Forums, Cruising (PHRF) Racing

YRALIS (and so HRYRA) has a new option for Spinnaker Division skippers who sail short-handed — Plus One rating. You get 3 PHRF points added if you commit to racing with a small crew all season in Spinnaker events (you can have any crew size in a Non-Spin race). Maximum crew size is based on LOA, and crew under age 16 don’t count against your maximum number.

Remember it’s a season long election and you need to indicate it when you get your 2023 HRYRA PHRF. And you can be sure your competitors will take a headcount of your crew while waiting to start!

From 2023 PHRF Regs G.5:

5. Plus One Adjustment. A boat may elect to sail in spinnaker divisions in a Plus One
configuration where the maximum number of crew, including the skipper, is no greater
than (LOA / 10) + 1 where all elements are rounded down to the nearest whole number.
This adjustment of +3s/m is intended to offset both any dynamic weight disadvantage
and any boat-handling challenges resulting from racing shorthanded. The Plus One
adjustment and crew limit restrictions apply ONLY to spinnaker ratings and has no
effect on the rating or crew count for non-spinnaker racing. For clarity, this means that
a 34ft boat with a Plus One adjustment noted on their certificate may sail Spinnaker
divisions of races she chooses to enter with a crew of only 4, or may enter the nonspinnaker divisions with a crew of more than 4. This adjustment is to be a season-long
election. Children under the age of 16 on the day of the race are excluded from the
crew count.

(this note will be in the NBC PHRF Google Group and the Club’s Forum for Cruising (PHRF) Racing)

For 2023 the Sunday Series and Fleet Champ Series are still very much a work in progress, so Cruising Fleet racers’ input is especially valued.

As I noted in Thoughts Part 1, in 2022 we had very little regular Sunday racing — only three (3) Sundays saw a Cruising Fleet start, one with 2 racers, one with 3, and one with 4. Although we didn’t organize a separate 2022 Sunday series, these races did count for the 2022 Fleet Champ series.

I think there are a few challenges for Sunday racing: 1) Wednesday racers get crew to commit to Wednesday, but the same crew are not all available for Sundays, 2) Spinnaker racers don’t want to recruit a large crew to be faced with no (or only one) competitor on Sundays), 3) the “chicken-egg” problem: if I can’t count on a race to occur, I won’t bother coming out, and 4) perhaps not having a Sunday series reduced the incentive to come out. Likely these same challenges account for the slim participation in Club regattas too.

Further, in an effort to ensure the Fleet Champ series doesn’t just recapitulate the Wednesday Series (i.e., where the Fleet Champ is just the Wednesday winner), we ask competitors to sail a minimum number of races (15 in 2022) with at least 1/3 in non-Wednesday races (Sundays, Club regattas, NBC HRYRA regattas). If fleet members are no-shows for Sundays and Club regattas, they can’t meet the minimum requirements (and this is what happened in 2022, with only two boats making the participation cut for Fleet Champ). Note, for many who didn’t make the participation cut-off, a handful of Sunday races or an additional regatta would have put them in the running — so getting more robust participation on Sundays would also improve the Fleet Champ competition. (And in 2022, it’s also true that Fleet Scoring fell down on the job of reporting competitors’ progress on the Fleet Champ series throughout the season — did a better job in 2021, egging skippers to make that next race and stay in the running).

Looking ahead to 2023, the Club has Sunday racing scheduled from May 7 through Oct 15 — twenty-four (24) Sundays. The following three (3) Sundays have no Cruising Fleet start: May 28 (Champions Regatta), July 9 (Guy Moulton Regatta)., Oct 1 (Last Chance Regatta). Of the twenty-one (21) remaining Sundays, five (5) are reserved for Pursuit Races (results do not count in any series). That leaves sixteen (16) regular Sunday Cruising Fleet races.

For the last few years, we gave racers the option to choose their division (Non-Spin or Spinnaker) on the day of the Sunday race. If a spinnaker racer was short-handed on the weekends, they could race Non-Spin. (Note for Wednesday Series or our regattas a boat has to commit to a division for the entire series/event).
Here’s the suggestion for a 2023 Sunday Cruising Fleet Series: (16 Sundays from May 7 through Oct 16).

