IRC Handicap spreadsheet

[Guest]

Hi folks,
I will be participating in a few offshore races this year and I was wondering if anyone might have an excel spreadsheet where I can work out how far ahead or behind the other boats we need to finish. Ideally, I would like to have a chart where I can see where we should be, in relation to the rest of the fleet, every 3 or 6 hours.

Regards,

DH

 

[bedouin]

Don't need a spreadsheet for this one. TCF is a time based handicap, not distance based.

The formula is approximately:

60 x (Their TCF - Your TCF) minutes per hour

If the figure is positive you can finish that many minutes behind them per hour raced, if negative then you have to be that many minutes ahead.

More practically - what use is it? Firstly you are unlikely to know the location of the rest of the fleet; secondly you should aim to get to the finish as quickly as possible, irrespective of where everyone else it.

 

[iangrant]

Bedouin is right - just enjoy the race - unless you are really serious about racing round then the calculation is simple - go as fast as you can without endangering others

Good luck, see ya there

Ian

 

[AndrewB]

It\'s not much of a race if ...

... you've no idea where you stand.

As navigator, I'm expected to supply information at each mark on how our nearest competitors are doing on handicap against us. Gees up the competitive spirit, gives us something to aim for, and it does sometimes affect tactics.

 

[bedouin]

But how do you know?

In most offshore races it is virtually impossible to keep track of the other competitors. You are lucky if you can identify a couple of boats nearby (not even that at night) and there is no way of finding out where the rest of the fleet is.

Sometimes you can overhear other competitors reporting in a check points, or near the finish, which can be helpful in working out whether you are going to be competitive or not.

 

[AndrewB]

Because ....

I don't take part in your kind of race. Nothing is more boring than a 'race' where you haven't a clue how other people are doing. If I want to play solitaire I can do that with a pack of cards.

I'm mostly a club/regatta racer, races are typically over 20 - 30 miles and involve a triangle or two, so similarly rated yachts keep in touch. I've only done a couple of JOG races, some while back, but even there yachts did seem to come together at marks.

 

[bedouin]

To each his own!

I, on the other hand, enjoy offshore racing since it adds a little spice to what would be an enjoyable cruise anyway, and helps sharpen up skills such as passage planning that are useful.

 

[Eudorajab]

Re: It\'s not much of a race if ...

Old racing navigators trick here :-

1: Asses the crew. If they are looking tired tell them you are closing on the leaders to gee them up
2: If they are looking too happy with themselves .. tell them you are falling behind and get them to work harder till they are tired.
3: Revert to 1

Trust me .. no one will ever know

 

[AndrewB]

Nice one! Thanks. (nm)

nm

 

[Guest]

Re: To each his own!

Thanks guys,
Some good advice there. The Race in question is the Round Ireland and it starts on Saturday. There are numerous compulsary check-in point on the way around so I wanted to have a chart prepared where we could get an idea of where we stand. I know most boats don't check-in at the exact location but it would be a reasonably good indication when compared with the chart.

Thanks again guy's,

DH

 

[bedouin]

Re: To each his own!

That makes it quite easy - and you don't need the chart!

The best way to do it is to compare elapsed time passing the check in points. Take their elapsed time, multiply that by their TCF and divide it by yours, that will give you our target elapsed time to the same check in.