SAIL PHRF Rules

This page gives the latest rules governing SAIL's PHRF.

2010 Rules

The following are the PHRF rules for 2010

2010 phrf rules 1

Objective:

It shall be the objective of the SAIL PHRF to serve as the PHRF handicapping authority to issue PHRF rating certificates for the SAIL Region of Area F for US Sailing and promotes level and consistent PHRF handicap racing in the SAIL area. The SAIL PHRF shall hear all rating appeals. The SAIL PHRF shall assist regatta race committees in organizing equitable class divisions and scoring schemes.

It shall also be the objective of SAIL PHRF to provide a venue for One-Design Rating (ODR) configured yachts an opportunity to participate in events when an ODR fleet does not exist. In the event that ODR rules conflict with PHRF rules, a ODR rated yacht must comply with their national class rules.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for SAIL PHRF membership, the boat must be a self-righting monohull^*, sailed in the Sailing Association of Intermountain Lakes region, and the owner or owner's representative must be a member in good standing of SAIL or pay the non-member fee. (The fee for non-SAIL members covers SAIL dues.)

* Multihull boats may be given a PHRF rating if approved to race a specific club or event.

Jurisdiction:

Handicap certificates issued to SAIL PHRF members shall be honored at all SAIL sanctioned events. Individual clubs are encouraged to require a SAIL PHRF membership to participate in all handicap racing. SAIL PHRF membership shall be compulsory for participation in all SAIL sanctioned PHRF events. It will be the host club’s responsibility to verify PHRF membership and handicap certificate before accepting the entry of the yacht in the event.

PHRF Committee:

The PHRF committee shall establish and maintain an equitable system to handicap any yachts sailed in the SAIL region. The PHRF Committee shall be as set forth bellow:

· The chairperson shall be appointed by the SAIL Board of Directors.
· Each participating club shall have one member on the committee.
· Each participating ODR fleet shall have one member on the committee.
· The PHRF committee shall issue ratings, hear appeals of ratings, report to the National PHRF Committee.
· The PHRF chairperson shall report on handicapping issues at the regular meetings of SAIL.

{Note: If the rules sections for Objective, Eligibility, Jurisdiction, & PHRF Committee do not appear above, click here.}

phrf-rules2010-2

PHRF Membership:

SAIL PHRF membership shall be obtained by making a formal request to the handicapping committee for a PHRF certificate and paying the certification fee. All applications will be reviewed and handicap certificates issued by the PHRF Committee. In the event a non-member wishes to participate in a SAIL sanctioned PHRF event, a provisional rating certificate and membership will be issued at the event by present members of the PHRF Committee and the fee collected. At the next PHRF Committee meeting, a formal rating certificate will be issued to the yacht. SAIL individual/family or junior membership is mandatory.

Meetings:

An annual meeting of the full PHRF, to be determined by the committee chair, will be held before the start of the sailing season. Additional committee meetings will be held on an as needed based to determine a base handicap, hear an appeal or protest, and may be attended by any PHRF member. Most communications between committee members will be done via e-mail and postings will be made on the SAIL web site. Notice of the any PHRF meeting will be sent to all PHRF members at least 7 days before the meeting is held.

PHRF Rating Certificate:

A PHRF Rating Certificate will be issued to each PHRF member that submits a completed PHRF Certification Request form and pays the application fee. The certificate will document the yacht’s base PHRF rating, and any and all adjustments to the base rating the yacht claims. If the yacht wishes to race in multiple configurations, additional PHRF Rating Certificates will be required for each configuration.

Each PHRF Certificate will document three ratings (ODR Rating, Base Rating and Adjusted Rating) the yacht may compete with.

The ODR Rating will assume the yacht complies with the yacht’s ODR rules and is a member of their class association. No additional adjustments will be allowed from the ODR rating except for modifications required for PHRF alternative non-sailing propulsion requirements.
The Base Rating will assume the yacht complies with all PHRF rules with no adjustments and is sailed in the fastest possible configuration. The Base Rating may be the same as the ODR rating where ODR rules do not conflict with PHRF rules.
The Adjusted Rating will apply when the yacht races with all documented adjustments against the base rating are in effect. A yacht may not apply individual adjustments to the base rating and will have to apply for additional rating certificates for various configurations.

