Lunenburg Yacht Club Race Program

 HANDICAP SYSTEM

Last Reviewed May, 2004

1.   The LYC Handicap Ratings will be calculated and adjusted, if required, four times per season and reflects individual yacht performance. The LYC Race Committee ( majority committee vote ) reserves the right to make any changes to the LYC Handicap System as necessary. Any changes will be posted on the official LYC Race Notice Board.

 2.   All LYC yacht handicaps will be carried over from one year to the next.

 3.   All LYC yacht handicaps will be re-calculated and adjusted at the end of June, July and August or prior to the beginning of a new monthly series.  At the end of the racing season a yearly average will be calculated and carried over to the next year. The yearly average will be the totalled eligible race ESPN’s divided by the total eligible races raced for the whole year for each individual yacht.

 4.   All races with a minimum number of  3 yachts finishing with the exception any "FUN" races (e.g. Friday Flotilla Fun Races ) qualify for the purpose of handicapping calculations.

 5.   Individual Yacht handicap adjustments will be made according to the following guidelines:

i)   An ESPN rating will be calculated for each yacht finishing a race, providing a minimum of 3 yachts finish.

ii)  Each yachts monthly/yearly ESPN rating will be the calculated by the following formula: The ESPN rating total (the sum of all race qualified ESPN ratings) divided by the number of qualified races (at least 3 yachts finished the race).

ESPN ( total )      =  ESPN average
number of races

iii) Where there is more than one yacht of a given type, the monthly/yearly LYC handicap adjustment for that type will be set by the best performing yacht within the class.

iv) LYC Yacht Handicap adjustment criteria

The individual yachts averaged ESPN  performance rating for a given period (month/year)  will be compared to the previous periods LYC handicap rating, if the difference is : 

greater than  -1.5                Handicap goes down 1 Point
between   -1.00 to - 1.5     Handicap goes down 0.5 Point
less than -1.00                    NoChange
less than +1.00                   NoChange
between   +1.00 to +1.5     Handicap goes up 0.5 point
greater than  +1.5               Handicap goes up 1 point

v) If a yacht’s calculated ESPN rating for a given race is 3 points greater or less than its current LYC Handicap, the rating number used in the monthly/yearly ESPN calculation shall only be a maximum of plus or minus 3 points, its current LYC Handicap.

vi) A minimum of  two eligible races are required to calculate a monthly ESPN average.

vii) “Staggered Start Sequences” may be used for Thursday Night Races or longer than usual scheduled races at the discretion of the Race Committee or Officer of the Day as prescribed in the current “Sailing Instructions”

 6.   Yachts new to LYC will be given the established ASPN or ASPN-PHRF rating for their class or, at the discretion of the LYC Race Committee, may be given the current LYC handicap of an existing similar Yacht . Yachts with no established ASPN-PHRF rating will be given a provisional handicap to be reviewed after 5 races. Provisional handicaps may, based on the yachts performance, change by 1 or more points at the discretion of the LYC Race Committee.

A yacht’s LYC Handicap Rating will be no lower or higher than –2 to + 2 of the established Provincial ASPN Rating.

 7.   Yacht handicaps will be adjusted on a “per race” basis for yachts choosing not to fly a spinnaker provided that the Race Committee Start Officer is notified before a course is set. An individual yacht handicap adjustment will be minus 3 points for a masthead spinnaker and minus 2 points for a fractional spinnaker.

8.   There will be no ‘per race’ handicap adjustments made for a yacht choosing to sail without certain non-spinnaker sails in her inventory.

9.   Sail, propeller and other changes will affect handicaps according to present ASPN-PHRF guidelines.

10.  All yacht owners wishing to race (other than Friday Night Fun Races) must have an up-to-date yacht data ASPN-PHRF sheet on file with the LYC Race Committee. It is the yacht owner’s responsibility to inform the LYC Club Handicapper of changes in inventory or equipment which would affect the yachts handicap calculation according to ASPN-PHRF guidelines.

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