1. We have a joint start (one start) across two divisions. You decide when you check-in which division. Each division would sail the usual, distinct Spin or Non-Spin courses. Two boats required to have a race. If the past is a guide, we’d expect most Sunday races to be Non-Spin only, but that could change — especially if spinnaker skippers communicate with each other their desire or ability to race Spin division on any given Sunday.
   
   
2. We will use this high-score method for Sunday series races: N boats start (in a division), then first place gets N, 2nd place N-1, etc.
   
   
3. Your series score is the sum of your 10 highest scores (in any division). The more you race, and the more boats you beat, the better your chance of winning. There is only an incentive to race more, never to sit out — once you’ve raced 10 times, subsequent races can only help your series score, never hurt it. There’s a further incentive to get more boats to race with you (if you have more boats to beat, and you do beat them, then you get a higher score).
   
   
4. Open to Cruising Fleet members and Shattemuc Fleet Friends.

For 2023 Cruising Fleet Champ, keep the format largely the same — a single Champ across divisions, using Cox-Sprague high-score. But, make it easier to meet the minimum to qualify (number of races, and races other than Wednesdays). Here would be the key elements:

1. Must be an NBC Club member AND member of the NBC Cruising Fleet.
   
   
2. Must start in at least twenty (20) races (any division) — all NBC starts included (Club regattas, HRYRA NBC events, Wednesday Night Series (DOES NOT include tune-up/down nights), Sundays (DOES include Sunday Pursuits), and at least seven (7) races that are NOT Wednesday Nights. (Note, this means racing 20 races out of 50+ scheduled opportunities to race — 18 Wednesday Series, 21 Sundays (Sunday Series and Pursuits), and four regattas: Memorial Day, Guy Moulton, Last Chance, Hudson River Race).
   
   
3. Cox-Sprague “average” taken over your fifteen (15) best results in non-Pursuit Sundays, Wednesday Series, NBC-hosted regattas. If you have fewer than fifteen (15) results, we will still average over 15 (so we’ll count some zero results).

Now, an alternative to consider (especially for “traditionalists” in the fleet — pace LL), is to have a 2023 Cruising Fleet Champ by Division (Spinnaker and Non-Spinnaker). Same criteria as above, except for the following:

• 2. Must start in at least twenty (20) races (any division) — all NBC starts included (Club regattas, HRYRA NBC events, Wednesday Night Series (DOES NOT include tune-up/down nights), Sundays (DOES include Sunday Pursuits), at least seven (7) divisional races that are NOT Wednesday Nights.
  
  
• 3. Cox-Sprague average taken over your 15 best divisional results in non-Pursuit Sundays, Wednesday Series, and NBC-hosted regatta. If you have fewer than fifteen (15) divisional results, we will still average over 15 (so we’ll count some zero results).

Finally, Fleet Scoring will be assiduous in 2023 about reporting progress and standing in the 2023 Fleet Champ Series.

As note above, still a work in progress, so very much want your thoughts on Sunday Series and Fleet Champ.

— Tony Martin, Cruising Fleet Scoring

P.S. What do you think about counting the Hudson River Race (aka Long Distance Race) as two (2) races, for Fleet Champ? In other words count the participation and the results twice in the scoring — 1) Cox-Sprague for the entire field racing in your division, and 2) Cox-Sprague accounting only for the subset of NBC/Cruising Fleet division members in the race. A little extra reason to come out October 7th.

(this note will be in the NBC PHRF Google Group and the Club’s Forum for Cruising (PHRF) Racing)

For 2023, the Club has scheduled races and regattas from Sunday May 7th through Sunday October 15th,:

1. Twenty (20) Wednesday Night Cruising Fleet starts from May 10 through September 20
2. Twenty-four (24) Sundays, with twenty-one (21 ) Sunday Afternoon Cruising Fleet starts (no racing May 28 Champions, Guy Moulton July 9, and Last Chance October 1).
3. Four regattas: Memorial Day (Saturday, May 27), Guy Moulton (Sat/Sun, July 8/9), Last Chance (HRYRA, Sat/Sun, Sep 30/Oct 1), and Hudson River Race (Saturday, Oct 7).

That’s probably about 50+ race starts, assuming three races per regatta and good weather and wind every racing day.

With that as a back drop, this notes starts a series of discussions about 2023 Cruising Fleet Racing. These are just to start the conversation, and to invite racers to weigh in before we make final decisions in April. (Cruising Fleet (PHRF) Racing meeting April 19th, 20:00-21:30).

