Echo and nhc are similar.
Both start with a base number but that from the Rya is free.
Rya set the parameters so you do not have to make a subjective input.
I looked for detail on echo but could find little published my view was that that published was behind actual use.
For echo you will be encouraged to use sail 100 to score but otherwise you can use saileave. Sailwave will if you ask score echo I believe.
I think nch would be good.
Mike Butterfield gbr iu ij iro
···
Sent from my Windows Phone
From:
patrick.blaney@phblaney.com [sailwave]
Sent:
17/02/2015 17:34
Subject:
[sailwave] Which handicap system is best (ECHO or NHC) for Cruiser Racing Fleet?
I have been running results at a small cruiser racing club for the past 2 years using ECHO handicapping ( we are in Ireland).
While I can see that there are many parameters that you can adjust in ECHO, I see that in NHC many of those choices are effectively made for you.
The characteristics of our racing are that we have a small fleet (10 to 18 boats) which race regularly over a 22 weekly race season (typical race is 2 to 3 hours - 12 miles) broken into 4 series of 5 races, plus 2 longer races (5 to 6 hours) about
25 miles at which far more boats (upwards of 50) compete. On any given race day, there will be a wide variety of boats competing (so the active fleet is inconsistent in its composition), with widely differing crew capabilities (the same boat in 2 races may
compete with quite different crews) and in widely differing winds (so the results for 1 boat might be all light winds and for another all heavy winds). So it is inherently difficult to get any consistency. Looking at results after the fact, we see that races
are won more often by the irregular competitors who come out in conditions that suit their boat, and where they crew up appropriately rather than the regulars who come out all the time with often the same crew composition. Our handicapping adjustments have
been slow to penalise the better performers (relatively), especially when they don’t race regularly, probably because our weightings weren’t adjusted properly.
I would like to use NHC in 2015 as that seems to have thought through most of the issues that might impact our fleet and tries to adjust that fairly and consistently, but also reasonably progressively too. The RYA does a good job explaining (to non
mathematicians like me) what the methodology is trying to do. Is there a similar explanation available for ECHO.
My preference is to use a handicapping system that leaves the judgement out as much as possible, and so wanted the advice of this expert group as to which is better ECHO or NHC in our particular circumstances.
Thanks for your help!