The RYA have announced the new PY handicaps for use in racing in 2014. The numbers for classes sailed at Attenborough can be found by clicking here. I am pleased to say we were one of 120 clubs in UK that supplied data to the RYA via their web portal that allows better statistical analysis. A few surprises in the list but overall most changes are minor. Laser and Supernova increase PY by one which is surprising as I think Supernovas should have a much lower handicap; Comet increases by 5, Vision by 20 but Kestrel drops by 15. Biggest loser when also considering changes over last few years is the Phantom whose PY is down 10 to 1002. Given some of our best sailors race Phantoms then new handicap seems too low especially against a Supernova. In recent races Supernovas have almost being racing boat to boat with Phantoms yet to win on handicap a Phantom has to beat a Supernova by over 4 minutes in a 60 minute race so I think the Phantom has moved from being a PY bandit to heavily penalised. Overall, the class to have in 2014 at Attenborough is a Supernova and one would expect them to win almost all races this year.
Mike Pritchard – 28th February 2014.