Sea Diamond #1558, a 2001 MkII is getting official PHFR racing handicap (in addition to my skillset). I have all the other ratings, but need to know the LP of a standard 140 headsail. PHFR says the ratio is 'perpendicular distance from the luff to the clew' of the headsail. Anyone? My next race is March 5 - and teh club is insisting I have PHFR rating. thanks . Doug Williams
The easiest way is to unfurl the genoa at the dock and use a tape measure. Use a large carpenter square or a piece of cardboard to get the tape perpendicular to the luff. Unless you have the actual lengths of the luff, leach and foot and use trig, measuring is the way to go.
Since our J is 13.5 feet, a 140 has an LP of 1.4 times the J, or 18.9 feet.
Here's a description of the details:
http://www.secondwindsails.com/measurement.php
(I simply Googled I J P sail measurements)
Here are the dimensions of our boats (from the tech wiki brochures)
http://www.c34.org/images/c34_88_brochure_4.jpg
One other note, a PHRF rating assumes a genoa of 155% or less. A handicap is adjusted if your largest genoa is 135% or less (your handicap is raised), or if it is 156% or more (your handicap is lowered). This means that a boat will have the same rating with a 155 genoa or a 136 genoa. Depending on you area, light or heavy winds, you may want to purchase a 155 or cut down your 140 to a 135 in the future if you find you enjoy racing and you want to get the most from your rating.
You may also want to look up other PHRF ratings for C34 MKII's in California to verify that you are assigned a competitive rating on your boat. just Google "phrf catalina 34". I had to do this for my PHRF rating since there were no othe c34 MKI tall rig boats racing on Galveston Bay. My rating was based on C34's from lake Michigan area.
Paul