Dear Sandy

When comparing PHRF ratings to ORA1, remember the ratings were confected by different methods.

PHRF ratings were produced by the five-person committee that met with Tom Beery (GYA PHRF Committee) in Pascagoula every quarter for the last forty plus years to review race results and adjust ratings.

If you look at the time differences in finishes of OD races, you see marked differences in how skippers/crews affect the outcome. It was always difficult to dissect the skipper/crew's effect when looking to rate the specific boat. Since it was unlikely that any of the five members of the committee were actually at the race, the explanation of the results was subject to speculation or subjectivity. Therefore, since boats like Melges and J boats had lots of race results, those ratings were probably more accurate than Beneteaus. Perhaps the PHRF committee had incorrectly rated one of those boats.

The ORA1 rating is a product of the Velocity Prediction Program (VPP). Measurements of sails and hull, etc, are fed into the program. And eight ratings are calculated; four for spinnaker and four for non-spin. If there is a "kink", it's unlikely that it is in the VPP. Thousands of boats have been rated with the program by ORA and ORC. If there was a 'kink" it would have been discovered.

The 'kink" producing the difference in the two Benes is probably in the data that was fed into the program from the PHRF certificate. Either the data was inaccurate on the original PHRF certificate or just entered incorrectly. Therefore, you should ask Tom Beery who is still administering ORA1 to look at that for you. There may be some measurement of the sails or the hull that is producing those changes in ratings from PHRF to ORA1.

FRM