Remember, the Portsmouth ratings are for the users. It strikes a balance between class boats (Hobie 16’s) Formula designs, [Inter 18 (slow and dead) to Tigers (current and soon to be surpassed) to Capricorns (faster then the others so far) and One Off or very low popularity designs (CFR20 or Marstrom 20 respectively).

Everyone gets to go racing against each other.

The names that get tabulated are for the scorekeepers to keep track of a configuration of a boat and make it easy on the scorekeeper. (IT’S A PIA to track modifications). So, the ratings have listed SINGLE ONE OFF designs…. That are called class… but really are a class of one. Currently, the CFR 20… is a class of one. (Previously… you had a Poison Oak in the north east… I am sure there are others.)
Call yours the WHH18! This makes the record keeping easy… BUT it will create a problem.

The problem with a class of one boat is that you are essentially developing a personal handicap and calling it the Class rating…. Each race you sail results in a rating relative to the other first place boat of a different class (Hobie 17, Hobie 16, Hobie 18) that are racing on the course… you take the best result of each class and compare it to your individual result… This becomes the rating for the WHH18 class. Actually… its your personal handicap rating.

Eventually… for every race you compete in the game is… Did I sail better then my average handicap…. Or did I sail worse then my average handicap. If I match or sail better then my average performance… you are likely to win the race… the other racers are trying to beat the handicap set by a large population of racers… in these races… 20 Hobie 16’s… will generate ONLY THE SINGLE WINNING TIME going into the database. All the other results are slower and not used for the rating. (SO…. bad vibes will be generated if the past predicts the future, especially when you claim… I am not a great racer… but I am winning trophies with my boat)

This is a big difference! The other competitors are asking… How close did I come to sailing to the rating set by the top sailors in my class. The race is between sailors competing on how well they sail to their ratings. Eg how close did the Hobie 17 sailor sail to his rating… versus how close did the Hobie 16 sail to his rating.. You on the other hand will be sailing against your average result… since you have the only WHH18 on the planet….
(Now if you loan the boat out to 5 other racers… you could develop a better class rating for the boat.)


IMO, Your rating should be set in stone by the PN committee... (judgment… correction factors… Texel and SCCR rating formulas) until you have a class of boats... actually racing...and my standard would be 5 boats competing in a portsmouth race against several other designs... Your data should not be computed as the true class boats... Just race with the number assigned by the committee. No fuss no muss and no confusion or whining about handicap racing.... (except for Dave and Carl)!