Reflecting on our 2022 season, some things worked well, others need work.

• Wednesday Night Series worked well — over 20 boats competed, about 15 to 18 pretty regularly, evenly divided between Spinnaker and Non-Spinnaker divisions.
• Monthly Sunday Pursuit races worked well — with 8 to 15 boats coming out each race; about half were not Wednesday Night racers
  
  
• NBC HRYRA events were well attended, but could see more Club entrants — about 50% of the entrants in the Last Chance Regatta (6 of 14)) and the Hudson River Race (9 of 19) were Club members (or Cruising Fleet friends). But with 15 to 20 racing Wednesday Nights, maybe we can get more NBC participation?
  
  
• Club regattas had poor participation — only two entrants in Guy Moulton, none in Fall Regatta (it conflicts with HRYRA at Shattemuc).
  
  
• Sunday Racing (other than Pursuit races) had poor participation — we had three (3) “stand alone” Sunday races (Non-Spin only) with 2, 3, and 4 competitors.
  
  
• And, with so few boats racing Sundays and in Club regattas, only two boats qualified for the Cruising Fleet Champion series, making it as much a participation award as recognizing the “winningest” boat in the fleet.

First, let’s not mess with success: expect the Wednesday Night Series and Monthly Sunday Pursuits to be much the same as 2022. Of course, we’d like to have even more Cruising Fleet members participate in both types of events — reluctant racers speak up and let us know obstacles to getting out on the race course: crew?, coaching?, racing rules? getting a PHRF? Fleet members are anxious to help you overcome any obstacles and get you (and your boat) out on the race course.

• Wednesday Night Series: Of the 20 Wednesday Night starts, as we did last year, the first (May 11, before Opening Day) will be a tune-up race and not count in any series, and the last Wednesday (Sept 20) will be a “tune-down” race and not count in any series. So we have scheduled eighteen (18) Wednesday Nights in the series, including Wednesday August 23rd which will be a Pursuit-format (and will count in the series). As usual, only current HRYRA members with a current season PHRF will be scored for these races — re-up your HRYRA membership and get your 2023 PHRF. (Kudos to the following who have already done so: Azgin 2, Calamari Salad, Hee Soo, Sheba).
  
  
• Sunday Pursuit races are scheduled for the first Sunday sof June, July, August and September, plus Sunday October 8. Sunday Pursuit results will not count in any series and there’s no Pursuit series with trophies — these are just for fun — but we will count Sunday Pursuit participation for qualifying for the Fleet Champ award. You can join the Sunday Pursuits, even if you don’t have a 2023 HRYRA PHRF.

For 2023, we’d welcome having a more robust presence at the Club regattas — especially the Guy Moulton. If you’re a skipper looking for crew for the regatta weekend, or if you’re interested in crewing for someone else, maybe the Fleet can be matchmaker and get more members and boats out for the Guy Moulton (and other Club or HRYRA regattas). Other suggestions?

I’ll send a separate note regarding regular Sunday racing and the 2023 Cruising Fleet Champ series. What we do for these series will probably generate the most discussion.
— Tony Martin, Cruising Fleet Scoring

With 60F temps this week, I’ve started to think about NBC Cruising Fleet racing (aka NBC PHRF racing) for the coming season. You should too!
Some important items to get you going:

• Feb 26, Noon, Minisceongo YC — HRYRA PHRF Seminar with handicapper Mike Colucci. Sign up at HRYRA website. ($10, space is limited).
  
  
• 2023 HRYRA PHRF Regulations — important change for shorter-handed Spinnaker racers.
  
  
• Get your 2023 HRYRA PHRF.
  
  
• March 12, 5 pm, NBC. 2022 Cruising Fleet Awards (Wednesday Night Trophies) and Dinner. (details — potluck, see what you should bring)
  
  
• March 29, 7 pm, NBC. Cruising Fleet 2023 Organizing Meeting and Fleet Officer elections.
  
  
• April 19, 8 pm – 9:30 pm (Zoom). Cruising (PHRF) Fleet Racing Meeting.
  There will be plenty of discussion regarding the 2023 Cruising Fleet series and scoring, both in this Group and the Club forums beforehand.

Finally, with the rollout of NBC Sailing Club manager, I’ll post items both to this Google Group and to the new Cruising (PHRF) Racing Forum. In the course of the 2023 season, we may retire this Group and use the Forum exclusively.