BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

The message
from (Joakim Majander) contains these words:

I've been trying to find some information about the accuracy of the
time allowances in a IMS certificate.

All handicaps are spot on accurate - you accept that when you are rated
and when you enter a race under the appropriate conditions.

I know that it may be possible to say that in a particular condition
your boat is faster/slower than the rating you have... but I say again
you accept the rating when you enter an event under those conditions.

It is your objective to sail round the course more faster than your
ratings than the other competitors (or less slower) regardless of the
accuracy of the ratings.

What may be of interest is that is a rating results in a TCF
corrected/rounded to three decimal places then a change of 1 in the
lowest place requires the boat to be 3.6 seconds faster for each
corrected hour that she sails. In other words if two boats have
corrected times less than 3.6 seconds/corrected hour apart (eg 18
seconds for a five hour race or 259.2 seconds for a 72 hour race) then
if the TCF of the slower (on corrected time) boat was incorrect by 1 too
low in the last decimal place she should have won.

How far does your boat sail in 3.6 seconds - in dinghy racing it is
quite normal for 3 to 5 boats to finish in that timespan, and if they
are on handicap the differewnce in their ratings could be critical.

However remember that when you enter an event you does on the conditions
stated including the handicapping system and handicap stated being
assumed to be absolutely accurate.

Stuart