A General Purpose Handicap specific to CRF (CRF GPH ) rating is now shown on CRF 2024 certificates. The CRF GPH is a prediction of how fast a boat should sail around a 1 mile course whose content consists of 1/3 VMG upwind, 1/3 VMG downwind, and 1/3 reaching, in a wind range of 8-12 kts. This prediction can be a huge help to race organizers and officers in deciding on appropriate class breaks and course lengths. For the sailor, it can be helpful in estimating when his boat may finish a race.
A Time Correction Factor (TCF) is also now shown on CRF 2024 certificates to facilitate Time on Time (ToT) handicapping for some OA's that might chose to use it. As a reminder, the familiar ratings that are still shown on CRF 2024 certificates are used for Time on Distance (ToD) scoring, and they reflect the time that it takes for rated boats to sail a given distance in certain conditions. ToT scoring is quite different, in that instead of handicaps targeting the distance sailed as in ToD, the ToT scoring is based on the time taken for each boat to complete the course. CRF converts its ToD ratings (expressed in seconds/mile) to the Time Correction Factors (TCF's) used for Time on Time scoring via the following formula: TCF=600/(CRF+535), OR TCF=600/(CRF GPH).
There is no one answer as to whether ToD or ToT scoring is preferable. Most would agree that ToD is simpler, that it makes it much easier to monitor time allowances while on the race course, and it is more directly connected with the actual science of yacht performance predictions. At the same time, CRF is a single number rating system, and ToT scoring can give better results when the course content and/or wind conditions are well outside the rule targets, or when the conditions are unusually unsteady. With all this in mind, adding TCF's for ToT scoring to the CRF certificate gives race organizers another tool for them to use in making informed choices that suit their own courses and conditions, as well as the preferences of their participants.