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Ladies and gentlemen,
The Board of Directors of West Florida PHRF and myself would like to update you on recent board action. For several years now the board has wrestled with what to do about the myriad of credits set forth in exhibit C of our rules. As a result of this concern we undertook a review the rules of large metropolitan sailing communities. What we found convinced us that the rating credits we granted were inconsistent with the selected areas.
Our focus started with PHRF of Southern California which is the source document for West Florida PHRF. While most of our rules are verbatim from this document, Southern California does not employ an exhibit C which grants the bulk of the credits were talking about. A further review of Southern California's rules reveals that the credits we have eliminated were not in their rules. Therefore the elimination of the credits that I will outline later makes WFPHRF consistent with the major sailing venues of San Diego and Los Angeles.
We next reviewed the PHRF rules for two major East Coast sailing venues, Chesapeake Bay which of course includes Annapolis and New England which covers the Boston and Marblehead areas. We found that Annapolis and Boston did not grant rating credits for the items that concerned the board.
Finally the board looked at Lake Michigan PHRF which administers the Metropolitan Chicago area. Once more we found that by eliminating these credits we are consistent with the rules in the Chicago area. I invite all members to go to these various PHRF websites so that they can see for themselves that the changes made by the board will bring us in line with what I consider the major metropolitan sailing communities in this country.
So what has the board specifically eliminated as rating credits. First the elimination of credits and the adjustment of the rules impact all racing and cruising classes. The board has not singled out any one specific class for elimination of credits. The spinnaker class has credits eliminated, the racer cruiser class has credits eliminated, the non-spinnaker class and true cruising/pocket cruiser together with multi-cruisers all see elimination of credits. So here are the majority of changes:
First, the spinnaker and racer cruiser classes will no longer obtain credits for roller furling equipment. Furthermore they will not be allowed credits for reduction in headsail area nor will they receive credits for hank- on jibs or propeller style.
Second, non-spinnaker boats will see the elimination of any propeller credits and elimination of roller furling credits if the boat was designed with a roller furling system.
Third, true cruising/pocket cruiser and multi-cruisers will see the reduction of credits for a number of items such as part time deployment of dodger , propane tank credits and other hard to quantify items that are presently in place. Furthermore sail age credits have been modified to begin five (5) years after date of build. Also we will be consistent with our application of R/F credits and eliminate the credit for boats that were designed with a R/F system. Furthermore we have reduced the credit to six (6) sec. a mile for in boom furling Finally, in an effort to assure that the boats in true cruising/pocket cruiser meet the intent of the class the board has redefined its definition. It will require that sail area to displacement ratio meet a standard that we believe will ensure actual cruising boats are competing in this class.
If you are sailing a boat that is consistent with its design parameters and no alterations or credits have been made to or applied for your specific vessel your rating should not change. That is because the board is attempting to rate all boats objectively based on their national PHRF numbers. It is our intent to be able to direct all boat owners to the US sailing PHRF website and have them review the national average for their vessel and their competitors vessel. This should give all members a certain comfort level knowing that West Florida PHRF is in line with the national averages and most other large metropolitan sailing venues.
I would urge all members to attend the annual meeting to be held at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club Saturday, June 28 starting at 14:00. If you've never met the board its officers and our handicap chairman please take this opportunity. I trust that if you speak with us it should allay any concern about our impartiality in the drafting and administration of the rules. Click here for annual meeting details and notices
Sincerely, Michael F Kayusa, Pres. |