC Sailing Instructions (PDF) | Non-Spinnaker Division | Time-on-Time Scoring | Race Notes | Beercan Series
Race CommitteeThe Race Committee had its first meeting. Much of the discussion was devoted to updating the SCSC Sailing Instructions, these are available now by clicking on the link above. Racing Crew ClassWe will again be offering a Learn to Crew course this year. Each day of this four day introduction to crewing on a race boat includes classroom training, a picnic lunch and on the water experience over two weekends, May 22-23 and June 5-6. The classroom instruction will cover things like basic knots, how sails work, an introduction to rules, tactics and strategy and safety. After lunch, participants will head out onto the water on a variety of boats to experience mock racing with starts, mark-rounding's, spinnaker sets and take-downs and fun. No experience necessary, but you must be at least 18 years old. While this class is primarily for crewpersons, it can also benefit skippers. If you haven't tried racing or raced a Beercan Race or two and would like to try racing on Tuesday evenings, this might give you the confidence you're looking for. The cost of the class is $210 (non-refundable) and includes classroom materials, lunch each day and a one-year full membership in SCSC. If you are already a full member, your cost will be only $100. For more information or if you have questions, please contact Ron Dreyer. The sign up form is in PDF format, click here. Print the form, fill it out and send it with your check to the address on the bottom. Non-Spinnaker DivisionWould you like to race but your boat doesn't have a spinnaker? Does the idea of an finding extra crew to fly "kite" turn you off? Do you feel that not flying a spinnaker during a race puts you at a disadvantage? We may have the solution: race in the non-spinnaker division where no one flys one. The Race Committee is discussing a non-spinnaker division to get more people out racing. The committee feels that there are many boats in the club that don't have spinnakers but would like to try racing without having to race against boats that do have them. If there are enough people interested this could happen this year, just fill out the form below to let the committee know that it's a good idea and you would like to give it a try. Beercan SeriesThe Friday night Beercan Series is open to all members, not just racers. There is no race fee required, just your full membership. If you haven't tried this before, this is your opportunity to try your hand at racing in a less stressful, laid-back type of racing. Not comfortable "mixing it up" with the rest of the boats at the start? Let them start first; it will give you a chance to watch what other skippers do, what works, and what might not. This is a great time to learn about racing in general, and maybe something about your boat. The race starts at 6:30 south of the bridge; look for the orange buoys marking the course and the pontoon committee boat. The first leg of the race is usually upwind and the courses are indicated on a board on the back of the committee boat. You can find descriptions of the courses and the rest of the Sailing Instructions at the link above, print them out and have them on the boat. After the race everyone gets together on the point at the south end of the Hudson Marina for socializing, talking about the race and food & beverages. There is no charge for this so please join us, if you have questions about what happened on the course, there will be plenty of skippers there to ask. The new Rule Books are outThe Racing Rules of Sailing for 2009 - 2012 have been published; you should have one on board. Get yours by joining US Sailing, you can join online on our Links Page. The SCSC Sailing Instruction are now available by clicking the link at the top of this page. These are in PDF format; you may download and print out a copy for your boat. Time on Time Scoring NotesThe largest handicap fleets in the United States, including St. Croix Sailing Club, now sail under the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) system. The PHRF supplies a single correction factor that is applied regardless of the conditions of the race. Both time-on-distance and time-on-time handicapping can be used under PHRF. The Time-on-Distance (TOD) method calculates a fixed time allowance, based on the length of the course to compute the corrected time. An advantage of TOD is that is simple and you can tell exactly where you stand at any point in the race. Time-on-Time (TOT) scoring is somewhat different in concept. A time correction factor (TCF) is generated for each boat, which is the ratio of the potential average speed of the yacht to an arbitrary standard yacht, and is generally expressed as a multiplier. As an example, if the reference boat has a handicap of 1.00, a boat with a TCF of 0.90 will have a corrected time equal to 0.90 times its elapsed time. A boat with