Hey guys whether we like it or not we need a system of handicapping!
It would be nice, in a way, if all boats sailing were of an equal enough design that we could all sail for “first over the line wins”, that would simplify the job of race committees enormously. Similarly, it would also be nice if everyone sailed the same “class” OD, for the same reasons, and both of these scenarios would satisfy that age old question –who is the best of the best sailor-, but that is just not the way it is!
This argument of comparing top sailors from one class to top sailors from another has never really held up under the light of objective scrutiny, at its very best, it is “highly subjective” to the extreme.
To say that “this” sailor is better than “that” one, simply because the first has sailed (successfully or not), at more geographical diverse events, particularly internationally, is no true measure of either sailors “ability” and to call any sailor who competes only at his/her local club, a “weekend warrior”, is some thing that I find elitist, derogatory, and definitely no accurate description of that weekend sailors true abilities.
Personally I have witnessed many (weekend) sailors, over many years who have had more “natural sailing ability” than many of their more “recognised” counterparts who have sailed internationally, even up to Olympic standard, but due to circumstances that we all are aware of (finance, time, social situation, etc) the so called weekend warrior has never gained the same publicity/recognition, (and most likely never wanted that sort of notoriety anyway). Apples should only be compared to apples.
So for that large majority of sailors, who sail on all those vastly different types of catamarans, at hundreds of clubs every race day, where they are often lucky if they have the pleasure of competing “head to head” against even one other of “their” own class of cat, I say thank goodness for a handicapping system that, although, by the very nature of handicapping, can never be “perfect”, at least it is a far better way of “fleet” competition than any realistic alternative that I have ever heard of.
The one true thing that is common to all of us, and deserves our greatest respect of each other, is that we are not “Hobie” people, or “Tornado” people, etc, we are all members of an age old brotherhood of sailors, and that means something that only those of us “who go down to the sea in ships” can fully understand and appreciate.