DF95 Mid Week Handicap

A warm day for the first day in April but looking at the long range forecast that appears to be the last day that we can expect with the temperature in the ‘twenties’. Still a lovely day for sailing and with a persistent 2 - 5 knot Northerly and smooth water on Risdon Brook Dam pretty much perfect conditions for racing DF95’s. Fifteen skippers turned up and PRO Andrew Wardrop got us racing promptly at 10:30 and did a great job officiating as usual. Thanks Andrew.
 
I have been concerned that the DF95 handicap system was not working as well as we hoped. In particular having fixed handicaps all day means that some skippers are finding that if they are in the wrong handicap group they can sail all day and not see the front end of a race. I do regret having to ‘change horses in mid-stream’ but I also think it necessary to try something different. 
 
The new system is very similar to that used at Puddleduck - that is all skippers start the day on handicap zero then handicap penalties of 15 seconds, 10 seconds and 5 seconds are applied each race to the winner, second and third place getter. The problem with that system is that the best skippers have a strong advantage early in the day before the handicaps have sorted themselves out and so it is found that it is pretty much always that one of the better skippers will win the day. To rectify this situation what we are trying is giving our best skippers an immediate 15 second penalty while all others start the day on zero handicap. Then the 5,10 and 15 second penalties are applied each race. If a skipper who starts the day on handicap zero ends up winning the day then they are promoted to the ‘all-star’ division for the following race meeting and will start the day on 15 seconds. And if a skipper from the ‘all-star’ division sails all day without reaching the podium then they are relegated to the zero handicap starting group for the next meeting. 
 
So how did it go today? Fairly well judging by the results as we had a variety of race winners from across the ability range, a very close points table (featuring a three way tie in the middle of the table), a different winner in each race and all skippers who finished the majority of the races managed to get to the podium at some stage. It does look promising and so lets give this a try and I welcome any feedback you might have. 
 
Ian Hey took out the day in remarkable fashion after retiring from the first race with electrical issues. Bodge borrowed a spare boat from Al Short and spent the second race ashore re-rigging it with his own rig. So with those two races to count as discards Bodge needed to be consistently good for the rest of the day - which he was and so a very well deserved victory today. Stuart Dawes on leave from work today was able to join us for a rare Wednesday appearance. His second place overall was very impressive as he had consecutive podiums in races #2, #3 and #4 sending his handicap right out early in the day. Being able to salvage any sort of decent finish starting well behind the fleet is always remarkable. And Phil Jackman completed the podium with a win and a second place in his race mix. Congratulations Phil Stuart and Bodge.
 
Coming Up:
No Sailing on Easter Sunday!
Next Wednesday: IOM Handicap Shield at Risdon Brook Dam (10:30 button press)
 
Shorty