R a c I n g H a n d I c a p s

WFPHRF is our local handicap rating authority. The annual cost to belong to WFPHRF supports the website administration and trophies for the BOYA series. The rating certificate application and True Cruising detail worksheet are available on its website: http://westfloridaphrf.org/

WFPHRF = West Florida Performance Handicap Racing Fleet  A PHRF rating is a number with units of seconds per nautical mile that is used to compare the potential speed of one boat to another boat of different design or equipment.  In the way VSS normally uses the ratings (Time-on- Distance method) the rating is multiplied by the length of the race to give a correction in seconds.  That correction is then subtracted from the actual elapsed time (in seconds) that that it took the boat to sail the course and the result is the "corrected time".  As concrete example suppose that Turtle, with a PHRF rating of 250 raced against Rabbit with PHRF rating of 50 on a 10 nm course.  Rabbit finished in 2 hours (7200 s) and Turtle took  2 1/2 hours (9000 s), so Rabbit had a corrected time of 7200 - 50x10 = 6700 s while Turtle corrects to 9000 - 250x10 = 6500, so Turtle carries off the trophy with a win of 200 s (3:20).  Quite often result sheets show how far the boats were behind the winner, in this case Turtle whipped Rabbit by 20 s/nm, which is how much Turtle's rating would have to be lowered to produce a tie in this case.

It is also possible to use a PHRF rating to correct times even if the length of the course is not known by using the Time-on-Time method, but VSS has never done that in my experience.   If you want to know more about PHRF visit US Sailing at http://www.ussailing.org/phrf/.

The following are some of the key points for West Florida PHRF (WFPHRF) ratings:

1. The annual "Certificate Rating Period" starts July 1.
2. The regular annual membership rate is $35.00.
3. Fleet definitions are: Spinnaker, Non-Spinnaker, Sport, True Cruising, Pocket Cruiser, Multi-hull  and Multi Cruising
4. Each yacht will have ratings for three different course configurations:
1. Buoy (windward / leeward)
2. Random Leg Courses (RLC - beating, reaching, running) *
3. Offwind (OWC - long distance with 2/3 reaching & running)
5. Yachts with a spinnaker rating will also be given a non-spinnaker adjusted rating.
6. Special rules covering five race categories have been defined based on course length, locations, etc.  Most of our races are category 2.

* VSS will use Tier 2, Random Leg Courses (RLC).

View the WFPHR web site for the complete details: www.westfloridaphrf.org. The WFPHRF rules are applicable to VSS. While non-WFPHRF certificate holders may race in VSS Racing Series races, VSS members, especially those with cruising boats, should join WFPHRF and take advantage of the True Cruising ratings.

Applications available to download from www.westfloridaphrf.org