Hi Mike

You raise the point that a handicap system (Texel, ISAF or Portsmouth) that is designed primarily for windward leeward or Olympic triangles will be flawed when a distance race turns into a reach. I agree and don't have a solution for this one.

You make that point that similar boats should be scored together and that lumping them all (spin + non spin) together is unfair. I agree with you, the distance races that CRAC hosts score the two groups seperately. We score everyone together and award one trophy for best corrected time. Human nature dictates that everyone wants to know how they competed against the entire fleet. (Basically you want to know your overall finish, your finish within spin or non spin and then your one design class finish position and depending on which one was the best will determine what you remember and tell tall tales about. If the Taipan 4.9 had competed.... you can add the giant killer factor into the equation of how do you want to report the results as well!)

The problem with the steeple chase result is with a refurbished supercat 20 and the rating creep over the past 20 years for supercat 20's. Over time, these boats moved down the pecking order and the rating became inaccurate.

The changes that I am proposing would be taken by the Portsmouth committe as they consider each year's rating list. This would require a policy change on the part of the PN committe only. (Race committe's using portsmouth would not do anything different ) Racers sailing older designs might find that their rating dropped to what they once were back in the day when their boat was among the top dogs.

You listed all of the boats that are actively raced in the US and Canada. I believe that the ratings for these boats are viewed as accurate. Based on the Steeplechase results, the elapsed times support the notion that even for this very very atypical race, the ratings for the popular classes, I20', Nacra 6.0's, Tornado's, and F18HT's seem reasonable.

Everyone should remember that in a 4 hour race, the small differences between boat designs that are usually lost in the noise of the racing around a triangle for 45 minutes are magnified. Moreover, as wind and sea conditions change over this period, some designs are also favored or burdened. Everyone should keep in mind that this is not a perfect game and the winner's are determined by the rules as well as sailing skill. For instance, in the Steeplechase... Rick White refuses to use the distance rating for spinakers in distance races. From the reports that I heard, choices made and execution by the race teams determined the outcome... not the ratings (if you exclude the supercat debate)

(Hell, the damn swiss are playing by the same rules as everyone else and seem to have a clear advantage in the cup racing ... which perhaps leads to a very interesting dilemena of : Where would they race the next Cup?... Last time I looked at a map...Switzerland was land locked! Lake sailing does not seem fitting for the America's Cup)

Take Care
Mark