J/120 Sailor Frank Kern Handicap Racing Ideas

J/120 CARINTHIA owner and BYC member Frank Kern from Detroit, MI explains what a group of owners are doing to buck the handicapping issues racing o the Great Lakes with the new ORROA (ORR Owners Association) racing series.  At the end of last year, after talking to a number of fellow owners, the frustration with the many different rules in place was becoming apparent, with some owners so unhappy with the rules they were stuck with that they began skipping races.  PHRF is nearly universal, but it's application by local officials can lead to some strange results, and often it is hard for committees to fairly rate new or one-off designs.  Other international rules unfairly penalize sportboats and many 10-20 year old offshore designs while sportboats and many 10-20 year old offshore designs have ratings that are carries the inevitable drawbacks that brings, while  Our brainstorming session came up with an idea to give sailors a reason to participate in more races - create a series for them to compete under a rating rule that they consider fair.  Read more about Frank Kern's handicap sailing idea here.