In the event a yacht has multiple rating certificates, the holder must declare before racing which certificate the yacht will be racing with.

The PHRF Certificate will be valid for entire calendar year in which it was issued. Before the first event of the next calendar year, each PHRF member must renew the certificate by completing a PHRF Certificate Renewal Form and submitting the renewal fee.

Application Fee:

A fee of $5.00 shall accompany each application for PHRF Certification and renewal. The fee will be utilized to offset membership costs to the national PHRF association. Any unused funds at the end of the year will be transferred to the general SAIL budget.

Issuing Certificates:

A provisional rating will be issued by the PHRF Committee Chair until the full committee has had time to review the application and issue a rating. Ratings for yachts not having an established rating in the SAIL area will be matched as closely as possible with other reporting areas with similar sailing conditions.

Base PHRF Certification Process:

A base PHRF rating will be assigned to each yacht in the PHRF and documented on the PHRF certificate. The base rating will be determined by the PHRF committee using all pertinent information available such as other similar yachts previously certified, ratings of yachts with similar characteristics, statistical performance parameters, ratings from other PHRF regions, and guidelines specified within the national PHRF handbook. A rating certificate will be issued upon receipt of a completed PHRF certificate request form available from any PHRF member. It will be the responsibility of the yacht to produce information outside of the availability of the PHRF committee. It is also the responsibility of the rated yacht to provide all pertinent information to the PHRF committee before the committee issues a certificate. Any information excluded or withheld may result in the revocation of the rating certificate. Any changes to a yacht’s design, equipment or sails will require notification to the PHRF committee before the next event.

The Base PHRF Rating will assume:

· The yacht is of single hull and self-righting.*
- Multihull boats may be given a PHRF rating if approved to race a specific club or event.
· The yacht is a Standard Production Class Yacht in racing condition, no modification of hull, standing rigging, or foils. A non standard production yacht may be given a provisional rating and may be adjusted by the PHRF Committee without an appeal.
· The yacht is raced as manufactured with its interior as designed by the manufacturer intact.
· All rigging and attached original equipment is placed as designed by the manufacturer and unmodified.
· The yacht complies with all PHRF or National Class Rules.
· All sails comply with the manufacturers or One-Design measurements.
· The yacht is equipped with adequate ground tackle and all safety equipment required by local and national authority.
· The yacht has alternative (non-sailing) propulsion and fuel capable of 90% hull speed for one hour of operation.
· The yacht is employing all allowable equipment available under PHRF rules.
· Any deviation of the above assumptions must be submitted to the committee and adjusted in the Adjustments to Base PHRF section of the rating certificate.

Adjustments to Base PHRF Rating:

Adjustments to the Base PHRF rating will be assessed and documented in the Adjustments to Base PHRF section of the rating certificate. Adjustments will be made per the guidelines documented in the national PHRF handbook or in the event the handbook does not address the adjustment, through a process identified by the PHRF committee. Adjustments made due to deviation to the PHRF rules will also be made in this section.

Standard Adjustments to base rating:

Sails
- Minus 3 if largest head sail LP is >156% and <=165% of J.
- Minus 6 if largest head sail LP is >166% of J.
- Plus 3 if the largest head sail LP on board is < 130% of J.
- Plus 6 if the largest head sail LP on board is < 100% of J.
- Minus 6 if SMW is > 180% of J.
- Minus 6 if SML is >95% of jib stay length (.95 x sqrt(I2 + J2)).
Spars
- Minus 6 if SPL in excess of J + .1 feet.
- Minus 1 for each additional 5% WPL in excess of J.
- Minus 3 for each additional 3% of MH in excess of standard.
- Minus 3 for each additional 3% of SAH over standard SAH.
- Minus 3 for each additional 3% of I dimension over standard.
Motors
- Minus 9 if no motor on board.
- Minus 6 for a motor and propeller not capable of 90% hull speed for one hour.
- Plus 6 if yacht has a solid 2 blade propeller locked while racing without being protected by an aperture.
- Plus 9 if yacht has a solid 3 blade propeller locked while racing without being protected by an aperture.
No Spin
- Plus 12 if yacht has no spinnaker on board.

