SIMPLIFIED SCORING
& HANDICAPPING PROCEDURE 

arranged by time frame

Well before the event:

1.     Obtain the handicaps. The complete Portsmouth Yardstick is available from US SAILING.

• Download Portsmouth handicaps, from US SAILING or SailWave.
• Get PHRF handicaps from SAIL PHRF Chair, Bob Malouff. For baots without current PHRF certificates, the RC will assign the handicaps.

2.     Decide to use wind-dependant handicaps for Portsmouth. Reliable wind instruments can be obtained for less than $20. If no wind measuring device is available, the judgment of experienced sailors categorizing the conditions as Drifter, Light, Moderate, or Heavy will produce more equitable results than using non-wind-dependent handicaps.

In the Notice of Race & the Sailing Instructions:

3.     Notice of Race: Declare the scoring & handicapping systems to be used.

4.   Sailing Instructions: Invoke or describe the scoring system and handicap system(s). If using PHRF, declare that RC-assigned handicaps are not subject to redress, appeal or protest, except by SAIL PHRF members. Invoke or describe the throw-out scheme, and possibly the use of throw-outs in the tie-breaking scheme. Unmodified, Appendix A declares 1 throw-out regardless of number of races completed (even if only one) and does not use throw-outs in tie-breakers at all.

Before the event:

5.     Make enough copies of the scoring & handicapping forms to handle all expected races & fleets. Making two copies of each, using good, old-fashioned carbon paper is a very good idea. Include a space on the registration form for the full boat class with variations and the skipper’s initials agreeing to that classification.

• Or, check out & practice with your computer scoring program. On the same equipment you'll be using.

At Registration:

6.      In consultation with its skipper, determine the appropriate handicaps for each boat at registration. Many classes have variations that are handicapped differently. Write the complete description of the boat, as printed in the handicap chart, on the registration form and have the skipper sign it.

After registration and before competitor’s meeting:

7.      Group boats into fleets using their handicaps and their weights. A handicap fleet need not have any more boats than a one-design fleet. The closer the handicaps, the better the racing. In fluky air (in Colorado) Lighter boats generally outperform heavier boats on handicap.

8.     Set the starting order according to the handicaps of the fleet. Don’t relegate the handicap folks to the last start and require the faster handicap boats to sail through slower fleets started earlier.

On the water:

9.    Use courses that include beats, runs, and reaches about equally and try to achieve elapsed times on the order of 1 hour.

• Courses which are much shorter or much longer than an hour, distort  the racing to favor either higher or lower handicaps.

10.     On the water, record starting times, periodic wind speeds (See the Beaufort Scale.), and sail numbers & finish times on the RC Sheet. Use clock (time-of-day) times. Use a water-proof writing device (soft pencil) if you’re in an open boat. The recorder should sign the RC Sheet.

• When recording finish times do NOT write them in any order other than as the boats finish Use this format: (See here for a downloadable example.)

  Sail #	Time	Class	Comment
  5372	1342:46	U-20	Protest flag

• If you have any handicap fleets, you should record sail numbers & times for all boats. It is too difficult to use different procedures for different fleets.
• Sail numbers & times go together. Record them together.

When convenient, the recorder should copy the class, sail number, starting time, and finish time onto the Handicapping Sheet, separating racing groups. The scorer can then compute elapsed times, corrected ties and finish positions. These are simple calculations and can be accomplished with a hand calculator in about 30 seconds per boat. Both the recorder and the scoreer should sign the Handicapping Sheet.

• Computer: Enter the sail numbers & times directly into your scoring program. This avoids the use of an intermediate form, which can introduce errors.

  After each day’s racing

12.    Complete the completed RC and Handicap Sheets and the current Cumulative Score sheets as soon as possible after each race. Unlike fleet racers, handicap racers don’t know who won individual races until they see the numbers. Quick posting also enables the correction of inadvertent errors before that become ill-timed Requests for Redress.

