[Rhodes22-list] NC-PHRF appeal

[Mary Lou Troy]

Congratulations Peter. Persistence and logic seem to have paid off.

Mary Lou


At 06:56 PM 4/20/2005 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello Rhodies~
>
>In today's mail the NC-PHRF appeal arrived.  It was very good news.
>
>Last year at the Oriental Cup Regatta it almost blew the flags off the 
>poles.  So, since I believe sailboat races are won going to windward, I 
>decided to amend Raven's rating application to include Raven's very nice 
>2003 Doyle 135 genny as the only headsail.  (Thanks Mark!)
>
>They rated Raven at 276 (base rating 267 plus 9/sec/mile additional for 
>headsail).  That certainly is quite a generous rating and much more than I 
>expected.
>
>Perhaps they were convinced that Standard Mains are faster, so they set 
>the Rhodes 22 base rating 3 sec/mile higher than their base rating for the 
>Rhodes Continental.  If I start to enjoy racing success with Raven,  they 
>are likely to quickly adjust the base rating downward, as happened to Roger.
>
>As promised, here's the text of the NC-PHRF  Rhodes 22 base rating appeal 
>submitted a few weeks ago.  It makes good bed-time reading.
>
>PT
>
>
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Bill Jarvis, Chairman
>NC-PHRF
>
>The 2005 NC-PHRF Yearbook has lots of useful information and I am happy to 
>have it.  I am a 24 year member of the Carolina Sailing Club (one-design) 
>at Kerr Lake and know that race management work sometimes goes 
>unrecognized. So, "Thanks!" to you and the members of your committee for 
>your service to the sport of sailboat racing and for providing the 
>organizational structure for PHRF racing.
>
>In February I acquired s/v Raven, a 1988 Rhodes 22.  My Admiral Tana is 
>not a racer, so the primary purpose of this great trailer-sailor boat is 
>to enable us to cruise coastal waters within a 3-5 hour drive of Chapel 
>Hill, NC.  Raven will be a great vessel for that!  For the last three 
>years I crewed with Lawrence Miller on his Tanzer 26 in the Oriental Cup 
>Regatta  This year I hope to enter Raven in that race and that's why I 
>applied to NC-PHRF.
>
>When the measurement certificate and 2005 NC-PHRF Handbook arrived, I was 
>surprised to learn that NC-PHRF has two Base Ratings for the Rhodes 
>22.  The Rhodes 22 is listed at Base Rate 216 and Rhodes 22 Continental is 
>listed at Base Rate 264.   These two are essentially the same boat, 
>therefore I believe there must be an error.  The Rhodes Continental Base 
>Rating of 264 is consistent with other PHRF base ratings I have seen 
>published for the boat, but I have never seen a PHRF rating published 
>anywhere, except for NC-PHRF, showing the Rhodes 22 as low as 216.
>
>Stan Spitzer of General Boats Inc. has been continuously building these 
>boats, first in New York starting in the 1960s and, more recently in the 
>old Tanzer plant in Edenton, NC. http://www.rhodes22.com/ .   When he 
>started, Stan called the boat the Rhodes Continental.  Sometime in the 
>1980s he relocated to NC and changed the name, for marketing purposes I 
>think, to the Rhodes 22.  The boat has been steadily improved with luxury 
>cruising features over the years, but the hull, centerboard and rudder are 
>identical on the Rhodes Continental and most Rhodes 22s.  Recently, Stan 
>started building the boat with a triangular "Diamond Board"- I think since 
>the late '90s.  I do not know of any Rhodes 22s with Diamond Boards that 
>race or if there is any advantage or disadvantage to the newer centerboard.
>
>Although the two boats are essentially alike, there are a few minor 
>differences:
>   1)  Rhodes Continentals have more powerful rigs.   The hulls are a few 
> hundred pounds lighter and carry a larger, roached, leech battened, 
> "standard" mainsail with adequate amounts of draft forward.
>
>   2)  The Rhodes 22 IMF (In Mast Furling) mainsail 
> http://www.rhodes22.com/mast_small.html  is a cruising convenience but 
> also a much less powerful rig than the standard mainsail on the Rhodes 
> Continental.  Most newer Rhodes 22s have IMF.   Because the mainsail 
> rolls up on a vertical tube inside the mast, it cannot have battens to 
> support a roach, so the mailsails are smaller, cut very flat and are 
