You can skip the verbosity and see the results at the bottom of this page.

Pre-race emissions from Hof:

Greetings, Neptune, and all praise be to the ruler of the sea!

Winter is here and it is time for all dedicated laser sailors to take to the waters of Old Hickory for the fantasmigoric Rob Schmidt Memorial Laser Frostbite Series.  As the sailors know, we have implemented a handicap scoring system based on sailor performance. This type of handicapping has been illegally practiced by PHRF committees where the boat is, in theory, supposed to be handicapped according to the boat speed. Arguments over the PHRF rating generally degrade into “How well is the skipper sailing the boat?” Resulting in, “Since we (read ‘the committee members’) know we are better sailors than, for example, Ken, we will assign a rating to his boat to ensure he will never win.” OR “Since the J-24 rating is set in stone and we (read ‘the committee members’) know we are better sailors than, for example, Ted, we will not allow him to compete.” Well, we (read ‘laser sailors’) all have the same boat, so handicap discussions are focused on sailors performance –solely. We have tried to enable slower skippers to seriously compete for the series prize, even though they may not have the pest performance. OK, call a spade a spade, and encourage participation.

Toward this end, I would like to publish the first Nashville Laser Skippers Rating and Handicap Sheet. I took the Lotsa Laser 2003 and 2004, and the last three years of frostbite race results and crunched the numbers. The number of races is the number sailed in with no throwouts, average place is just that, the variance is sigma^2, or the range of places (with outliers thrown away, gives you an idea of consistency), and mode is the most common place. The “hof-a-cap” is the score to be added to each race sailed. Note that Chip and Bruce did not sail any Lotsa Laser races, and Chip hasn’t sailed a laser since before he got married (guess he is too old and scared to risk his numbers on an improved fleet). Bruce is the most consistent sailor. So, here are your groupings and stats. Let’s go out and improve our skills.

Week 1 (Jan. 9) Message from Cap'n Hof:

Well, as usual, Old Hickory rolled out it's best weather for the start of
the 2005 Rob Schmidt Memorial Frostbite Series. Fifteen competitors turned
out for the 60 degree weather with added "sunshine" in case you were
wondering why it was so bright outside. We started with Beaufort 3, which
tailed off to a 2 by the end of the day. Thanks to Mandy Hof, who
sacrificed a beautiful sailing day to run seven windward-leeward-windward
races.  Chipper touted his #1 ranking and Bruce delivered on his
consistency to top the charts. The play of the day was to bang left to the
current and breeze, though Sean and Chip seemed to work the right to a
little advantage up the leg. Big gains were made by small position shifts
on the leeward legs. We only broke two boats, and everybody had fun.

The current positions will be used to determine race committee
responsibility for the coming weeks. Here is the list:
Chip            1/16
Bruce           1/23
Dennis  1/30
Dave            2/6
Sean            2/13
Bill K.         2/20
Mike O. 2/27
You may change with anybody or get anybody to do race committee, but you
must let me know WHO.
thks
hof

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Week 2 (Jan. 16) Message from Cap'n Hof:

Too cold to sail???
Aargh matey...as Tedder put the helm down in a now-or-never tack to escape
an approaching lee shore in a Beaufort 5 gust, the spray from the bow
accelerated past the snowflakes and turned to skin-piercing ice.  Tack
completed, the debate turned to the safety of hoisting the spinnaker under
conditions that had transformed the foredeck to a skating rink that only
Lucas dared tread...and Hof warmed us with stories of colder days sailing
past.  Nonetheless, I abandoned my position on the weather rail for a tucked
postion in the cockpit;  Dennis kept his head warm and out of harm's
(BOOM'S) way down below near Lilly's dog-body heat, and Ted bore away toward
HIYC's beckoning fireplace.
We would have lasted about five minutes on a Laser.
Good call Chip.
Now if I could only thaw my toes...
by next weekend, smooth sailing,
BRuce

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2005 Laser Frostbite Series

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