Abbreviations:

Sail & Rigging Measurements	Standard Measurements
LP = length perpendicular to luff, expressed in percent of J dimension MH = mast height SML = spinnaker maximum length SMW = spinnaker maximum width SPL = spinnaker pole length SAH = spinnaker attachment height (halyard exit point) WPL = whisker pole length	E = foot length of the mainsail, measured along the boom from the aft face of the mast to the outermost point on the boom to which the main can be pulled or to the black band. I = height of forestay attachment to mast from deck, i.e., maximum jib hoist. J = base of the foretriangle, measured along the deck from the forestay pin to the front of the mast. P = length from boom to masthead or black band, maximum mainsail hoist

Sail & Rigging Measurements

Standard Measurements

LP = length perpendicular to luff, expressed in percent of J dimension
MH = mast height
SML = spinnaker maximum length
SMW = spinnaker maximum width
SPL = spinnaker pole length
SAH = spinnaker attachment height (halyard exit point)
WPL = whisker pole length

E = foot length of the mainsail, measured along the boom from the aft face of the mast to the outermost point on the boom to which the main can be pulled or to the black band.
I = height of forestay attachment to mast from deck, i.e., maximum jib hoist.
J = base of the foretriangle, measured along the deck from the forestay pin to the front of the mast.
P = length from boom to masthead or black band, maximum mainsail hoist

Any adjustment that uses a percentage amounts will be rounded up to the next adjustment amount.

Non-standard Adjustments:

Adjustments to the base rating not documented in the national PHRF handbook will be assessed after open discussion by the PHRF committee and members and voted on by the PHRF committee.

Scoring Methods:

SAIL PHRF will support two scoring methods, (Time on Time) and (Time on Distance). Time on Time will be utilized when course lengths are not known or conditions vary enough to nullify accuracy and fairness of Time on Distance. Time on Distance will be utilized when course lengths are known and conditions are consistent throughout the duration of the race. Time on Distance will also be used when racing in reverse handicap starts.

It is at the discretion of the Race Committee of an event to determine which scoring method to utilize.

PHRF Rules While Racing:

All PHRF members shall abide by the following rules while racing unless specifically exempted in the PHRF rating certificate.

Rating Appeal Process:

Any PHRF member may appeal her own or any other PHRF yacht’s rating. It is the appealing member’s responsibility to provide any information in support of the rating appeal. Appeals to a specific rating certificate shall be made by submitting a completed PHRF Appeal Form available from the committee members. Appeals will be heard within 30 days of the receipt of the Appeal form by the committee chair. A decision by the PHRF committee will be made within 30 days of the hearing.

Verification of Compliance

It shall be the responsibility of the certificate holder to comply with all restrictions placed upon a yacht by the PHRF certificate. A copy of the rating certificate must be on-board the yacht while racing in PHRF events. Any PHRF member may request and be granted access to the rating certificate before or after racing. Each PHRF member shall allow access to the certified yacht before and after racing by other PHRF members to verify compliance to the certificate.

Violations to PHRF Rules or PHRF Certificate:

Any protest of a PHRF yacht for failure to abide by PHRF rules or its rating certificate will be heard by a protest committee compiled of PHRF members present at the event. Findings of the protest committee will be submitted to the event Race Committee for possible disqualification and/or redress.

Intentional violation of the PHRF rules or the rating certificate may result in the revocation of the rating certificate and the disqualification of the certificate holder from further PHRF events.

One-Design Exemptions

Yachts with specific features, equipment, or sailing techniques that do not comply with the PHRF rules may employ such providing that the yacht strictly complies with the One-Design rules, is a member of the class association of that yacht and competes under the ODR rating specified on the rating certificate. Those yachts must submit to the committee and carry on-board while racing the One-Design rules accepted by the national One-Design fleet. The ODR rating will be assigned based on those rules and no further adjustments may be taken. Violations of the One-Design rules while racing in the PHRF will be handled by the PHRF protest committee.

SAIL PHRF Sanctioned Events

{Note: If the rules sections for PHRF Membership, Meetings, Rating Certificate, Scoring Methods, Rules While Racing, Rating Appeal Process, Verification of Compliance, Violations, One-Design Exemptions & Sanctioned Events do not appear above, click here.}