But you and I both know that most regattas don't draw the numbers the Cat Fight does therefore racing within tight bands is not feasible most of the time.

I absolutely never want to hear someone tell me “again” that I brought a knife to a gunfight. I've been in this game a long time (maybe too long), and the longer I do it, and the more I learn about the handicap system the more I realize it's a POS and an unhappy compromise.

You compare the T to the N20 and say they are only 12 seconds apart per hour. Mark gotta call a BS on that. D-PN is a best guess and that’s it. The data sample used to create D-PN’s is so small that we are lucky the numbers work at all. I have absolutely beaten the living snot out of a team on a Tornado that should have easily done the same to me. And I didn’t beat them because I was unusually brilliant that day; it was because we had conditions that favored the N20 and not the T. To me that aint racing!

You say there are 10’s of minutes in difference between the T’s finishing at the Olympics, well let’s be honest, what you have is the best from each county and not all countries are created equal when it comes to sailing talent. I’m quit sure there are many sailors in the world that are far more talented than many of the sailors represented at the Olympics. Is it the best in the world? Technically yes, is it the best of the best… not by a long shot so for there to be large spread in finish times, it’s no big surprise.

At the N20 Championships in St. Augustine the finishes were very tight in the top five and the fleet was fairly compact excluding those that made very large errors (catching the mark). That’s the kind of racing I want. I don’t want to race somebody’s number, I don’t want someone to tell me it wasn’t my boats day, I just don’t need it!

If handicap racing brings the numbers then great, keep up the great work. But, personally it doesn’t interest me, I’d go fishing rather than sail open.

Dave