> roachless.  To get the main flat enough to roll up on the vertical IMF 
> roller, much of the sail shape that generates power to drive the boat is 
> compromised.  Many newer boats have heavier built-in heads, nicer 
> interior finishes and heavier, thicker hulls.  All this weight ads up, so 
> the new boats are heavier and have less powerful rigs.   (To further 
> complicate matters, it should be noted that all Rhodes Continentals have 
> standard mailsail rigs, but not all Rhodes 22s come equipped with IMF 
> mailsails.  Since the boats are built to order, a few owners prefer to 
> forgo the sailhandling convenience of IMF in favor of the greater 
> performance of a standard rig.  Most buy the boat for cruising, as I did, 
> and prefer IMF).
>The Rhodes 22 Continental with standard main  (NC-PHRF base rating 264) is 
>widely considered in the owners group to be the faster boat.  Therefore it 
>must be a mistake to rate the Rhodes 22 IMF lower (NC-PHRF base rating 
>216).  It just doesn't pass the logic test.  So, I researched the Rhodes 
>22 base rating with internet friends on the e-mail R22 owner's group 
>list-serve for more information.
>
>Bob Dilk has a 1976 (?) Rhodes Continental s/v Knot Necessary he raced at 
>the Pamlico Sailing Club (PSC) out of McCotter's Marina in little 
>Washington, NC until he moved to TN in 2003.  He said the PSC-PHRF 
>committee rated his boat at 256.    Bob Dilk writes:
>   "Yes I did race with the PSC.  We had 3 classes and I was in the 
> slowest class. My sails were blown out, but I learned a lot. It was (is) 
> a great club, and I had several boats that were my competition. I have 
> replaced both the main and the Genoa with new (used) sails from Stan. The 
> boat is better but I need some slower boats to come out and play.  The 
> Rhodes 22 is not a racing hull, but I have learned to make it point 
> better (sic) and this helps when I am cruising. Less tacks getting home."
>
>   [ I am copying Jay Price, a member of your committee also listed on the 
> PSC website as a handicapper.  I hope Jay can provide additional 
> information on this issue.]
>Roger Philaja wrote about his experience PHRF racing his Rhodes 
>Continental s/v Dynamic Equilibrium in Arkansas in the early 
>1990s.  (Note:  Roger sails Dynamic Equilibrium with a 155 Mylar Genoa, 
>fully battened main with custom masthead crane to allow maximum roach and 
>a masthead spinnaker).
>   "I've not been able to find any specific PHRF reference to Rhodes 22's 
> with IMF vs. the standard rig. The USYRU PHRF Rating Handbook gives a 
> range of 258 sec/mile to 312 sec/mile, all fleets indicating limited 
> racing experience (reflecting the relatively small number of Rhodes 22 
> out there which are being PHRF raced) I suspect the 312 sec/mile rating 
> is with IMF & 258 sec/mile is with the standard rig.
>
>   The race committee at the Lake Dardanelle Sailing Club in Russellville, 
> AR had no experience with a PHRF rating for the Rhodes 22. They started 
> me out at 300 sec/mile in 1987. I was steadily adjusted downward until my 
> rating was 234 sec/mile in the fall, 1990 season. In light to moderate 
> air, I could sail to this rating if I didn't make any mistakes & Daniel, 
> my foresail trimmer (7 years old at the time), didn't lose his 
> concentration. At about 15 knots apparent wind speed, I needed to reef 
> the boat to keep her sailing on her lines & could no longer sail to this 
> rating."
>Mark Kaynor, previous owner of Raven, offered this web reference for 
>PHRF-NE (New England) that gives the Rhodes Continental 22 a 276 base 
>rating.  http://www.phrfne.org/baseh.htm .
>
>YRALIS  (Long Island Sound) base rates the Rhodes 22 Continental  at 258 
>http://www.yralis.org/2004/base_ratings.html  p33
>
>There are not many Rhodes 22 owners who race -- it is primarily purchased 
>as a trailerable cruising boat.  There seems to be scant data on the 
>boat.  Other than Bob Dilk's boat, do you know about any Rhodes 22s that 
>have raced in NC-PHRF?
>
>Please consider this request and look into how the Rhodes 22 base rating 
>was established to be so low.  Perhaps it was just a typo.  Thank you for 
>your time and attention.
>
>Fair winds,
>
>Peter Thorn
>Chapel Hill, NC
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