Sorry sparky, for one of the few times I have to agree with Wouter.

A measurement system is far better than one based on returns.

The critical point is that the returns system (protsmouth) also measures the skill of the sailor - consider

Class X is sailed by many very good sailors in active fleets around the world and so is sailed very well; however they do very little handicap racing, those that do handicap race are those at the tail of the fleet - The portsmouth rating reflects this because it scores where the boats finish, and this MUST be a function of the skills of the crew(s).

Consider Class Y that also has a very good fleet of sailors, but they also do many many handicap events and so the Portsmouth for class Y is a "hard" handicap as the boat and sailors have performed well at events.

Consider class Z. Not very active, and those that do sail sail Portsmouth events and finish at the back of the fleet; over time the handicap of class Z gets more favourable; then Hotshot A comes along, sails Class Z well and cleans up.



This is why Portsmouth does not work.