TOPIC:

At the start of this year there was some discussion on the reduced rating number of 1050 for the Albacore.

I have been able to race my boat more this year and have spent quite a long time adjusting the rig to improve performance so I feel the boat is going better - and my sailing has improved!

However, the facts are that I'm the only Alb sailing at my club and on an inland lake with pleny of trees to create shadows and holes I find it difficult to keep the boat going long enough to get away and start sailing to the boat's potential. So, I was interested to know after a season's sailing how others are getting on in handicap racing this year and whether we will be likely to see a change up or down for 2015.

Just to set the scene, I have shown some numbers below to show the time differences on the classes I sail against.

For all boats to finish equally on a corrected time of 60 minutes, the actual on the water times would be as follows:

Albacore 63.00
Enterprise 66.54 + 3.54 to Alb
Nat 12 (old) 66.14 + 3.14
Laser Radial 67.19 + 4.19
Supernova 64.12 + 1.12
RS200 00.06 + 0.06
Merlin Rocket 60.22 - 2.38
Phantom 60.22 - 2.38
Laser 65.17 + 2.17

So how are you getting on?

Graham
Natural Ally 5893

Despite one or another Albacore frequently being at the front on the water, we're all well down the results after handicaps are applied. And with YW Dayboats having a 1200 PY and having to be beaten by eight and a half minutes in an hour race on our puddle, there's no hope, especially with the new one sailed by an ex-Albacore sailor, who will now need a wheelbarrow to carry the trophies home from prizegiving!
On the bright side our sailing sec. is using the RYA website and intends to apply some adjustments next year. I know the dayboats won't be pleased but I don't know what it recommends for the Albs.

The Albacore's at Maidenhead usually do very well in both Pursuit and Handicap races, with at least one of us finishing in the top three most times. Our competion is the Solo and Laser.

Barry
8069

My sailing sounds similar to Graham5893 although on a raised half mile diameter reservoir without too many trees. We have some top level Solos who are seldom beaten by anything on handicap, but the most unlikely effect of the new PY is being faster than RS 200's. On flat water our longer length seems to have little advantage on beats unless blowing hard, but there is an enormous disadvantage on offwind legs. The Club now goes to some trouble to get RO's to set true downwind legs so that asymmetrics have to gybe frequently downwind. If they get a one leg spinnaker reach however broad, it's a walkover.

Unfortunately I mainly do the Summer evening series and used to be in the Slow start going first with 4 mins. over the Fast start. This proved to be a definite advantage if not entirely fair, as the evening breeze fell away. With the new PY, I am now with the Fast start and have dropped from places in the first 5 quite often to a string of 12's.

At Lyme Albacores rarely win except on the odd shifty offshore day. Generally speed is everything - a well-sailed fast boat eg Merlin or Fireball will win nearly all the time.Lasers despite being given a handicap bonus by our club never win anything - unless sailed by a visiting National Squad member.

I have a good friend who sails a Laser and a Merlin - I have never beaten him when he is in the Merlin and never lost to him when he sails a Laser.

I also sail at a small lake sailing club against mostly Lasers & Solos where the ability to roll-tack the Alb is a great benefit, so I guess it is just a problem of averaging over the whole country.

Clubs could use their own numbers but it is a political minefield. The "Great Lakes" handicap numbers as used for the big winter handicap races eg Bloody Mary & Tiger Trophy seem a lot better for us than the RYA ones

Well thanks to everyone who has replied so far!

What is interesting is that I thought the inland clubs would struggle but perhaps the sea clubs would allow the Albacores to be closer to handicap, but from the feedback at Lyme, this doesn't appear to be the case.

The question then is whether the current handicap is the correct one for the Albacore, or whether some of the others are too advantageous - a huge question, I know, but it is important as I suspect that most Albacores are raced in handicap fleets and so it is hard to tempt someone keen to race into a boat which is not seen as having a chance under most circumstances.

On a positive note, let me say what I have found to be right with the numbers for the classes I sail against, because the system can't be completely wrong. Let's look at some examples:

For me, the Enterprise rating seems right for us to have a good race, Solos and Streakers I can also genrally have a good race because there are enough of them at the club and I can finish high enough against them to think that those of them who are beating me are better sailors rather than it being a boat issue. This is good as it give me a target to aim at for my own improvement.

I agree with Graham Potter regarding the RS200s. It is the aysymmetric legs that are the killer in terms of handicap, but to cover all conditions, when I can beat them either through boat speed or direct downwind legs then I would say the RS should be faster than the Albacore, but not by more than 5 points or so, I would certinly like to try that for a season. I raced a Supernova at the weekend and we had three very enjoyable races where neither he nor I managed to get away and we were very evenly matched. Trouble is he is on 1068 against my 1050, but in this case I would say that the Supernova's rating should be nearer than the Albacore rather than reducing our rating. Lastly there is a modern Merlin with carbon rig that is well sailed and he always gets away, however, by sail number he is classed as an older boat at 1006 instead of the current 990. In this case I would say that the Merlin should reduce the rating to 990 and the number would be correct as it challenges me as a sailor rather than a boat issue.

