Re: [bolger] Re: Re: Albacore

Yeah, that happened sometimes too. It's just that the other way was sure to
lose.

(I was 40 and spent my days at a desk. The competition was 19 and ran track
at college.)

Roger
derbyrm@...
http://derbyrm.mystarband.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Bell" <smallboatdesigner@...>

> I watched a guy do that last week. When he got to the corner, he got a 90
> degree header. He barely made it back in time to start the next race!
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roger Derby" <derbyrm@...>
>
> > Just remember that on some days, not all the skill in the world can beat
> > pure, dumb, luck. Give it a chance.
> >
> > If the rest of the fleet is going to the north side of the course, head
> for
> > the south. Clean air and you might just get the lift you need. Also,
> > you're not going head-to-head with people you know are better at that
kind
> > of thing.
> >
> > Roger (still savoring some of the really good days after nearly 30
years)
> >derbyrm@...
> >http://derbyrm.mystarband.net

I think the most educational racing occurs when all the boats are
identical. When you change something, you can see the results right
away. At least if you haven't already been left far behind. Of course,
mostly I learned that all the people who are serious and experienced are
MUCH better than I am.

I also learned that even as an experienced Boston driver, I don't have
the chutzpah (sp?) needed for dinghy race starts.

Lincoln Ross
who has probably only been in 50 or 100 very short races

>Don Tyson wrote:
>I'm not the least familiar w/racing. Peter, Could you explain the portsmouth rating in laymans terms. I have always been cruising oriented but I feel that racing dingys/sloops would teach me alot about setting sails.
>Don
>
>pvanderwaart <pvanderwaart@yahoo.
>

I watched a guy do that last week. When he got to the corner, he got a 90
degree header. He barely made it back in time to start the next race!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Derby" <derbyrm@...>
To: <bolger@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 11:42 AM
Subject: Re: [bolger] Re: Re: Albacore

> Just remember that on some days, not all the skill in the world can beat
> pure, dumb, luck. Give it a chance.
>
> If the rest of the fleet is going to the north side of the course, head
for
> the south. Clean air and you might just get the lift you need. Also,
> you're not going head-to-head with people you know are better at that kind
> of thing.
>
> Roger (still savoring some of the really good days after nearly 30 years)
>derbyrm@...
>http://derbyrm.mystarband.net
>

Just remember that on some days, not all the skill in the world can beat
pure, dumb, luck. Give it a chance.

If the rest of the fleet is going to the north side of the course, head for
the south. Clean air and you might just get the lift you need. Also,
you're not going head-to-head with people you know are better at that kind
of thing.

Roger (still savoring some of the really good days after nearly 30 years)
derbyrm@...
http://derbyrm.mystarband.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Lincoln Ross" <lincolnr@...>

> Of course, mostly I learned that all the people who
> are serious and experienced are MUCH better than I am.
>
> I also learned that even as an experienced Boston driver, I
> don't have the chutzpah (sp?) needed for dinghy race starts.

>Two details: in the fine print you will see that there are ways to

adjust the base rating based on wind speed. This is mainly to
recocile boats with the ability to plane and boats that won't plane.

>once tried to use the formulas for unlisted classes and found

them difficult to apply and inconsistent in results.

So it is posible in some cases to race planing boats against non-planing.

I have heard of judges arguing about rating rules and I'm glad I don't have to be at that level and make those decisions.

Thank you for explaining and for the links. I'll heck them out.

Don Tyson

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> Peter, Could you explain the portsmouth rating in layman's terms.

Note: full information can be found at the US Sailing site
(http://www.ussailing.org/portsmouth/pyindex.htm)or by googling
on "Portsmouth Yardstick."

The Portsmouth system was developed for regattas with a mixed fleet
of small boats and is based on the simple notion that "boat a is x%
as fast as boat b." The actual numbers given to each class of boat
are arrived at through experience, not by any measurements of the
boats involved. (As a result, classes that are raced a lot have well
established ratings, and classes that are not raced a lot have
ratings that may be flakey, which in the nature of things, usually
means unfavorable.)

