That is an interesting point, because I never understood why a RC would place the (spi-less) A's in the fast fleet but not the F16's. Take a look at the D-PN numbers. That is if we assume for the moment that the current 65.2 handicap is anywhere near accurate.


F16 D-PN 65.2
Hobie 20 65.0 (0.3 % faster)
A-cat D-PN 64.6 (0.9 % faster)
F18 D-PN 62.4 (4 % faster)


Does a difference of 0.9 % really require the F16 to be put in the H16 and P16 fleet ?

H16 D-PN 76.0 (17 % slower)
P16 D-PN 77.5 (19 % slower)

Are these RC's intellectually challenged ?

My point here is that no RC would put the A's in the H16/P16 fleet so why do they do it with the F16's ?

I think this has all to do with the impression they have of the A-cats, one that is carefully cultivated, F16's don't have that. And they will for ever decide on 65.0 as the split point, just to keep F16's out of the fast fleet. And this prejudice is very hard to kill as we have learned again with the Alter Cup. Pretty much all F16 owners have expressed how not to regard the F16 boats and still some crews came unprepared for it. Still many sailors think that super light crews are best on the F16 only to find out that a truly powerful engine is on top of that boat. They look at the fact that the F16 has less sailarea then a Hobie 16 and think that that says anything about the speed and behaviour of the F16. And this is still happening after 6 years of F16 existance and F16 race results.

The ONLY way to combat this is to have a faster rating then the H20 and the A-cats as they possibly can't pretend that these boats don't belong in the fast fleet. In effect they can never again choose a split off point that will isolate the F16's as they can now.

Personally the US-PN F18 handicap is quite low at 62.4. For the F16 63.5 would suit us just fine (below A-cat and H20 which is true) and will not be a very hard rating to sail to either. Afterall we are outselfs requesting a faster rating, that is already unprecedented, we have no obligation to request a very low handicap.

I say 63.5 is a very good starting point for the F16's for the above reasons and truly it is very close to what probably is the right handicap for these boats.

In Europe we race of 1.02 compared to 1.01 of the F18's => D-PN 63.0
In Australia they race off 71 with 70 to F18 => D-PN 63.3
Under the new ISAF system the F16 is at 1.020 when the F18 is 1.005 => D-PN = 63.3

ALL the rating systems in the world, both yardstick and measurements, are agreeing on a rating for the F16 this close to the F18's, EXCEPT US-Sailing D-PN.

And to this we can now also add the personal opinions to that extend of all the Alter Cup crews.

Wouter