• The clock doesn't start running on such a request for redress until the scores are posted. It's embarrassing to hand out trophies, then ask for them back.

  At the end of the event

13.   Send copies of RC, Handicap & Scoring Sheets to SAIL. (Or, e-mail the results files.) We need these to publish results in the newsletter, to score tour points, and to submit to US SAILING for inclusion in handicapping statistics. More often than not, someone from SAIL will be at your event and would be happy to hand-carry the copies.

More information or support:

SAIL Race Chair: Tom Downing. See Contacts page


Sailboat Handicapping Math

Corrected Time (CT) and Elapsed Time (ET)  are in decimal minutes and Distance (D) is in statute miles

Formulas
Portsmouth Yardstick:	Corrected Time = Elapsed Time x 100 / ( D-PN or Hcn )
PHRF Time on Distance (TOD):	Corrected Time = Elapsed Time - (Distance x PHRF / 60 )
PHRF Time on Time (TOT):	Corrected Time = Elapsed Time x TCF
SAIL PHRF Time Correction Factor:	TCF = 715 / ( 515 + PHRF )
Hours-Minutes-Seconds to Decimal Minutes:	Decimal Minutes = ( Hours x 60 ) + Minutes + ( Seconds / 60 )

 

The Beaufort Scale of Wind Velocity

As altitude increases and air “thins out”, the force exerted by wind diminishes with respect to its velocity. At the altitudes encountered within the SAIL region, it is probably more equitable to judge wind conditions from their effect on the water according to the following table than to measure velocity with an instrument.

 The Race Committee should observe sea conditions at the start, during, and at the finish of the race and determine the average Beaufort Number for that race. Take care to observe that the wind strength you observe is the same as that of the race course.  


Beaufort Number (BN)	Wind Velocity		Seaman’s Term	Sea or Water Conditions	Typical Wave Ht. *	Typical Attainment Time **
	Knots	MPH
"Drifter"
0	0-1	0-1.7	Calm	Glassy smooth, mirror-like	Smooth	-
1	2-3	1.8-4.0		Scale-like ripples	Ripples	1-10 min.
"Light Air"
2	4-6	4.1-7.4	Light Breeze	Small, short waves with glassy crests	4 in.	5-15 min.
3	7-10	7.5-12.0	Gentle Breeze	Large wavelets, crests begin to break, occasional foam	1-2 ft.	5-20 min.
"Moderate" Air"
4	11-16	12.1-18.9	Moderate Brz	Small waves, some whitecaps, more frequent foam	2-3 ft.	15-60 min.
5	17-21	19.0-24.7	Fresh Brz	Moderate longer waves, better formed, many whitecaps, some spray	3-4 ft.	15-60 min. /td>
"Heavy Air"
6	22-27	24.8-31.6	Strong Brz	Large waves form, many whitecaps, foam everywhere, more spray	4-5 ft.	1/4-2 hrs.
7	28-33	31.7-38.5	Moderate Gale	Sea heaps up, streaks of foam/spindrit begins	5-6 ft.	1/2-3 hrs.
8	34-40	>38.6-46.6	Fresh Gale	Moderately high long waves, crests into spindrift, well-marked streaks of foam	6-7 ft.	1/2-3 hrs.
9	41-47	46.7-53.9	Strong Gale	High waves, sea rolls, dense streaks, spray affects visibility	7-9 ft.	1/2-4 hrs.

 * Wave height depends on water depth, “fetch” (length of water surface the wind blows across), and time that the wind has been blowing. These are typical heights for lakes, bays and estuaries. The above conditions and wave heights shoulld prevail after the times indicated. Consider effects of power boats or enclosed water in estimating wind-caused wave heights.

** These times are for constant or building winds; waves decrease more slowly as wind abates. For decreasing intensities, rely on surface characterisitics; for example, one-foot glassy-smooth waves still indicate BN=0 conditions.