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Great Lakes PY numbers
The new annual release of Great Lakes PY numbers are also available now. These are primarily used at the SailJuice Winter events.
The RS Aero 5 has increased 7 points slower to match the RYA number, which is welcome and anticipated.
The RS Aero 7 & 9's numbers remain unchanged, so the only movement for them is relative to other class' numbers moving...
GL PY 2019/2020;
RS Aero 5 = 1136 (+7)
RS Aero 7 = 1073 (no change)
RS Aero 9 = 1024 (no change)
The Great Lakes committee state;
'In coming to these changes the Great Lakes Team has...not made any changes to some classes where either the RYA and SWS moves conflict, or the class is positioned appropriately in the SWS results'
Check the whole list and methods used here;
http://greatlakes.org.uk/
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08/03/2019 23:49:00
Peter Barton
Posts: 4657
Slightly concerned that the 9 number now reflects only light weather, but perhaps that is what it is. No-one sends in returns with lots of entrants for strong winds because most if not all drop down to a 7. If that's how we typically sail then I guess that's what the handicap should reflect. The extra gap between 9 and 7 will make it hard to justify using the 9 in class handicap events. Do our own open meetings where we have handicap results get returned to the RYA or only club racing.
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Will be interesting to see how much the RYA PY and Great Lakes diverge because I think PY is aimed at average (mid-fleet) but GL more at front of fleet. Of course if we only ever sail the 9 in light winds that;s the handicap we will get unless someone devises wind sensitive numbers.
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07/03/2019 13:58:00
Gareth
Posts: 169
2019 RYA Portsmouth Yardsticks, UK
The new numbers are;
RS Aero 5 = 1136 (+7)
RS Aero 7 = 1065 (-3)
RS Aero 9 = 1014 (-5)
Negative moves being faster and thus harder. Positive moves being slower and thus easier.
The RS Aero 5 has been moving steadily slower over the years which appears correct and we hoped and anticipated another move slower this year which happened, so that is good. Whilst a good heavy air RS Aero 5 sailor could do well on a windy day they invariably struggle as a fleet in the light and medium.
The RS Aero 7 has dropped two years in succession now and whilst they are small drops it all adds up and the difference can be exaggerated by other boats in that range increasing. Whilst a harder challenge than 2 years ago it is worth noting that it has now only moved back to where it was initially 4 years ago (see the table). I suggest the numbers initially rose with many new sailors joining the fleet and are now slowly moving down again as we learn to best sail the boats and are open in our passing on of experience and expertise.
The RS Aero 9 faces an ever increasing challenge as it has steadily dropped over 4 releases in succession now, totalling 16 points down since 2015, again exaggerated further by other classes in that range moving up. Whilst the RS Aero 9 is very nimble and agile in lighter winds there is an evident increase in its use in the stronger wind ranges for the extra excitement and a more physical sail (for those who enjoy that!), making the continued decrease something of a surprise. However this move is hugely flattering for the big rig sailors. Perhaps we can blame our speedy sailors at Bowmoor for beating up on Phantoms and RS300s too often!
We can be positive and consider a move in either direction win/win. The decreased numbers flatter the RS Aero 9 and RS Aero 7, demonstrating the RS Aeros potential and how well the boats were sailed in the UK in 2018 as a Class, possibly as a result of good training, skills share and a keen Class racing circuit. The drop in the RS Aero 5 number will hopefully further encourage the continued growth in the Youth & Lady sectors, enabling those smaller sailors an increased opportunity to feature near to top of mixed Class results sheets more often.
What we can certainly take pleasure in is the growth in the participation numbers each year. These need to be taken as a rough proportional guide only as they depend on which clubs submit data, but they have some relative merit and relate to the previous year. The rate of increase in RS Aero participation is outstanding and when taken as a total of RS Aeros we have the 3rd largest participation size of boat type from the long list of about 60 Classes there - not bad for still being under 5 years old!
The full 2019 list can be found here; https://www.rya.org.uk/racing/Pages/portsmouthyardstick.aspx
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06/03/2019 23:57:00
Peter Barton
Posts: 4657
