Power-Assisted Sailing - the Slippery Slope

[BobJ]

I disagree with your recharacterization of the issue (you like to do that). Most skippers (who currently race) are concerned with having a fair competition. We recognize this is PHRF with its issues, but skippers have agreed to race under this rating system and want to feel like the boats are reasonably rated against each other. So if a boat with powered sail handling systems is able to point higher, round the marks more crisply, etc. then a rating adjustment for those systems may be appropriate. If they merely allow a skipper to get back out there and keep racing, that doesn't take anything away from the rest of the skippers.

Scott is willing to risk his own capital and has the skills to innovate in this area, enabling some to keep racing. You want to throw his efforts under the bus because it doesn't seem "enough like sailing a boat" to you?
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