If the Albacore is to tempt people other than those regulars who buy new boats every few years, then it has to be able to acquit itself in general handicap races, so I would like to know if the committee will be lobbying for a change in the numbers along with the returns of the race results this year? If so, what should be the target? For me, back to 1055 would be a good start. I don't want to be a handicap bandit, just to feel that when I enter a race I stand a chance if my own performance is good enough without worrying that the boat is incorrectly rated.

Look forward to having more discussion!

Graham
Natural Ally 5893

Graham
I think you will find the PY number is arrived at by a purely statistical calculation - make sure your club(s) submit all their race results to the RYA as only a fraction do that. It is easy with modern systems eg Sailwave or Hal to just upload the whole lot
Jerry

In my opinion at our small lake, the big problem is the Supernova in windy stuff, with short beats. Also the D-Zero, but that's a big unknown, hard to sail in a drifter, over the horizon in a breeze. We have no assy's at our club. I'm frequently embarrassed to be beaten by Wayfarers, especially as hardly any bother with the kite. That handicap must be wrong! There will be a frost in hell before our club changes from published numbers however.

Now we have three decent, well sailed Ovis, it will be interesting to see if we can be competitive overall. If it's light, I'd rather get the old Graduate out, even if I'm too heavy. Much more competitive...

Stewart
A8210

Just a reply to Jeremy regarding submission of race results.

Our club do this now, I'm told. As I have now started sailing regularly again hopefully the Albacore will feature in those returns.

Graham
Natural Ally 5893

Scaling Dam submit returns every year, this is the way to get the fairest rating. At the end of the day PY is a compromise, it can never be perfect.

Well, the Rudyard Lake SC open on Saturday was an eye opener!

The way the modern fleet disappeared made me appreciate how fast the modern boats are. I race an older Fifteen against modern boats and can usually have a good fight up until planing conditions, when they really start to move. With the Albacores, though, it was game over by the windward mark on the first beat every time. Admittedly the winds were light, but it was the same for everyone. I was shocked. Having raced at Nottingham in 2010 with a mixed age range of Albacores there was good competition, coming 4th in 11, but here the fleet was all modern apart from me and the difference was impressive.

I can now appreciate the current handicap rating, the exercise was useful from that point of view, but I think Judy Armstrong (who won, of course) should sail off 1030 and I will claim for 1070!!

Seriously, I need all your advice here now as to how to make the boat go faster. From the results of the nationals, with 818 in 4th and 1781 in 5th it is clearly possible, so where do the answers lie?

1. Me - I accept that 50% (at least) of the difference can come from me in terms of boat handling, tactics and setup, so I will work on that.
2. Mast - this is an M7, so should be OK. Ram only. No puller or strut.
3. Mainsail - new MacNamara main, cut for the M7, so should be OK
4. Jib - new McNamara jib - low aspect and cut fine for pointing. It does point, but I find the entry very fine and a bit lacking in power. Would a fuller, high aspect sail be better?
5. Foils - these are the originals from Knight and Pink in the 70s. They are in good condition with high gloss finish, but the trailing edges are not sharp like Milanes foils. Could the overall section also not be as efficient as the modern foils? The rudder is a deep parallel blade, rather than the 'spoon' type the modern boats use
6. Hull - this is in good condition and whilst the original 3 kg of correctors have been removed, I don't think the weight will be far off the minimum, but I haven't had the boat weighed. Slot gaskets have been replaced and screw holes for the keel bands all filled and faired in.

Can't do anything about the hull shape of course, compared to the Woof which I understand the modern boats are based on, but I would hope that the K&P is at least equal to the Fairey shape.

So, thoughts anyone?

Graham
Natural Ally 5893

Hi Graham,

818 is actually a woof that has been rebuilt and has a similar number to yours. With respect to your comments, I think a new set of precision CNC light weight set of foils is the biggest difference.

If i was you i wouldn't take anything out of Saturday as there was no wind and some boats were just unfairly continually roll taking. This is not normally the case.

Come along to some more opens next year and I'm sure you will get lots of advice on setup.

The Albacore circuit is very competitive these days, but the ovington's don't give an extreme advantage as the nationals results show.The biggest difference is the finish to the hulls.

Phil
8152 Albaholic

Hi Phil

Thanks very much for that. I had a long chat with Mike Mac last night and I felt much better for his support and guidance. I will look at fitting a mast puller now to get more mast bend in the light stuff.

I guess the point is that we race across all the wind range, so I have to be able to react to that as much as in stronger conditions. I know there is no substitute for time spent in the boat, though.

If the Maidenhead training day is being planned for next year I would certainly like to come to that. It wasn't possible this year as I was working overseas until July.

I'm already looking at foils and I guess Milanes are the way to go with them being what most of the class are using.

Thanks again.

Graham
Natural Ally 5893