Blue Marsh Sailing Association

RACING RECAP June 27, 2009

The weather gods are looking down fondly on us as they gave us an almost perfect day for sailing.  I feel sorry for those who were unable to make it.  I was a little disappointed in the turnout of only six boats especially since we had eleven for our inaugural race last month and this was our annual regatta.  But the racing was close and spirited with the good winds which were sustained all day.  The committee reported that a number of people came up to inquire about the racing and there were quite a few folks sitting on the bank enjoying the show. 

Our handicap system rewards improvement and it showed with Bob Ciferri and crew Rick Crump capturing first place overall.  Ray Hemphill, with his normal crew Ron Gebeau and the addition of Sean Hollis as an advisor, improved his standing and came in second.  Tony and Mary Stajkowski have been coming on strong as of late and finished third.

Each boat’s handicap is an average of its race results calculated by dividing its actual finish time by the winning time.  Slower boats can win by reducing their margin of losing and faster boats win by increasing their normal margin of winning- it’s that simple.  But regardless of who’s winning the important thing is learning and having fun.  That’s happening so let’s see you out there next month- July 25.

Tom Stoner- Race Chairman 610-223-3593

May 30, 2009 Race Observations              

The turnout of 11 boats was encouraging- sailing is still an activity in Berks! 

The Ferron family was out in force.  Donna sailed with Sean;  John  and brother Darryl sailed with Lou; and Darryl’s son Dylan and daughter Sloan sailed with me.  Dylan and Sloan were new to sailing so it took a couple races to get the hang of it but soon were doing quite nicely.  Dylan took the tiller as we took in the buoys under sail.  Hope we see more of them this season. 

Marty had to work but that did not deter Nancy from driving the boat up to the lake.  A voice from the past, Larry Bortz, took a day off from his drumming chores to crew for Nancy.  It looks like she has really gotten the racing bug after her win at last year’s Turkey race! 

Confusion seemed to reign in the second race as we called an ABC twice around.  Sean and Jerry, our speed monsters ,  got around in no time flat while the rest of the fleet took forever.  An inadvertent sounding of the horn might have thrown the fleet off.  In any event the poor times were thrown out because of the 25% throw-out rule. 

I am looking for someone who will take over the racing committee.  Jan will not be at the next race due to a class reunion and Joan will be moving soon.  If you can spare one Saturday a month and want a front row seat to the action give me a call.

The change requiring the rounding of the buoy marking the finish line seemed to work O.K.  The change was made to keep all boats moving in the same direction at the finish line whether finishing or just rounding the mark as part of the race pursuant to finishing.

The racing seems to be attracting some observers as well as potential members to the club.

Welcome back to Sam McGuire.  He was a member several years ago and raced then.  He has been involved in work the last couple years and now has a little more time to sail.  He had his son, Nate, as crew.

There was a call to run a race around the island.  I didn’t call it because the wind seemed to be dying and I thought the lee side of the island would be slow.  However on hindsight the wind would have been O.K. and the lack of a chase boat would not have been as much a deterrent because with one rounding the fleet would have been closer together and thus able to provide assistance.  Please give me your thoughts for future race days.

We will be starting our mid-week sailing on June 3^rd.  It’s a great way to get your boat out and your skills sharpened.  If you want on our e-mail mailing and have not been getting them please let me know.  Tom Stoner 610-223-3593 (cell) or tjstoner@msn.com.

BMSA RACING HANDICAPS EXPLAINED
What is this handicap system? How is it calculated? The BMSA handicap is not unlike golf or bowling handicaps which compare current performance against previous performance. In this case performance is calculated by dividing the boat’s actual time to finish by the winning time. Corrected time in a race is determined by dividing actual time to finish by the boat’s handicap. Just like a golfer or bowler whose handicap goes down as his performance improves so does the boat’s handicap go down as the boat’s margin of losing decreases. There is no doubt that a new sailor whose performance improves dramatically will be at an advantage over the seasoned sailor who finishes higher but is more consistent.
Handicaps are calculated based on the boat’s last twelve races. The worst 25% performances are discarded- four total races -one race discarded; eight total races- two races discarded, twelve total races-three races discarded. This actually hurts the new sailor more as his performance should be more erratic. For 2009 new racers will be handicapped for the first four races based on the average BMSA handicap divided by the average Portsmouth number for all boats for which we have a handicap times the Portsmouth number of the new boat. At least the model of boat will be taken into consideration to a degree.
Using this system each sailor is able to see how his performance is changing relative to the group as it is recalculated after each day of racing. The Club champion is determined by totaling for each boat the number of boats beaten plus one for each race. This gives more credit on days when there are more boats competing. The plus one above gives credit to those racing over those not competing. Handicaps will not change after race days not having at least four boats competing but points toward the Club championship will increase for all races.