News Sunfish Sailor Ranking System???

What a great new facility Fairhope YC has!! Thanks to all the volunteers and staff who made the US Masters this past weekend a success and worth a long drive.

While tossing down a golden nectar of the gods, I learned of a possible ranking system for Sunfish sailors in NA. The ranking system would be used to determine Worlds qualifiers.

This concerns me. How would the ranking system work? What would be the benefits vs current selection system? Would it encourage participation? Would there be bias towards certain sections of the country? How would it improve participation and competitiveness at the Worlds?

I'm a recent newcomer to the Sunfish, longtime Laser sailor. I have observed that filling NA Worlds slots for these two classes requires a much different approach. While Laser demand greatly exceeds availability, for Sunfish it seems availabilty is greater than demand, at least in the last few years. The Laser class has a Grand Prix points ranking system, but it is not the primary factor used for Worlds selection. Six major regattas with a drop down process in each is used. In 2009, the NA region has 12 slots allotted for the Laser Worlds. If all else fails in the drop down, then the Grand Prix is used. The probability of that happening is very low.

There are two major open Sunfish events a year, NA's and Midwinters. There are also Junior, Women and Masters Championships. These and the Regionals would logically be considered in a ranking system. So how would that be different than the selection process currently used? Not sure I see the need or the logic for going through all the machinations to create a ranking system.

What do you think?
 
Hi David-
You are correct that there is an initiative to create a ranking-like system for the Sunfish Class. However, at this time there is no plan to use the system to qualify members of the US Class for the World Championship.

The soon to be published Fall 2008 Windward Leg contains an announcement of a committee that was recently formed to research potential systems (algorithms) and make a recommendation of a system to the class. The committee is made up of Clinton Edwards (chair), Richard Whitehurst, Brian McGinnis and John Skrzypiec. In early 2009, the committee will present a recommendation to the class for a system. This recommendation will be discussed and voted on.

The truth is that a Sunfish ranking system is not a new idea. It was originally discussed in the Summer of 1996 Windward Leg by Brian Weeks, who was USSCA President at the time. More recently US Sailing asked the Sunfish class for a ranking of its class members after the boat was selected for the 2008 US Sailing Championship events. Fortunately, this ranking was never needed or used to fill vacant spots in either championship.

The US Sailing Championships were the original catalyst that caused the class to recognize the need for a system. So, one objective of the system is to fill that void. At this point, there are no other definitive planned uses for the system. However, there are obviously several potential uses that might be considered in the future, like promoting participation in a similar manner as the Laser North American Grand Prix.

So, at this time the ranking is nothing more than an idea that the class has the intention of developing. Obviously, with any system there will be debate about its accuracy and fairness. I trust that the committee will do their best to find a fair solution for the class.

Thank you for the interest in this initiative.
Derek Jackson
US Sunfish Class President
 
Derek

Thanks for your clarification. Anything that gets more participation is good. I just don't think we need to get into some complex system trying to "weight" results in different regattas due to considerations of depth of competition.

See ya in Cabarete!!
 

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