Has anyone seen the new 2016 PY numbers yet, as I know they are normally posted at time of the boat show. Need them for the start of the sailing season.
 
Cheers, Ross

Look on the racing section of the RYA website: they were posted up on Saturday morning. 
Merlins got 2 points faster PN is now 983.
Link is 
Www.rya.org.uk/racing/Pages/portsmouthyardstick.aspx

 Yes, we were having a chat about them on Sunday morning at the DS. Interesting as we see some classes producing better results such as the Merlin. Is this due to better competition, greater depth of modern Merlins, windy season or other factor.
 
Over time we'll see the numbers trend in a general direction with blips. A great example is in the the skiff world as a number of classes rarely come up against symetric fleets club racing and rely on open events to drive numbers. Examples are the 49er, B14, MPS and RS800. In real terms the MPS/B14 are the same speed with conditions/course dictating who wins if boat/sailor(s) of the same skill set, yet the MPS is 847 and B14 872. Under the Great Lakes both raced off 855 with wins shared between both fleets. The RS 800 has also gone down a bit to 812 but in light airs on open water with little traffic (it has the taller rig), the B14 and MPS give it a run for its money, even beating them sometimes.
 
Merlins, it would be interesting if Bas Edmonds also got an indication of the Merlin hull numbers when applying the returns into the spreadsheet. It would be an opportunity to get a more accurate account of what is happening in the Merlin World
 
I for one know that when we go up against the MPSs and beat them over the water, it will happen this season, there will be some very peaved people if they are racing us on handicap, and rightly so as their handicap puts them in an impossible position. Sure there are other examples of this, but where you get 2 such evenly matched fleets taking each fleets top 10 TT boats, it does make you wonder  
 
With the B14s back on the GJW series etc this winter, we're bound to see a major hit on the class numbers down to around 855 - 857. Shall be interesting to see what happens with the MPS as well 
 
Merlins, a great opprotunity to get some accurate data, though the higher skil set sailors ussually tend to be driving the later models unless racing on the Thames. One can be sure that there will be some classes moaning about others handicaps. Upside is the system is much better than it  used to be years ago. Best bench mark is the Firefly and Laser as they have never changed 

Not sure about the Firefly but the Laser handicap has increased over the last few years ie its got slower!

Cheers Richard