A few days ago I posted a new Handicap Hotlaps course (USS F4). As of this morning, over a dozen skippers have posted eighty-five laps on USS F4 sailing a variety of boats. Thank you to JeanCarlo Kepler, Hans Zinnemann, Manul Rotaru, Jane Fossett, joepie Korobase, Julia Ceres, Pensive Mission, M1sha Dallin, Bea Woodget, Alain Gloster, Taku Raymaker, Francois Jacques, and Vin Mariani! It seems like a good time to take a quick look at the data that’s piling up!

The chart on the right shows the average lap time on F4 for each boat class (full results are posted here). As discussed earlier, it also lists a simple ‘performance weight’ ratio for each boat, using the Trucordia Yawl as the standard. The final column in green shows the results from last month using the NYC B1A racecourse.

The results are remarkably consistent: The relative performance of each boat on F4 closely matches the prior findings on the B1A course. For example, the JaqCat was an even match for the Trucordia Yawl sailing B1A, with nearly identical lap times and a weight of “1.00.” On the new F4 course, only one second separates the average times for the two boats, and the weight is again 1.00.

If you go through the rest of the list, you’ll see the calculated performance weight on the two courses is nearly identical for all the other boats as well. That’s pretty strong evidence the Handicap Hotlaps rankings are a valid and reliable way to compare boats; the findings will likely apply to any standard race course.

This round of Hotlaps adds three new boats as well: The Tako 3.3, the Flying Fizz 1.08, and the Zinnemann 1.4. All three boats are faster than the baseline Yawl, and the Tako is a little over 10% faster than the Fizz. It’s interesting to see that - so far, at least - the Tako, Z-40, and ACA32 all have very similar lap times, despite major differences in how the boats handle.

This may seem surprising, since the Z-40 has explosive acceleration going downwind and would easily run over any Tako that ventured into it’s path. However, the F4 course has upwind, downwind, and reach legs as well as several sharp turns. The Z-40 does not tack easily, and so it seems likely the Z-40’s speed advantage is balanced by the Tako’s superior turning ability. That’s just a guess, however, based on the results so far. Let’s see what happens as we get more lap data over the next few weeks!