BISCAYNE BAY

Race Chairman's Letter

PHRF CLASS BREAKS – updated February 21, 2005
Comments and Insight from your Race Chairman...

I am pleased to present the PHRF class breaks for Acura Miami Race Week 2005. Our philosophy for handicapping and class breaks is the same as it is for our Key West regatta.

Many hours of review and discussion have gotten us to this point. The PHRF Consortium Chairman and his team have evaluated the Key West PHRF results and researched and debated the new boats in the fleet to establish Miami specific handicaps for the Miami PHRF fleet.

Participants should be aware that one of the criteria for handicapping in Miami is slightly different than Key West (slightly more breeze). In some cases, the handicaps for Key West entries have been adjusted based on observed performance at the January regatta. Additionally, handicaps can be adjusted based on what class the boat will be racing in (in accordance with the event specific PHRF Rules & Regs).

I ask that participating PHRF boat owners assess the class breaks in the context of the facts and considerations that I will share with you in this letter. As always, I welcome your feedback and comments, but will ask that you first take the time to read my letter before contacting us with feedback or questions. My second request is that only the boat owner or his/her designated representative contact us and to do so via email. It is the most efficient way for us to manage this process going forward and provide you with a response in the limited time we have before racing begins on March 10th.

BACKGROUND
The event-specific PHRF Rules & Regulations and the Notice & Conditions of Race both speak to our philosophy on PHRF class breaks. We fully recognize that getting class breaks right is as important to 'good PHRF racing' as assigning proper handicaps. There are a multitude of factors that need to be taken into account when assigning the class breaks including rating bands, LOA, sail area/displacement ratios, etc. There are of course, some limiting factors from an event and race management standpoint. These include practical class size and a maximum number of starts per division in order to achieve 2 and 3 fair races on any given day.

Premiere Racing publishes preliminary class breaks only after considerable dialogue with the PHRF Consortium, naval architects and some experienced boat owners (those without a conflict of interest, of course). We all are in agreement on one fact - that there are many different ways one can divide these PHRF entries into classes. Before posting the preliminary breaks, a number of us have spent a significant amount of time and effort analyzing potential scenarios. In my capacity as Race Chairman, I am the one responsible for making the final decision on class breaks.

One of our primary goals, based on feedback from Key West PHRF owners over the years, is to provide 'like racing' - that is to ensure that boats which perform in a similar fashion in a variety of different conditions are racing together. There are a number of factors we take into consideration in our efforts to ensure like racing - even if that means expanding rating bands beyond what one might normally desire. A boat's Sail Area/ Displacement Ratio (both the upwind & downwind numbers) and Displacement/Length Ratio are two key factors that come into play. With a smaller base of PHRF entries than we have in Key West, providing racing with “like boats” is not always achievable.

Determining class breaks solely on handicap would be a simple task, look tidy on the scratch sheet, and result in notably small rating bands. But this clearly wouldn't provide 'like racing' and the quality competition that PHRF boat owners are seeking.

MIAMI 2005 CONSIDERATIONS / ISSUES
On any given year there are considerations and limitations concerning class breaks.

There will be a total of 12 classes racing on 3 divisions next month:
 

OCEAN DIVISIONS

Thursday (Mar 10)
Div 1 (41 boats): TP52 / PHRF 1 / Farr 40 / PHRF 2 / PHRF 3 / PHRF 4

Friday – Sunday (Mar 11-13)
Div 1 (29 boats): TP52 / PHRF 1 / Farr 40 / Mumm 30
Div 2 (37 boats): PHRF 2 / PHRF 3 / J/105 / PHRF 4
 

BISCAYNE BAY DIVISION

Friday – Sunday (Mar 11-13)
Div 3 (67 boats): Melges 24 / Etchells / PHRF 5 / J/24

* As it turns out, the mix of PHRF boats led to fairly logical class breaks this year – a welcome development given the fleet size compared to Key West.
* To ensure quality racing and the ability to get 3 races completed on Friday through Sunday, we have attempted to feature a maximum of 4 starts per division on those days. On Thursday there are only 6 classes racing – all on Division 1 in the ocean (listed above). With a favorable weather forecast for the week, the race committee will likely try for 2 races on Thursday.
* These preliminary breaks feature 5 handicap classes ranging in size from 6 to 8 boats. Entry diversity has led to small class sizes (and more trophies) in most instances.
* It should be noted that the 2 classes with rating bands in excess of 30 seconds/mile actually feature a group of boats with relatively very tight rating bands with one boat on the top and/or bottom of the class accounting for the spread.
* Sub Classes: We will be recognizing 3 groups with 3-4 boats each that show potential for one design status in future years (Swan 45 / 1D35 / J/120). A sub-class trophy will be awarded to the top boat in each of these groups within their PHRF classes.

DIVISION 1 & 2 (Ocean Racing)
PHRF 1: A 7-boat class with 3 ‘custom’ boats (C/M 60 NUMBERS (-81), Farr 53 YELLOW JACKET (-48), and Tripp 47 LIMOGGIO (6) will be joined by four Swan 45’s (handicap TBD). While the big boat class features a wide rating band (as the ‘big boat’ class routinely does), 5 of these 7 boats will likely have handicaps within 36 spm of one another. The Swan 45s will be eligible for a ‘sub-class’ trophy.

PHRF 2: This 7-boat light to moderate displacement class features three 1D35s and a 66 sec/mile rating band. The Farr 36 GRINS and Melges 32 DAWN RAID will renew their Key West competition, giving this group a “sporty” look. The JS9000 has just entered, widening the rating band.

PHRF 3: This moderate-displacement class features 3 J/120s and 2 Bene 40.7s. The 7 boats have a relatively tight rating band of 21 spm with 6 boats rating within 6 spm of one another.

PHRF 4: This competitive 8-boat class will feature a 30 spm rating band. Fleet composition precluded us from forming a separate heavy displacement class for the Swans and Baltic 40.

DIVISION 3 (Biscayne Bay Racing)
PHRF 5: The “small boat” PHRF class in the 2005 handicap fleet, featuring 5 local boats and a J/80 that competed in Key West, has a 27 spm rating band.

As always, we welcome your constructive criticism and feedback. Keep in mind that we are very reluctant to make last minute changes, hence timely feedback is essential. If you see something you don't agree with, we ask that you provide useful feedback. Please don't just state that a boat does not belong is a certain class. It will be far more effective to present the perceived problem, why it is a problem, along with a potential solution and your justification.

We look forward to an excellent PHRF competition at Acura Miami Race Week 2005 and building the handicap fleet in 2006. I look forward to seeing everyone next month.

Sincerely yours,
Peter Craig
Race Chairman