[Rhodes22-list] NC-PHRF appeal

Wed Apr 20 19:56:34 EDT 2005

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