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The Newsletter of PHRF of the Chesapeake
P.O. Box 3169
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
www.phrfchesbay.com






Winter 2004 Page 1

Whats new for 2005.
At the Annual Board of Delegates meeting (see minutes
below), we made some changes to our fleet policies for 2005.
You may want to check your renewal forms in the following
areas. For 2005, Roller Furling (RF) sail policies (see paragraph
17, Standard Sail and Equipment Specifications) allow that non-
spinnaker boats may use a second headsail, but the sail need not
conform to our RF sail specifications, and must never be flown
without the (approved) RF headsail set. The approved RF
headsails must meet the same specifications as required in 2004.
Note that the RF headsail should not be changed unless conditions
warrant use of a heavy weather sail. A revision to paragraph 17C
reiterates that boats which receive a RF credit, should not change
RF headsails to suit changing wind conditions, and that the RF
headsail must be attached above the RF drum and the swivel (RF)
must be a maximum luff hoist. Sections 17 and 18 of the
enclosed Standard Sail and Equipment Specifications contain the
exact wording of these RF policies. Also for 2005, the lower luff
of Asymmetric Spinnakers (AS) is no longer subject to an
automatic penalty. This policy change was made to allow for
proper luff curve design for those AS flown from a spinnaker pole
attached to the mast.

The delegates approved a non-certificate membership
category, beginning in 2005, which allows owners who have had
PHRF certificates for their boats in five (5) previous years, to be
members of PHRF without being a boat owner. Also, to
accommodate racers from outside the Chesapeake Bay region, any
persons that races their boat in the Chesapeake Bay may obtain a
PHRF valid certificate, without being a member of CBYRA, or a
CBYRA recognized club.

The high point scoring rules for PHRF were revised at
the annual meeting. The PHRF high point rules for 2005 are
posted on our website for all to read. Most of changes were
minor details, but there was also a change to the distance chart for
applying bonus points to PHRF races.

A new, approved for 2005, policy will allow the board
of handicappers to assign a boat (or boats) to a class outside of the
normal approved PHRF class splits without a change in the boats
rating providing the boats rating is within six (6) seconds per
mile of the class split.

2005 Class Splits

The 2005 PHRF class splits for regions I through III will
remain as they were in 2004. There will be a change to the A to
B and B to C splits in region IV South. Read through the
minutes below for the new rating splits.

2005 Officers

Our new President for 2005 is Randy Pugh, a long time
handicapper and delegate from region IV. Rob Mairs will
continue in 2005 as the region I-III Vice President. John Blais
will join the Executive Committee as 2005 region IV Vice
President. John is a PHRF racer well known throughout the
Chesapeake Bay. Bob Thomas will continue as our
Treasurer/Secretary for the next year. Thanks to Jerry Smernoff,
who served as President for the past three years, for all the
leadership and guidance he has provided. He will continue to be
very active in PHRF matters.

Renewals for 2005

Though all 2004 certificates will be valid until 1 April
2005, it is in everyones best interest to renew your boats rating
early. Renewals will be mailed out during the last week of
December 2004, so please get your renewal back in early. All
2004 ratings will be invalid on 1 April, so you must have a 2005
certificate to compete in events beginning in April. Dont wait
until a couple weeks before April, especially if youve made
changes to the boat, or sails. The handicappers will review all
changes to determine the changes affect on the rating.

2005 Valid Certificates
The valid certificates for 2005 will have a slightly
different look, with the information better organized so that the
dimension or criterias impact on the rating is more easily
understood.

2004 Annual Board of Delegates Meeting
The Annapolis YC hosted this years annual meeting. A copy
of the minutes is included below.







