Understand Sailboat Racing's Alphabet Soup of Abbreviations & Terms!
There's an awful lot of alphabet soup in sailboat racing: PHRF, IRC, RORC, TOT/TOD, UNCL, and so on... For those who don't want to admit they don't know in front of their yachting buddies (or for those who want to catch out some know-it-all on his high horse), here's a brief primer.
CHS. Channel Handicapping System. Predecessor to today's IRC; an international handicapping system developed and administered jointly by the U.K.'s RORC and the French UNCL.
Handicapping. In general, a system of adjusting the scores of participants in a race, sport, or game, to account for natural ability or other conditions which would tend to give an unfair advantage to one participant.
In sailboat racing, a system of handicapping enables a race to be held among participating boats of varying sizes and designs. To take just one simple example of why this is necessary: All else being equal, the longer boat has a higher theoretical top speed than a shorter one; thus, a smaller boat is at an inherent disadvantage in a race between the two.
The use of a handicapping rule means that the boat hailed as the "winner" of the race may not be the one which crossed the finish line first. Handicapping is not necessary for races in which all participants are of a single design ("one-design" races).
IRC. An internationally-recognized handicapping rule administered by the RORC, located in the U.K. The IR part appears to stand for International Rule, but one seems to know what the C stands for, or those who know aren't saying. The IRC was widely adopted beginning in 2000. It grew out of an earlier rule, the CHS (which did stand for something, the Channel Handicap System), which had been developed in partnership with a French club, the Union National du Course au Large, or UNCL.
One-Design. A sailboat race in which all of the participants are sailing a boat of the same design. This means that no handicapping is required, and therefore the boat that finishes first is the winner.
One-design races are often held over multiple "legs," and are scored inversely. That is, the winner of a leg gets the lowest number of points; the loser, the most. When all the legs are completed, each racer's single worst score is thrown out, the scores for the remaining legs added up, and the participant with the lowest final adjusted score wins.
One-design races are held from the smallest classes of boat (Sunfish, 13 feet 4 in.) up through the largest (Superyachts, 100+ feet). Each class is governed by its own international body, which oversees races and rules for the class.
PHRF. Stands for Performance Handicap Racing Fleet. This is the handicapping system used predominantly throughout the U.S.
RORC. Royal Offshore Racing Club. Governing body, located in the U.K., that oversees and administers IRC handicapping rules. RORC is also the principal organizer of the prestigious Fastnet and Commodore's Cup races, among others.
TOD. Time-On-Distance. A factor in handicapping rules used in the U.S., but gradually being replaced by TOT. Measured in seconds-per-mile. Refers to a fixed time allowance, based on the length of a course, that can be used to calculate an adjusted time. The virtue of the TOD system is that it is fixed, and simple to calculate.
TOT. Time-On-Time. A factor in handicapping rules used internationally, and gradually coming into greater use in the U.S. Measured in minutes-per-hour. Refers to a time allowance that is based on the total elapsed time of the race. The virtue of the TOT system is that it takes into account the conditions on the day of the race, i.e., whether the race overall was "fast" or "slow."
UNCL. Union Nationale pour la Course au Large. French yachting club which, in partnership with RORC, developed and administered the CHS, the predecessor to the current international handicapping system, the IRC.
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