Sponsors
In 2018 Australian Sailing undertook a review of the Class Based Handicap (CBH) System and the Australian Trailable Yacht and Sports Boat Rule (ATYSBR). This review was undertaken at the request of the VTYD with the intention of finding a way to make the rule and CBH more inclusive.
The underlying position of the VTYD was that the "Old" CBH system worked extremely well for the majority of established classes and was proven by decades of racing. Where the old system fell down was in creating an accessible way of allowing modified boats, One of a Kind (OAK) boats, new classes of boats and new sports boat designs to obtain a rating with which to race competitively. This varied between receiving a rating that was highly speculative, or not receiving a rating at all due to non-compliance with some elements of the rule (such as centrecase location, compainionway location, overall width etc.
Between 2019 and present Australian Sailing have been implementing a "New" CBH based on applying a different mathematical formula to boat measurements. This formula has been evolving since 2019 and the number of boast with accurate measurement data has been increasing, however there are still many gaps in the data and outliers in boat ratings.
Beyond this there have been many changed to what were previously considered 'proven' ratings comparisons (ie many boats racing in the 0.725-0.728 bracket) which have seen considerable change due to the formula.
In Victoria 95% of racing fleets race in what is considerd to be standard class configuration. With this in mind it is the opinion of the VTYD that the New CBH does not yet meet its initial objective of creating an system that will promote increased levels of participation in Trailable Yacht racing in Victoria.
Where the VTYD does see an immediate potential to increase participation is in using the New CBH system to rate Sporstboats, albeit there are ongoing disputes around the definition of a sportsboat.