Winter 2004 Page 2

2004 Annual Board of Delegates Meeting Minutes
Attendees:
Jerry Smernoff, President, CBYRA Del
Rob Mairs, VP, Reg I-III
Randy Pugh, VP, Reg IV, Hdcpr, Del BBSA & Proxy
OPCYC, RRYC, YPYC & PBC
Bob Thomas, Secty/Treas, Del UCYC, Proxy ESSA
Stew Buckler, Exec. Secty, Del SMSA
Bruce Bingman, Ch Hdcpr, Reg I-III, Proxy RRBC, Rep
USSailing
Rob Jabin, VP, Reg I-III, Del AYC
Bob Greenfield, Del BCYA
John Blais, Del CCV
Richard Ewing, Del EYC
Mayo Tabb, Hdcpr, Del FBYC
John Wickens, Del GRF
Keith Mayes, Del HHSA
Greg Cutter, Del HYC
Bob Seay, Del MRSA
Tom French, Del SCC
Clarke Slaymaker, Del SRSA
Richard Sharoff, Proxy SRYC
Chuck Eldred, Del SYC
Eric Crawford, Hdcpr & Del TAYC
Heidi Bay, Del WRSC
Randy Richter, Hdcpr, Del YCCSC
Bruce Franz, ESSA
David Stapleford, ESSA
Rich Harrison, Hdcpr
John Dodge, Pres CBYRA
Dick Emmett, Treas CBYRA


President Jerry Smernoff called the 2004 Annual
Meeting to order at 1107. He briefly covered the planned items
on the agenda, introduced the President and Treasurer of CBYRA
who were attending, and appointed Randy Richter as
Parliamentarian for the meeting. He asked for a roll call to
determine if a quorum for conducting business was available.
Executive secretary, Stew Buckler, called the roll. Delegates,
including proxies, present at this meeting represented 916 of 1163
total members for 2004. This provided a quorum for voting on the
motions that would be presented at this meeting.

Treasurers Report. Bob Thomas presented the Treasurers
report, which provided a summary of PHRF income and
disbursements for this year (to date), and a proposed balanced
budget for 2005 of $37,000. This is shown on the attached budget
report. The 2004 actual income and expenditures were presented
on the report as well. The treasurers report was accepted as
submitted by affirmation of the delegates. The 2005 budget of
$37000, was voted on, and approved by the delegates.

US Sailing Delegate Report. Our delegate to USSailing, Bruce
Bingman provided a report from the 2004 USSailing Annual
General meeting. Bruce also serves as chair of the US PHRF
committee, as a member of the executive committee of the
National Offshore Council, and is an offshore/handicapping
representative to the USSailing Board of Directors.
The total PHRF certificates nationwide is holding steady at
about 15,000 in approximately 60 fleets. The USSailing office
estimates that about 20,000 boats are using PHRF ratings without
formal certificates for informal racing and in areas with no
registers fleets. These numbers make the PHRF the most widely
used rating system in the world, compared to the ORC club
system, IMS, and IRC.
There was considerable discussion at the USSailing meeting
about the use of IRC rule to handicap many of the grand prix
boats in the major regattas around the country. IRC, a
development of the CHS (Channel Handicap System), requires
measurement/weighing (over $500 per boat) and has an annual
certificate fee of around $250. The USSailing PHRF
committee approved a universal diagram to cover sail plan
measurements. The universal diagram is essentially identical to
the one we use in PHRF of the Chesapeake (in our application
package and on our website). The committee also voted to adopt
median ratings for a select group of boats in the rating range of
24 to 168, to encourage more uniform ratings from region to
region, where not influenced by unusual local conditions.
There was also discussion of a proposed re-organization of
USSailing to become a more efficient and responsive
organization. It was pointed out that a potential re-organization
should have adequate representation of offshore sailing. Some
insurance issues were covered during the General Services
committee, where concerns were expressed that some insurance
companies are refusing to cover race boats. There is apparently
an unpublished list of some race boats, but the point to all
racers is that they should check with their insurance company to
verify coverage for any boats using for racing. USSailing is
proposing a new membership category for crew members. The
fee will probably be lower than regular membership, and should
include goodies (sailing gloves, flash card of rules and flags, etc).
A good deal for skippers to get crew more involved.
A special thanks to Bruce for all the volunteer wo