RYA not responding to emails and phone calls on NHC queries

[mrming]

I help organise the racing at our club. We dual score on IRC and NHC as per the RYA's recommendation.

We've worked hard to encourage more boats to get IRC certs, but the fact is many people don't see the value in it if they only race ocassionally, so at the moment NHC is what we've got for the majority of the fleet of 21' to 40'-ish boats.

Ocassionally a new boat wants to join in and the model isn't listed on the NHC base list. Also we have the ocassional boat where the base number is clearly not right.

I've emailed the RYA a number of times with these queries but I've never yet received a reply. Recently when I called the number listed on their NHC page I got a voicemail suggesting the person responsible is on leave till 29th of September and asking me to email technical@rya.org.uk (the address from which I've never had a response).

At the moment we're having to guess a number based on the boat's stats but this puts power back into the hands of the committee which is exactly what using an external scheme is supposed to avoid.

For any others involved in running NHC racing, have you ever managed to get a reply to these sorts of questions or would you know who else to contact?

 

[drakes drum]

I have had several chats on the phone with the NHC people at the RYA but I doubt that they can help with your query. All the boats they have numbers for will be on their list. I suppose you might be able to give them design data and get a number from them if they were willing to go the extra mile but I have never asked them for this.

I doubt very much if their list number for a boat is wildly out even allowing for the design data on old boats being a bit unreliable. But if you think it is then you can mathematically convert a number from Byron if there is one or from an IRC number again if there is one.

In the end, NHC is a performance based system and quickly adjusts an individual number to reflect performance. So whilst you might like to avoid wherever possible any involvement with fixing the number, once you have agreed a starter handicap you can leave the system to operate itself. So your personal involvement is only very brief and at the very start..

Its would be no better with IRC since by definition the boats that are problematic to you arent common race boats. So design data would be needed and thats likely to involve measurements taken by an owner. Whats worse is that if a bandit gets a wrong IRC, then he remains a bandit unlike with NHC.

One final comment. If you have an old PY number for that boat it is possible to convert this to a starter NHC number by using an equation but the easiest way is to find a similay PY on another boat and copy their NHC number over. So the conversation becomes " The XYZ 29 has the same PY as your boat so you have been given the same NHC as him".

P.S. If you are talking club racing only ie no open events, then there is nothing to stop you rolling handicaps over from one series to another. I mention that just in case you are starting afresh each series

 

[TallBuoy]

I would phone the switchboard number so you get to speak to a real person, and let them know about your dissatisfaction by the lack of response.

 

[DJE]

They sent me a spreadsheet (with all the formulae hidden) that takes in very basic design data and produces a base number for you. It is supposed to be confidential but it they aren't talking to you I suppose I could send you a copy.

 

[mrming]

They sent me a spreadsheet (with all the formulae hidden) that takes in very basic design data and produces a base number for you. It is supposed to be confidential but it they aren't talking to you I suppose I could send you a copy.

That would be very helpful thanks . PM sent.