And Wouter, thanks for forwarding my address to the Blade-dealer.
This was to get you the contact details of Holger, he has got those and I didn't. But of course this Blade-dealer can be handy in other respects as well !
But I will leave that between you and him.
In the meantime, I'd like to understand the Texel handicaps. First, I guess, the higher the number, the slower the boat?
Correct. Interest rating numbers are F18 = 102 and A-cat = 99 ; both of these can be regarded as good bench marks to which you can compare the performance of other boats. Example : boat A => rating = 115 this boat will arrive at the finish in 115/102 % = 113 % of the time that it takes an F18 to get there. Under the assumption that both boats are sailed by comparable crews. 13 % speed difference means that with each 8 boatlengths of travel the F18 will have won a boatlength.
Second, these numbers are apparently based on static figures since Wouter was able to create a new handicap based on the - assumed - less weight of F17.
The handicap system uses several key boat specifications to determine a handicap upon. These key specifications are put into a interpolation formula that was regressed from a large fleet of different boat types in the past and a performance prediction (=rating) is acquired. Of course this rating has only meaning in relation to the rating numbers of other designs. It is a relative system, not an absolute one. But as we only race other catamarans with a Texel rating this relative character of the system is not at all a problem.
This would mean that boats with the same size, weight and sail area would have the same handicap = equally fast. Is this realistic?
There are a few more inputs but the general idea in indeed along these lines.
Actually the Texel system has often proven to be remarkably accurate. It is not prefect by any means but it is more accurate than one would think by just looking at the simplicity of the system. Per experience driven systems like yardsticks rating very often converge to almost the same preformance predictions (in relative sense). In a good number of cases the error margin is below 2 %. But as every one knows a few exceptions can be named. However as long as you compare similar boats to one another (FX-one, I-17, F16 etc) the system is rather accurate.
Sorry if this was already discussed before (I'm pretty new to the forum) - may be somebody can provide a link where the creation of the Texel handicap is explained.
Or the direct link to the calculation model :
http://www.watersportverbond.nl/data/536_description_rule_and_drawing.pdf
And the address where the list itself can be obtained would be from interest, too ...
And here you can acces the online rating calculator were you can generate your own rating for custom or modified baots.
http://www.watersportverbond.nl/data/calculation_form_8-7-05.xlsWouter
