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September 10-12, 2010 |
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Newport Bucket: Bucket Rating Rule
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The Bucket Rating Rule Has Gone Global!!!
After six years of development and refinement, Jim Teeters’ VPP based Bucket Rating Rule has been adopted by the Superyacht Regattas in Antigua and Palma, Mallorca as the standard for all pursuit racing. Beginning with the 2008 Antigua Superyacht Regatta this December, all Bucket and Superyacht Regattas will be rated by the same Rule, and by the same team, managed by Jim Teeters of US Sailing.
The net result to the participants should streamline the application process and bring parity to the Regatta results. With nearly a hundred yachts already in the system, the Bucket Rule has truly hit its stride.
With this globalization in mind, we encourage all Owners and Captains to review your application information. These are the inputs from which we create your yacht’s individual Velocity Prediction Program, which is further refined by on-water observation of actual results. If your yacht is observed to be well sailed, but the results fail to provide the earned rewards, we will use the observed results to modify your original design inputs, i.e. adding or subtracting effective sail area, modifying displacement, center of gravity, or other inputs, to bring the calculated performance in line with the actual on water performance. Basically, we are replacing an exhaustive measurement process - in and out of water - which would be extremely costly with regard to time and labor, with performance observation applied in VPP analysis terms.
The Bucket Rule will be updated on an annual basis. An original Velocity Prediction Program and rating will cost €400. After the first year, there will be an annual rating fee of €100, for any year in which the yacht will participate in a Bucket or Superyacht Regatta. Any changes to the yacht which affect performance (new sails, propellers, spars, etc.) will call for a VPP review and modification at €250. For yachts sailing only in the Newport Bucket, the fees will be charged in US$, not Euros €.
In sum, we are implementing a rating rule for Superyachts of widely dissimilar design, which thoroughly considers each yacht’s potential for sailing upwind, reaching and running in all wind conditions. The unique capability of the VPP format is that for every change in windspeed or wind angle, the ratings are automatically adjusted. We have had remarkable success over the past several years in bringing the most disparate designs, from 25 knot reaching sleds to comfortable displacement cruising designs, all to the finish line within seconds. We are excited to make the Bucket Rule available to the Superyacht Regattas and hope it will become the standard for all pursuit format Superyacht Racing.
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