Class Rules and Ratings Systems

Class Rules

The Class Rules specify the boat and how it is used; certification and administration as well as the crew and any personal equipment that may be carried.

These are read in conjunction with the Equipment Rules of Sailing (ERS) which provide more general governance of the equipment used in the sport. The rules are revised and published every four years by World Sailing.

It is the responsibility of the World Sailing Class Association to manage their Class Rules.

All classes, especially those applying for status, are encouraged to use the World Sailing Standard Class Rules template when writing their rules. The Class Rules are published on the relevant Class page.

Ratings Systems

Handicap racing is the generic term used to describe races in which boats (either dinghies or yachts) of different speeds compete against each other and, thorough subsequent mathematical calculation, their true positions in the race attributable to the skill of the crew is determined by negating the physical speed effects of the boats.

These determinations of which crew beat which are calculated by correcting the actual time it took each boat to complete the race by a numerical measure of the boat speed – its handicap.

Handicaps come in two general types:

• Ratings, in which a numerical measure of a boat’s speed is determined by calculation using physical parameters of the boat – length, beam, displacement (weight), sail area etc. A Rating is wholly objective as it addresses the performance of just the boat.
• Empirical Handicaps, (commonly referred to as simply ‘handicap’), in which a numerical measure of a boat’s speed is based on the past performance of the boat in previous races. An Empirical Handicap is thus a measure of the performance of both the boat and the crew.