S2 7.9 Meter Class Association

For those of you who race your S2 7.9 in PHRF my first question is….

1. What PHRF Region do you race in and are you allowed to raise your keel?

I will save my second question for later. Appreciate all responses.

Tweek'n and Tug'n races in the Northumberland Straight Yachting Ass. (Northern Nova Scotia) and rates at 168. The Nova Scotia Yachting Association rates a 7.9 at 164, based mostly on the reputation you guys have given the boat. I will stop rambling and get to the subject.

I don't know if its legal to raise the centerboard or not. I don't notice much of a difference in performance (flying the kite) and I think a 7.9 needs all the dig it can get, especially when the wind pipes up.

Our regular Weds Nights is scored PHRF but the 7.9's are in their own class with their own start so effectively it is OD racing with some other boats out on the water to keep it intetesting. We all rate 165 from Lake Michigan PHRF, http://www.lmphrf.org/

We haven't asked LMPHRF the question about board up racing.

LMPHRF does not allow the board to be raised. It states such right on my Cert. My Handicap is 165, & IB's are 171. There is one boat Hull #13 that is 168, OB. I asked Darrell Askins, the Area 1 Handicapper about it, & his reply was "that's how it came out".

I race PHRF in the Philadelphia area and based on prior posts pertaining to the rating of the S2 we are allowed to raise the board going down wind.

Most crews are glad thier boats don't have a CB when they watch our crew huff and puff.

At our club we do not require PHRF certificates so it is a little more casual than on the Bay although the fleets are moving in that direction for next season.

I am curious - what is the basis for not allowing the board to be raised?

At Sylvan Lake, Alberta, we have 3 7.9's which are base rated at 168. One of the boats is equipped with a masthead kite & takes a 3 second hit (165). Board is raised only when we have a gorilla onboard.
Regards,
Doug #379

In Iowa, I believe the SYC club allows it to be raised, RRYC club does BUT with a -3 mile hit to the rating. Base is 168 for Iowa.

Not taking sides on the issues, so please no flamming me - just passing on what I know so don't kill the messenger. The RRYC race committee years ago watched a 7.9 knockdown with it's board up and it took the 7.9 almost the whole downwind leg drifting on it's side to self right. So it brought up the issue "will it REALLY self right with the board up". Good thing thing the 7.9 didn't knockdown close to shore and had water to drift over 10 munites. I would personally feel in light air it would have self righted, but not in 20+ knot breeze.

In the Melbourne area we are allowed to raise our boards, rating 168.

Art Ahrens
7.9 107 "Pirate"

Is the 168 rating IB, OB or Both?

Sorry, it is for OB. We do not have any IB in central Florida that I know of.

Art Ahrens
7.9 # 107 "Pirate"

I race in PHRF-NW and they allow the board to be pulled with no rating adjustment. Base rating is 182. I got that from the head handicapper

Chesapeake Bay, 171 for OB and 174 for IB. Board raising allowed.

We're rated at 168 and we pull the board up.

Some very simple comparison numbers pulled from MORC using the J-24 as a comparison (MORC explicitly rates with the board allowed to be raised and lowered) shows that that PHRF numbers correspond exactly with the MORC numbers.

Since MORC is a VPP and allows board up / down, it's easy to present evidence to prove that PHRF should allow it as well.

There's been numerous posts on this matter. It's all in the math.

We are in the Mid atlantic PHRF. Inboards are 171, and OB 168. We are allowed to raise our board, altough there has been requests to the commitee to have the board locked down ( sore losers?). So far we have prevailed in being able to raise the board.
Mike
SPEEDIE
456

Hey guys
Keep in mind that all PHRF is local PHRF. If the local guys want to force you to sail backwards with no headsail and a penalty rating, they can. Then you have to appeal.
If you get in ANY discussion at all about this I suggest that you stick to two key points:
#1) The base ratings on the 7.9 were ALL calculated with the boat sailing AS DESIGNED, that is with the capability to raise the board.
#2) A 7.9 with the board up has a better righting moment than a J24....with the keel down

That's no dig on the J24. It's a good boat and a great class. So as soon as PHRF requires J24s to sail with truck tire inner tubes tied to the top of the mast (without a re-rating), we'll agree to keep our boards down....... without a re-rating. Fair is fair.