Hi all,

I have never raced a yacht in me life, well except when two of us have been going in the same direction [:D] Racing around the cans has never held much attraction for me, however, I would like to try and understand what a PY handicap is? I know that PY stands for Portsmouth Yardstick, but what is it, how is it arrived at, and so on?

Cheers in anticipation, Ray.

Seal 22 MK3 "Morveren" Number 384
(the last one built by John Baker)

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Quite a good Wikipedia entry . In the UK, the RYA gathers data from sailing clubs to arrive at PY numbers, which get adjusted every year. They're more reliable for dinghy races - for cruiser racing, most clubs use their own variants for known boats and people, usually based on previous race results.

For example, at my last club, I had a PY number of 1050, when the RYA one is 1069 (and the PSSA one 1063). I had a low number because I'd done well in some light wind races, and the other boats hadn't. But I think it's pretty impossible to have a "fair" rating system for widely different boats across all weather conditions.

On the current RYA list , the Seal 22 has a PY number of 1215, the PSSA number is 1140.


Geoff

Parker 21 / 18 Dawn

Cheers Geoff,

I will have a squint at the Wiki link, never thought of looking there!..Doh! I was just curious really, never having had anything to do with it.

Best, Ray.

Seal 22 MK3 "Morveren" Number 384
(the last one built by John Baker)

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