US SAILING Offshore

US SAILING Offshore Handicap Systems

Handicap Systems administered by
US SAILING

Many sailboat races include different makes and models of boats racing under a handicap system. Handicaps are used to correct the finish time of the competing boats. The actual time it took the boats to finish the race is adjusted based on either the total time of the race (time-on-time correction) or the length of the race (time-on-distance correction).

Handicap systems are intended to make boats, not skippers, equal in performance. These systems allow a boat like a Catalina 22 to theoretically compete on an equal basis with a Santana 20 or a Merit 25.

There are many handicapping systems, the most prevalent in the United States are:

These systems are administered by US SAILING?s Offshore Committee. Each system's committee publishes detailed information about its system. The Race Management Committee publishes a Race Management Handbook which contains a good discussion of handicapping. In addition many computer scoring programs include features that aid applying handicaps and in scoring races.

PHRF- The largest handicap fleets in the United States now sail under the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) system. The PHRF supplies a single correction factor that is applied regardless of the conditions of the race, but the numbers are assigned locally to reflect actual performance of the boat type sailing in local conditions. Both time-on-distance and time-on-time handicapping is used under PHRF.

The basic time-on-distance formula is: TA = ( D x PHRF ) / 60: TA = Time Allowance in minutes; D = course length in miles; PHRF = rating in seconds per mile

Subtracting the time allowance (TA) from the actual time it took the boat to sail the race (elapsed time or ET) equals the corrected time (CT).

Utilizing PHRF for time-on-time corrections is done by first calculating a time correction factor (TCF). The simplest way to calculate TCF is; TCF = 600 / (480 + PHRF). Corrected time then equals elapsed time multiplied by TCF. More Information on PHRF Time on Time.

The above formulas represent the simplest form of the PHRF system only and additional information is available from the PHRF Committee. Computer scoring information for PHRF is also available.

Portsmouth Yardstick Handicapping System - The Portsmouth system is a time-on-time system that uses the Thistle as the standard boat in the United States. While PHRF generally addresses what we term as "offshore boats", Portsmouth addresses up to medium-sized production cruiser-racers as well as multihulls and centerboard classes. Each boat is assigned a series of numbers that are applied based on the average wind conditions of the race.

Using the Portsmouth system corrected time (CT) is calculated using: CT = ( ET / HC ) x 100: ET = Elapsed Time; HC = Applicable Portsmouth Handicap number

Refer to the Portsmouth Committee for additional information. Computer scoring information for Portsmouth is also available.

The International Measurement System (IMS) - IMS also adjusts course elapsed times with time allowances, however the system is fairly sophisticated and requires careful application by Race Committees. IMS is based on a set of actual boat measurements made using a special machine. The Lines Processing Program (LPP) generates an extended table of data that is then fed into a Velocity Prediction Program (VPP) . This data is then used along with specific course data and course conditions to generate time allowances and corrected times. Additional information is available from the IMS Committee. IMS computer scoring information is also available.

Midget Ocean Racing Fleet (MORC) - MORC is a measurement system of single-number handicapping limited to offshore capable boats of less than 30-ft. overall length. MORC is a time on distance system that uses its own allowance tables published in a handbook. There are computer programs for MORC scoring.