PY Time Differences Between Dinghies
As you are aware, each dinghy has a PY, Portsmouth Yardstick (or handicap) number. The higher the number, the slower the boat, but the better the handicap is. The idea is that if all boats in a General Handicap race were to be sailed with the same ability, they all would finish first after their handicaps had been applied to the results.
The chart below gives an idea of the time differences between the different handicaps over a 60 minute race and a 45 minute race for the 2024 PY handicaps.
For example, if you were sailing a Laser, and wanted to know how far ahead you had to be on the water in order to beat a Topper after the handicaps had been applied, find the Topper dinghy on the left hand side, and follow the row across to where the Laser column is. At the crossing point of the Topper row and Laser column, the time is shown in seconds. It is shown as 702 seconds for a 60 minute race and 527 seconds for a 45 minute race.
If I am sailing a Supernova and wanted to know how far ahead I have to finish (on the water) infront of a British Moth, I find the British Moth dinghy on the left hand side, and where this row crosses the Supernova column is the time in seconds. For a 60 minute race this is 278 seconds. For a 45 minute race this is 209 seconds.
You will have to use the zoom feature below to increase the scale of the spreadsheet, as there are a lot of numbers. You can scroll left, right, up and down by clicking on the spreadsheet and dragging your mouse. Enjoy!