There have been grumblings for quite a while about the SMS Rating System being broken and not working. Frankly the claim is bullshit, perpetuated over the years by people with old sports boats who cannot beat the more modern boats in all but light air. A look at results under SMS will show that it is working as good as any rating system, if not better. There is no evidence that the SMS rule does not work well!
In races at this year’s Nationals there were two ties and three other times when boats finished within 5 seconds of each other. At last year’s Nationals in a total of just 5 races there were 6 ties, and 17 other times boats finished within 5 seconds of each other. In last year’s Queensland States there was one tie and 6 other times when boats finished within 5 seconds. There are not many other rating systems that give results this close.
Of the 15 Australian Sports Boat Association (ASBA) National Championships that have been held there are 7 times when Thompsons, Melges or an Elliot, all heavy boats, have won. The last time a Thompson won was last year!
It is not possible under any rating rule to rate boats of widely differing displacements and sailing characteristics evenly across all sailing conditions. The heavier sports boats perform well in the lighter winds and the more modern lighter one go better in the stronger breeze. But every dog has its day and from the results above the SMS Rating System is doing a great job. There is room to fine tune it a bit but the results speak for themselves. The results above do not indicate any problem with the SMS rating system. In fact it seems to be fulfilling the charter mapped out by the first committee of ASBA to the letter.
There is no doubt that the SMS Rating favours lighter, more sporty boats as this is why it was brought into being in the early 2000s when people were starting to sail more powerful/ hotter trailer sailers but were still being beaten on handicap by the slower heavier boats on the CBH system.
See below from the ASBA website:
Below is an excerpt from the ASBA Constitution.
15. HANDICAPS
15.1. Association sanctioned events shall be raced under an externally administered (i.e. by an independent body to the Association) measurement based rating system (SMS) agreed upon by the first Committee of the Association (hereinafter referred to as the primary handicap system)
SO WHY are there disgruntled rumblings about SMS not working. Well one of the most vocal voices has been from a guy who has complained that the “light shitters have devalued his boat” He owns a Thompson 7 and has not sailed in a national championship or many other ASBA regattas for at least 7 years. The ASBA was put in place to foster development of fast sports boat, what does he expect with a boat designed more than 20 years ago! There are guys that spend 50 times what he has on a TP52 to be the latest and greatest on IRC for a few years if they are lucky and then become also rans when a new boat comes onto the scene. He wants to be the boat to beat in the sports boat fleet with a 24year old design. He’s dreaming!
If rumours are repeated over and over for a number of years, even if there is no factual basis for them, keyboard warriors can garner some followers, whatever they say. Now, ever since I put a boat of my concept on the water, the REO 7.2, the vendetta against the boat and me started. This boat has won three ASBA Nationals, this year with Luke Ratcliff and twice previously with me helming. I have also designed larger boat, the REO 7.7, placing second in the last three nationals with her and winning our state championships with 5 firsts and a second from the 6 races.
All other sports boats have been designed by recognised yacht designers with minimal knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of the rating system. These are all good boats that sail well but often have features that do not rate well. Many owners have optimised their boats a little to help minimise the rating but none have spent the time that I have analysing all of the information available. I have designed my boats from the ground up to be fast and take maximum advantage of parts of the rule I have observed will give them a lower rating.
So now after a decade or so of Shaw 650s winning regattas and heavier boats winning regattas in lighter conditions on SMS there are a core of owners who have banded together and are decrying that SMS is broken. They cannot bring themselves to race against the REO boats from my stable on SMS as they know the writing is on the wall and the REO boats will win if there is any reasonable breeze.
This is very flattering, that my designs have scared them off but I love the sport of sailing and I am not happy that without any communication to the ASBA Committee, now headed by Michael Brierley in Brisbane this group have decided not to support the ASBA Fleet.
Forums and social media are great places for the exchange of ideas but there is also the side where those hidden behind their keyboards without any real knowledge of what they are talking about can throw slurs and negative innuendos around. They have more time on their hands than many people like myself, running a business with multiple other projects on the go. It is a waste of time replying to them as they will always come back with a wise arse comment as they need to have the last say.
I have been on this planet for over 60 years and I don’t really give a shit about what other people, who I do not respect have to say, so I will not bother answering negative comments. I am just passionate about this great sport of sailing and have spent decades on committees and coaching to build classes.
