What's my Rating?

If you want to know all your ratings, you can see them here:

>Current Ratings<

This link is available on the Blog on the right and will be available as the season progresses. It might not work next year, but it should work this year.

Not everyone has a rating for all wind speeds yet. That's because we don't have enough information on those boats. When we get more info, we will update the ratings in the sheet.

These are Assigned Ratings! We are assigning you a rating for all wind speeds and course configurations based on the available information we have about your boat. We have very little information about most boats, so we are assigning ratings based on all available information we can conjure. Don't like your rating? The solution is simple - get more information about your boat. Get an ORC certificate, have your displacement measured, measure your sails... These are all good ways to get us more information.

Why are we assigning ratings? We have boats racing on Wednesdays that have never received a PHRF, ORC, or ORR certificate. We have boats racing that have never been measured. We have boats that race for only a few races a year. We have to assign them something, or we have nothing.

Remember, we're trying to invite boats to come out racing. If you have an Island Packet docked at Higgins, and you want to come out racing, we will assign you a rating. You can come out to play.  This is entry-level fun racing, folks. We want people to learn with us.

Results from 5/17

Clear skies, warm temps, and plenty of wind! I hope you made it out there last night. In August, you will be wishing for this weather.

Congratulations to Bob and crew on La Cinquième for a first-place finish in the Racing class. Also having a great night coming in first was Marty and crew on Bella in the Cruising class as well as Alan and Neddy in the Star class. 

You can see all the results >HERE<

That line is not for you

Remember rule 10.1 in the Sailing Instructions - If you're not starting, you need to stay well clear of the starting line.

When are you starting? When your Class Flag is flying, or from 5 minutes before your start to your start.

Other than that, hang out away from the line and wait until it's your turn.

What sails can I use?

There are no limitations, but your certificate needs to include your sails.

Let's say that you go buy a new blooper sail. You want to use this new sail when racing low angles downwind. To use the new sail, you will need to get a new certificate from ORC that includes the new sail in the VPP information. Once we have that information, you can use the sail.

We want people to use their sails in two configurations. For the sake of naming, let's call the two configurations "Default" and "Alternate." Each configuration is a basket of sails that are on your certificate. The certificate shows a VPP for that basket of sails.

Everyone races together. The VPP allows people to compete because they choose their basket, get a certificate for that basket, and race with that basket. The contents of the basket are irrelevant; only the VPP matters.

We could tell people they can only have one rating and must fly a spinnaker. We could tell people that they must have lifelines. We could tell people they must carry a storm trysail and a liferaft. Many races do just that. We don't. We just want people to come out Wednesday nights with sails they can manage and race for fun. We allow people to get a certificate that matches their desired fun and just come racing.

Many organizations tell people you must be a specific type of racer to come out and play. The J/70 start in Annapolis will not let a Cal 33 on the starting line. If you spend enough time putting up barriers so people can't participate, they will eventually go away. We take the opposite approach. Everyone is welcome with whatever boat they have. Put on some sails, and let's go!

Results from 5/10

Such a nice night to be on the water - thank goodness the wind finally filled in.

Congratulations to Jeff and crew on Honey Honey for a first-place finish in the cruising class. Also, congrats on coming in first with a great race goes to UnPhased in the racing class and Joni and Ray in the Star class.

You can see all the results >here<

Results from 5/3

Plenty of wind, but just a little cold. Great night for our first Wednesday night of the year! We had all kinds of fun getting back into the process of running a race. The boats that made it out last night had a great time on the race course. We shook out the cobwebs, so now the serious racing starts!

Congrats to Dennis and crew on ReJoyce for a first-place finish in the Racing class. Also having a great night and coming in first were Marty and crew on Bella in the Cruising class and Matt and Eric coming in first in the Star class!

You can see all the results >HERE<

See you next week. Fingers crossed for no rain.