a TCF of 1.10 would have a corrected time equal to 1.10 times its elapsed time. Under the Time On Time (TOT) scoring method the time allowance for a given race depends on the elapsed time of the race. To get the corrected time for your boat for a specific race, you simply multiply the elapsed time by the TCF for your boat. Remember all the time units must be the same. For example an elapsed time of 1 hr 5 minutes and 30 seconds equals 65.5 minutes or 3930 seconds. I have added the Time-On-Time correction factors to the rating summary on the Club website. Exactly how is the TOT conversion calculated in the scoring software, Quick Score, used by the club? The Club has used PHRF-Lake Ontario Time-on-Time scoring for several years. The Time-on-Time scoring multiplier is derived from a formula based on interpretation of the published results of the original H. Irving Pratt Ocean Race Handicapping project at M.I.T. as modified by Lake Ontario in 1985. For those of you who are a math wiz, all the formulas are referenced on the Lake Ontario web-site. http://www.phrf-lo.org How does Time-on-Time scoring help? It's no secret that larger boats have an advantage upwind, especially in heavy seas (going a mile to weather usually takes longer than sailing a mile off the wind). Time-on-Time scoring gives more time to the slower boats in such conditions. Off-wind races however, usually provide an advantage to small boats. These races are generally faster and Time-on-Time scoring correctly allows the slower rated boats less handicap. In light wind conditions, tall masted boats seem to catch more of the "higher air" due to vertical wind gradient and are less affected by leftover sea conditions. Again, because the average boat velocities are slower, the races take longer to complete and the smaller boats get proportionally more handicap time. In summary, Time-on-Time does NOT factor distance into the results at all. It generates a time correction factor for each boat as compared to a scratch boat, from mid fleet for comparison. In the case of the SCSC fleet a PHRF of 171 (Hakuna Matata and Gallivant). If you look at the results for these two boats you will note their correction factor is 1.00, i.e. whatever their elapsed time for the race equals their corrected time. For other boats the time correction factor is multiplied by their elapsed time to give a corrected time. The correction factor is fixed for each boat for every race. To find out your boats time correction factor visit the Handicaps/Divisions Page. Race NotesOur club has started a J-80 One-Design Fleet. The minimum requirement has always been five boats to create a separate division and this year there are five J-80's. Because the number of boats from in Div. 3 was considered too small to continue as a division by themselves, the race committee decided to add the remaining boats into Div. 2, moving the J-80's into Div.3 and eliminating Div. 4. The divisions will start in "reverse" order, Division 3 first, then Division 2, then Division 1. The starting sequence will be 3-minute sequence. This will keep the time between starts shorter and only add a couple minutes to the overall starting time compared to last year's two starts. To compensate for the faster boats starting first, the time limit has also been changed. The 45 minute time limit from the first boat finishing will not consider the J-80's, that is, the 45 minute timer will start when the first boat from Divisions 1 or 2 finishes. We'll be using the same courses as last year, but make sure you have a current copy of the sailing instructions on your boat. Scoring will again be Time-0n-Time. Yachts racing in SCSC scheduled events will be assigned a PHRF handicap rating formulated from US Sailing Association rating information. Ratings assigned will be based on a nationwide average of PHRF member fleet ratings for that yacht. All member fleet ratings are based upon Standard Boat Assumptions.* Yachts which are Non-Standard or don not have a PHRF rating will be rated according to the guidelines provided by U.S.Sailing for rating a Custom or Unrated Yacht. Yachts Racing under incorrect handicaps are subject to disqualification. *Standard Boat Assumptions:
A Yacht is non-standard if it does not conform to all items listed above, with the exception of item 6. Please supply the appropriate information from the diagram below to the SCSC Ratings Committee.
Dimensions: LLJ (Luff Length)___________________ LP (Distance from Clew to Luff, measured perpendicular to Luff):__________________ Main Sail Dimensions: E (Foot Length)______________ P (Luff Length)____________ Spinnaker Dimensions: LLS (Length form Head to either Clew):____________ G (Maximum Girth):__________ Spinnaker pole length:______________ Whisker pole length:__________________
SCSC Rating Committee reserves the right to declare any Yacht "exceptional" and either not provide a ratting or rate it outside the normal class rules. |