So for an example, the Albacore has a rating of 90.7, which means
that it will take, on average, 90.7% as long to get around the course
as the 'standard boat'. Or, if a boat rated 100 took 100 minutes,
then an Albacore would take 90.7 minutes (90:42).

Scoring is actually done by taking each boat's elapsed time and
dividing by the rating (shifting the decimal point) to get a
corrected time. If elapsed time is 60 minutes, then corrected time is
60/.907 = 66 minutes, 9 seconds. A faster boat with a rating smaller
than 90.7 would have a smaller divisor, so the elapsed time would
be "blown up" more, and slower boat with a higher rating will have a
bigger divisor and the elapsed time will blown up less, or even
dimished (if the rating > 100). Smallest corrected time wins, of
course.

Two details: in the fine print you will see that there are ways to
adjust the base rating based on wind speed. This is mainly to
recocile boats with the ability to plane and boats that won't plane.

Second, there is an adjustment from Portsmouth to PHRF on the basis
of 1 point difference in Portsmouth = 6 sec/mile PHRF. This should
not be take seriously for dinghies. If 1% difference is speed is 6
seconds, then speed is 600 seconds/mile or 6 miles/hours. This is
about twice dinghy speed around a closed course.

Finally, I agree that a little racing teaches a lot about sail trim,
especially if you go as crew aboard the boat of a really good racer.

Peter

1) The list of dinghy classes is here:
http://www.ussailing.org/portsmouth/tables03/tables03cb.htm

2) I once tried to use the formulas for unlisted classes and found
them difficult to apply and inconsistent in results.

I'm not the least familiar w/racing. Peter, Could you explain the portsmouth rating in laymans terms. I have always been cruising oriented but I feel that racing dingys/sloops would teach me alot about setting sails.
Don

pvanderwaart <pvanderwaart@...> wrote:

> Do you think I'll need a wet suit? like on a Laser?

No. There are some good pictures here -http://www.albacore.org/usa/-
that seem to show winter sailing without a wet suit. Depends on the
temperature and the conditions, of course.

Looking up the Portsmouth rating, I was surprised to see that it's a
very fast boat indeed. Faster than a Laser or a JY-15.

Peter

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> Do you think I'll need a wet suit? like on a Laser?

Do you think I'll need a wet suit? like on a Laser?

pvanderwaart <pvanderwaart@...> wrote:
Back about 1965, it was considered to have quite good performance,
which probably meant, "able to plane in strong winds." Sorry to say,
I don't know how that would compare to a more modern boat with the
same passenger comforts. Most of the new and faster boats are lower
sided and less suited for cold water.

Peter

> Hey Group!
> Just out of curiosity I wonder if anyone has sailed or raced an
> Albacore 15'? I am able to buy one reasonably and wonder about its
> performance.
>
> Don Tyson

Bolger rules!!!
- no cursing, flaming, trolling, spamming, or flogging dead horses
- stay on topic, stay on thread, punctuate, no 'Ed, thanks, Fred' posts
- Pls add your comments at the TOP, SIGN your posts, and snip away
- Plans: Mr. Philip C. Bolger, P.O. Box 1209, Gloucester, MA, 01930, Fax: (978) 282-1349
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Back about 1965, it was considered to have quite good performance,
which probably meant, "able to plane in strong winds." Sorry to say,
I don't know how that would compare to a more modern boat with the
same passenger comforts. Most of the new and faster boats are lower
sided and less suited for cold water.

Peter

> Hey Group!
> Just out of curiosity I wonder if anyone has sailed or raced an
> Albacore 15'? I am able to buy one reasonably and wonder about its
> performance.
>
> Don Tyson

Hey Group!
Just out of curiosity I wonder if anyone has sailed or raced an
Albacore 15'? I am able to buy one reasonably and wonder about its
performance.

Don Tyson