Sportboats and PHRF

April 24, 2011

The ongoing struggle to blend totally different boats into the PHRF family actually started in the 1970s when a Venture 21 owner wanted to race on the Bay. Since it has a swing keel instead of a fixed keel, the PHRF board said no. But the controversy has been started again with the new batch of sportboats coming out wanting to race with the leadmines.

Drew Harper of Spinnaker Sailing San Francisco is a dealer for Rondar's Viper and K6 and has a plan to shake things up. " I'm pushing the PHRF board to change because of the Wabbit Wule." In 1998 the Wabbit Wule was established because of the sinking of one Wylie Wabbit. The board said to race PHRF you must be at least 19 feet long and have a 400-pound keel. But the new generation of small, lightweight boats don't meet the rule.

Proof that Wabbits can capsize. This one didn't sink. ©2009 John Liebenberg

"The Viper was grandfathered in because it's a pre-1998 design, but, although the new K6 is smaller and lighter it has a much better stability form." Drew went to the board and they rejected the K6, but he plans on appealing. "We have a lot of boats that want to race but can't, like the K6, the i550 and others. The Open 5.70 got in because of some fudging with the measurement that counts the rudders. The Melges 20 has to add 60 pounds of lead in the engine well to meet the rule - that's crazy. The ultimate goal for all these boats is one design, but until a fleet can be established you have to race handicap."

PHRF board member Kame Richards has heard all of this and still likes the idea of keeping small sportboats out of the mix. "It's all about planing. These boats are more like dinghies then keelboats, and we need to separate them from the big slow boats. Where do we draw the line? How about a Moth or a sailboard mixing it up with a Ranger 26?"

Drew thinks an answer may be separate divisions for sportboats (something the Singlehanded Sailing Society has done for many years). "I know Encinal Yacht Cub is looking into that, and it's about time. We have enough boats on the Bay to make it work right now."

Kame added that he would support a local sportboat fleet and that may be the answer. "We need to support more boats racing in the YRA these days," added Drew. "And with the appeal of small fun boats growing that is the future."

Does the K6 have a future on the Bay? ©2011 Rondar Raceboats

This story generated a lot of response, so we've posted a follow-up report.