Racing Handicap for O'Day 19

[Geo. Cushing (pinyachta@AOL.com]

I chair a club racing fleet which has fallen on hard times. As club members have aged adn fattened their boats have got larger and more comfortible. Few of these skippers are interested in more than racing through the beer cooler. So when we get a skipper who wants to race we try to encourage him or her. Last race we picked up an 1979 O'Day 19, I think this a C. Ray Hunt Design. We use the PHRF handicap system and I want to give the 19 a fair handicap. I've not been able to find any rating for this boat. Can anyone prove me with a rating? PHRF would be nice but anything I can convert would be helpful. Thanks

 

[Justin - O'day Owner's Web]

270?

A local O'day 20 has a handicap of 270 (PHRF-NE). I might use that as a baseline, then adjust from there. What's this boat racing against? I would try to find as many legitimate reasons to up the rating as possible. It's not a Rhodes, is it? If it is, and its the centerboard version in particular, the fleet may be in for a nasty surprise.If it is the Hunt design, it'll be competitive in PHRF only if you give me a good cruising class rating because of the inherent basis in PHRF (for those of you not into racing, PHRF does not quite give a boat a fair rating. This means that whatever the zero boat is, raced against a boat with a substantial handicap, and each sailed equally well, will still win.Justin - O'day Owner's Web