The REO boats are optimised for the SMS rating by making use of the following observations that reduce ratings:
So those who do not want to compete against my boats under SMS have scampered into the Trailer Division at Airlie Beach Race Week. The boats that entered the sports boat division have now followed them.
I have done a spreadsheet analysis of how the fleet rates under CBH and have found that as you would expect, the heavier boats rate better, most between 3% to 7% better. The REO7.2 takes a bit of a hit on rating under CBH but the REO 7.7 is still pretty good as she is not that light. What does stand out also is that the bigger boats rate substantially better, Vivace coming in at more than 8% better under CBH, relatively better than most of the heavier boat that are up to 3 feet shorter. The boys from Mackay sail her well so it would be a good bet to put your money on them!
In races at this year’s Nationals there were two ties and three other times when boats finished within 5 seconds of each other. At last year’s Nationals in a total of just 5 races there were 6 ties, and 17 other times boats finished within 5 seconds of each other. In last year’s Queensland States there was one tie and 6 other times when boats finished within 5 seconds. There are not many other rating systems that give results this close.
Of the 15 Australian Sports Boat Association (ASBA) National Championships that have been held there are 7 times when Thompsons, Melges or an Elliot, all heavy boats, have won. The last time a Thompson won was last year!
It is not possible under any rating rule to rate boats of widely differing displacements and sailing characteristics evenly across all sailing conditions. The heavier sports boats perform well in the lighter winds and the more modern lighter one go better in the stronger breeze. But every dog has its day and from the results above the SMS Rating System is doing a great job. There is room to fine tune it a bit but the results speak for themselves. The results above do not indicate any problem with the SMS rating system. In fact it seems to be fulfilling the charter mapped out by the first committee of ASBA to the letter.
There is no doubt that the SMS Rating favours lighter, more sporty boats as this is why it was brought into being in the early 2000s when people were starting to sail more powerful/ hotter trailer sailers but were still being beaten on handicap by the slower heavier boats on the CBH system.
See below from the ASBA website:
SMS Rating
The Australian Sports Boat Association has adopted SMS™ as its primary rating system. SMS is the Sports Boat Measurement System developed by Yacht Racing Services Association (YRSA). SMS is a derivative of AMS. The SMS Year runs from October 1 to September 30 each year. A boat’s SMS needs to be valid at the time of racing and therefore needs to be re-validated each year.
The SMS ratings are based on measurement of the hull, displacement, and sail measurements of the vessel and a time on time rating is calculated. This rating is applied to the elapsed time of the boat to obtain its corrected time for the race.
SMS has been split off from the rest of the AMS population to allow for development of the system to better recognise the unique characteristics of sports boats. This system will be developed over time to ensure it best meets the needs of sports boat sailors in Australia.
The Australian Sports Boat Association's technical committee discusses feedback from members and presents this to the YRSA Measurement and Handicapping Committee to ensure that the formula is developed through direct input of the Australia sports boat sailing community and The Australian Sports Boat Association members.
All the information on SMS, including online Re-validation of your SMS & the SMS Year Book can be found on the YRSA web site.
To renew your SMS certificate it has to be done online.
Simply go to
www.raceyachts.org
The Australian Sports Boat Association has adopted SMS™ as its primary rating system. SMS is the Sports Boat Measurement System developed by Yacht Racing Services Association (YRSA). SMS is a derivative of AMS. The SMS Year runs from October 1 to September 30 each year. A boat’s SMS needs to be valid at the time of racing and therefore needs to be re-validated each year.
The SMS ratings are based on measurement of the hull, displacement, and sail measurements of the vessel and a time on time rating is calculated. This rating is applied to the elapsed time of the boat to obtain its corrected time for the race.
SMS has been split off from the rest of the AMS population to allow for development of the system to better recognise the unique characteristics of sports boats. This system will be developed over time to ensure it best meets the needs of sports boat sailors in Australia.
The Australian Sports Boat Association's technical committee discusses feedback from members and presents this to the YRSA Measurement and Handicapping Committee to ensure that the formula is developed through direct input of the Australia sports boat sailing community and The Australian Sports Boat Association members.
