ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS
The SailJuice Winter Series is based
on the UK’s biggest winter handicap
events and has its own Great Lakes
handicap numbers for fairer racing.
Series founder and co-organiser
Andy Rice says: “My attitude to
handicap racing is that someone
who sails well should be able
to do well and possibly win, no
matter what boat they’re racing
and what the wind conditions
happen to be on that given day.”
When the International Moth
hopped up onto hydrofoils in the
mid-noughties, there was insufficient
data to give the now ballistic
singlehander a sensible handicap
number and when ex-470 sailor
Graham Vials won Queen Mary SC’s
Bloody Mary by miles in a foilingMoth in 2008, he couldn’t take the
winner’s trophy. Andy launched
the SailJuice series a couple of
years later and started working
with the club’s Andrew Craig, who
was instrumental in setting up the
Great Lakes Handicap Group and
continues to be its chairman.
“In the early years of the SailJuice
Winter Series it was clear some
boats were better than others for
winning trophies,” says Andy.
“On some occasions the Merlin
Rockets and Phantoms would
dominate the top 10 without
any other class even getting
a look in. Why? Because the
Phantom had recently permitted
carbon rigs and had made a
step change in performance; the
Merlin is one of the few classes
where proper development is
still going on, and the boat was
getting faster by the year.
“At the time the RYA PY system
was moribund with the numbers
changing very little year on year.
When Bas Edmonds arrived, he
shook the tree and the numbers
started to move. This was about
the same time as the Great Lakes
Group formed. Andrew Craig and
his team of expert volunteers made
some bold moves in the first year.Development classes like the Merlin
took quite a hit. The International
14 handicap number was pegged
back by about 70 points in the
first year while the Laser got a
leg-up of about 40 points.”
Andy says while accusations and
conspiracy theories flew around
the forums, the aim was simply to
level out the playing field; it should
be noted that an International 14
has since won the Bloody Mary,
while even on its more favourable
number, a Laser has yet to win this
event: “These days we sometimes
see a full house of 10 different
classes featuring in the results of a
SailJuice Winter Series event. That
for me is the healthiest measure
of a functional handicap system.”He adds that while the current
numbers work well in moderate
conditions, there is room for
improvement on light airs and
strong wind days. Results still often
reflect the conditions on the day,
and although race officers and
results scorers may be reluctant to
add another layer of complexity,
Andy believes “if we can find a way
of creating wind-based handicaps,
that is the obvious next step”.
Sailracer’s Simon Lovesey, co-
organiser of the SailJuice Winter
Series, has been working on a
context sensitive GPS-based system
he calls Dynamic Handicapping.
“If the GPS trackers are indicating
that, say, the Lasers are planing
downwind nearly all the time, then
clearly it’s a windy day. If they’re
dipping in and out of planing and
displacement mode, it’s a moderate
day. If the Lasers are permanently
in displacement mode, it’s a light
airs day. That’s a pretty broad
brush explanation but hopefully
you get the picture,” says Andy.
“Dinghy handicapping has come
a long way already in the past
decade, but we’ve got a lot further
to go yet, and digital technology like
GPS trackers could hold the key to
making handicap racing even fairer.”to ensure personal handicapping is
transparent, accessible and easy for
clubs to manage, with a view to making
racing more fun and creating sociable
bar room banter rather than controversy.
Draycote has been trialling an
unofficial personal handicap series
scored in parallel with the main
Wednesday evening series results and
other schemes are being operated
successfully elsewhere, usually keeping
mid-fleet improvers interested in their
series results and increasing attendance.
“There’s that motivational side of
it,” says Bas. “Those who win will look
at one set of results, those who think
they personally did better will look at
the other set of results. That’s where
we see opportunities for making it as
easy as possible to get people in.
“You don’t have to spend money, you
don’t have to go to the gym, you may
be relatively new to racing, but if you
perform at your handicap you’ve got an
opportunity to win. I think that’s pretty
powerful for the sport going forward.” GPS trackers could hold the key
to making racing even fairer
INSIGHT DINGHY HANDICAPS
Below
In 2016 Neale
Jones and Ed
Fitzgerald won the
Bloody Mary in
their International
14, despite a big
handicap hitClubs wanting
to find out
more about PY
adjustments can
contact RYA
technical manager
rob.taylor@rya.
org.uk or visit
pyonline.org.ukApril 2018 Yachts & Yachting 51