Ok, a question for input on what criteria folks use when they select the scale for the windspeed corrections when scoring Portsmouth.
The simple question is this - do you just consider what the windspeed is, or are you also judging the sea-state and requiring BOTH the wind speed and wave heights to match the Beaufort scale to use?
Background for me asking this: We're a pretty bare-bones outfit, we have no committee for our weekly races. Our format is a fixed start and finish line, and we use government and keelboat racing marks. We try to incorporate upwind downwind, but the format is best described as mini-distance races (point here is that we don't have square start/finish, and the racing isn't always strict upwind/downwind - it's still fun, trust me...). We choose somebody to run the starting sequence on the water, and everybody takes their own times that are reported back to me to do the scoring (SailWave). I choose the wind range, based upon what conditions I see on the water during the race. Our venue in the river and out into the Bay means that we can see varying conditions, and you may see wind without chop, and chop without wind. But again, I base the choice on the wind conditions that we see the most of during the race. And yes, it's subjective and based on experience, not an instrument. And to avoid any criticism that I'm cooking the numbers for my gain, I pick it ahead of entering in results, and I don't engage in changing it unless there's a consensus to do so.
Anyway, it was brought to my attention that perhaps I'm doing things wrong by not including the sea state in choosing the beaufort range, and that if the sea state doesn't match the description I should drop the range down. So, for instance, if the wind we are experiencing meets category 4 (11-16 knots), but the waves aren't up to it, the point was I should choose the 2-3 category. We've always based on the wind range, but I'm willing to consider options. One point I have is that on semi-protected waters you may not ever generate the wave-state seen in open water for the same winds. I'd hate to be always scoring in 0-1 or 2-3 if we stay in the Harbor...
Anyway, any thoughts from those who run scoring? And I mean actual thoughts on this problem. I know OD cuts this out, so I'm not looking for an OD versus PN Poopfight. And yes I realize that different designs do better/worse depending on seat state. Ultimately I believe that a lot of things we do undercut the "purity" of PN anyway. But, I'm curious to hear thoughts and input. Again, do folks consider sea-state in addition to wind when choosing the wind corrections?
