In little old Ireland we race everyone together. Numbers are too small to be splitting fleets. We use average lap times. If a class is large enough we give extra prizes, as well as overall on SCHRS. For instance, our Inlands had 37 cats - 11 Hurricane 5.9s, 8 F18s, 6 Dart 18s, 5 Spitfires, 3 Dart 16s, 2 Hobie 18s and 2 Hobie 16s. Sometimes we have an A Class as well. He does not win very often, with his severe handicap, but, at least he feels that he is part of the cat fleet and has a chance of winning.
We want to attract cat sailors to our events and everyone has a chance of winning. In the lighter winds the Hurricanes, Spitfires, or F18s may win, in the strong winds the Darts do very well. At our Nationals, once a year, we give seperate starts to fleets with 5 or more. Otherwise we all race together. It works for us.