All the information on SMS, including online Re-validation of your SMS & the SMS Year Book can be found on the YRSA web site.
To renew your SMS certificate it has to be done online.
Simply go to
www.raceyachts.org
Below is an excerpt from the ASBA Constitution.
15. HANDICAPS
15.1. Association sanctioned events shall be raced under an externally administered (i.e. by an independent body to the Association) measurement based rating system (SMS) agreed upon by the first Committee of the Association (hereinafter referred to as the primary handicap system)
SO WHY are there disgruntled rumblings about SMS not working. Well one of the most vocal voices has been from a guy who has complained that the “light shitters have devalued his boat” He owns a Thompson 7 and has not sailed in a national championship or many other ASBA regattas for at least 7 years. The ASBA was put in place to foster development of fast sports boat, what does he expect with a boat designed more than 20 years ago! There are guys that spend 50 times what he has on a TP52 to be the latest and greatest on IRC for a few years if they are lucky and then become also rans when a new boat comes onto the scene. He wants to be the boat to beat in the sports boat fleet with a 24year old design. He’s dreaming!
If rumours are repeated over and over for a number of years, even if there is no factual basis for them, keyboard warriors can garner some followers, whatever they say. Now, ever since I put a boat of my concept on the water, the REO 7.2, the vendetta against the boat and me started. This boat has won three ASBA Nationals, this year with Luke Ratcliff and twice previously with me helming. I have also designed larger boat, the REO 7.7, placing second in the last three nationals with her and winning our state championships with 5 firsts and a second from the 6 races.
All other sports boats have been designed by recognised yacht designers with minimal knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of the rating system. These are all good boats that sail well but often have features that do not rate well. Many owners have optimised their boats a little to help minimise the rating but none have spent the time that I have analysing all of the information available. I have designed my boats from the ground up to be fast and take maximum advantage of parts of the rule I have observed will give them a lower rating.
So now after a decade or so of Shaw 650s winning regattas and heavier boats winning regattas in lighter conditions on SMS there are a core of owners who have banded together and are decrying that SMS is broken. They cannot bring themselves to race against the REO boats from my stable on SMS as they know the writing is on the wall and the REO boats will win if there is any reasonable breeze.
This is very flattering, that my designs have scared them off but I love the sport of sailing and I am not happy that without any communication to the ASBA Committee, now headed by Michael Brierley in Brisbane this group have decided not to support the ASBA Fleet.
Forums and social media are great places for the exchange of ideas but there is also the side where those hidden behind their keyboards without any real knowledge of what they are talking about can throw slurs and negative innuendos around. They have more time on their hands than many people like myself, running a business with multiple other projects on the go. It is a waste of time replying to them as they will always come back with a wise arse comment as they need to have the last say.
I have been on this planet for over 60 years and I don’t really give a shit about what other people, who I do not respect have to say, so I will not bother answering negative comments. I am just passionate about this great sport of sailing and have spent decades on committees and coaching to build classes.
The REO boats are optimised for the SMS rating by making use of the following observations that reduce ratings:
- Boats that are perceived to have little sail area for their length rate better. The REO boats are relatively light and therefore do not need too much sail area. They are a little sticky in light air but rate well enough to be competitive across the range pretty well.
- Deep draft is penalised. The REO boats have more form stability than all the other boats so a shorter keel is not a disadvantage.
- Mainsail area is penalised more than area in the jib so the J on REO boats is a bit longer compared to most others.
- The length of the retractable pole is penalised, so REO boats have a shorter pole. The Assy overlaps the jib more than other boats so there is more work to do in the gybes (jibes) but as we sail hot angles all of the time there is no other detriment to performance.
So those who do not want to compete against my boats under SMS have scampered into the Trailer Division at Airlie Beach Race Week. The boats that entered the sports boat division have now followed them.
I have done a spreadsheet analysis of how the fleet rates under CBH and have found that as you would expect, the heavier boats rate better, most between 3% to 7% better. The REO7.2 takes a bit of a hit on rating under CBH but the REO 7.7 is still pretty good as she is not that light. What does stand out also is that the bigger boats rate substantially better, Vivace coming in at more than 8% better under CBH, relatively better than most of the heavier boat that are up to 3 feet shorter. The boys from Mackay sail her well so it would be a good bet to put your money on them!
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