Persistent Questions

Question #1 - Wasn't the Lizzie B national appeal decided by USPHRF without any input from SoCal PHRF?

The Facts - No! Lizzie B's appeal document was provided to and counter-signed by the President of SoCal PHRF before it was deemed filed with USPHRF (that is a prerequisite required by USPHRF before an appeal can even be filed). SoCal PHRF then submitted to USPHRF a written response to Lizzie B's appeal. And, SoCal PHRF could have provided additional information at any time before the hearing was held; it did not. At the hearing (conducted by conference call some 5 months after our appeal document was filed with USPHRF) there was one representative from Lizzie B and one representative from SoCal PHRF. Each was allowed to make 10 minutes of presentation (5 min. by Lizzie B, 5 min. by SoCal PHRF, 5 more min. by Lizzie B and a final 5 min. by SoCal PHRF). The Appeals Panel then asked about 15 min. of additional questions to the two representatives before excusing them in order to deliberate and decide the appeal. SoCal PHRF had just as much imput into the process as we did!

Question #2 - How could Lizzie B possibly argue to SoCal PHRF and USPHRF that she "doesn't win enough" in light of her race record in recent years?

The Facts - We didn't! Our appeal was not based on the argument that we didn't win often enough (and we stated that specifically to the SoCal PHRF Regional Board when we had our hearing before them). Instead, it was based on the idea that our old rating of 123 was improperly based on something other than the inherent speed potential of the boat and therefore inaccurate.

As stated on the USPHRF webpage at US Sailing, PHRF "uses the perceived speed potential of a yacht as the basis for the handicap. ... [The handicap is] based on the performance of the class of the yacht." Good boat preparation and crew skill are not supposed to be used to decrease the rating for a boat. "The handicap is based on the yacht being sailed by a top notch crew with the best equipment. The PHRF system handicaps yachts, not sailors." It seemed to us that our old rating was based on the fact that the boat is well-prepared and well-sailed and not on the inherent speed potential of the Mariah 27. As evidence, we pointed out that the same boat rates 15-21 sec/mi slower elsewhere in the country. Some portion of that difference must have been attributable to boat-prep and crew-skill and therefore improper under the PHRF concept. The hearing panel of the USPHRF Appeals Committee apparently agreed. So far as we know "winning too much" and "not winning enough" weren't relevant to the decision by USPHRF.

Question #3 - Isn't it true that at Key West Race Week, no Laser 28 or J/30 has ever sailed the course in less time than a Mariah 27? In other words, isn't the Mariah 27 so much faster than the Laser 28 and J/30 that when racing in the same class as a Mariah 27 no Laser 28 or J/30 has ever had an elapsed time less than that for the Mariah 27?

The Facts - No! When sailing in the same class, the Laser 28s, J/30s and Mariah 27s have each finished in front of the others an approximately equal amount of the time. For example, in 2006 there were two J/30s and one Mariah 27 in Class PHRF-7 and all three boats raced in races 1-3 (those were the only races in which the Mariah 27 raced). The relative order in which the boats crossed the finish line, together with elapsed times, were as follows:

A J/30 finished first on elapsed time 2/3rds of the time.

Question #4 - Doesn't the Laser 28 get time from the Mariah 27 everywhere else in the country?

The Facts - No! In fact, the Laser 28 actually must give the Mariah 27 time elsewhere in the country, at least 7 sec/mi based on average ratings for the boats. The national average rating for the Laser 28 is 129. There are only a handful of places in the country where the Mariah 27 has a rating and the Mariah 27 (configured like Lizzie B) varies in rating between 136.2 and 144. The amount the Mariah 27 gets from the Laser 28 varies between 7.2 sec/mi and 18 sec/mi. Detail is available here.

Question #5 - Under MORC, doesn't Lizzie B give time to both the Laser 28 (such as Hitchhiker) and J/30 (such as Eggemoggin and Friction Loss)?

The Facts - No! In fact, under the published ratings for the most recent version of the MORC rule (1997, see www.morc.org), Lizzie B would get a significant amount of time from both the Laser 28 and J/30, between 5 and 30 sec/nm from the Laser 28 and between 6 and 25 sec/nm from the J/30s. Even based on the median MORC ratings for the three boat types, the Mariah 27 gets 5 sec/nm from the Laser 28 and 1.5 sec/nm from the J/30. Detail is available here.

Last updated: April 29, 2007