Cumberland Numbers

Cumberland Number Handicapping is the method of handicapping used when the Cumberland Fleet - as disparate as it is distinguished - gathers together and wishes to race. Each yacht is allocated a Cumber­land Number, usually by the Club's Chief Sailing Officer who normally operates the system, and this is used to assess its performance in the race relative to the others. Cumberland Numbering and the Cum­berland Handicapping is unashamedly and with gratitude and due acknowledgement based on the Port­smouth Handicapping system originally devised by that great contributor to the enjoyment of our pastime Sinbad Zilwood Milledge, to whom thanks are eternally due and to whose memory every Cumberland Numbering calculation is respectfully dedicated. Cumberland Numbers are subjective, ad hoc assessments of a yacht's potential speed. They are derived using any and all known information about the boat, including previous performance in Royal Thames or other races, Island Sailing Club Handicaps (as used in Round the Island Race), out-of-date CHS or IRC numbers, Portsmouth Numbers and a rough-and-ready assessment of main dimensions, hull form, sail plan and sail areas. They are not an objective rating, nor are they intended to be a substitute for a rating. Their process of derivation is empiric. Previous form is considered. They are intended only as an attempt to give some sort of common denominator between disparate yachts that do not normally race.

Cumberland Numbers are expressed as a Time Correction Multiplier, by which the Elapsed Time for the yacht to complete the course is multiplied to obtain the Corrected Time. The yacht with the lowest Cor­rected Time wins the race.  Typically, Cumberland Numbers range from about 0.7500 for Peter Methven's lovely and elderly West Solent Restricted  through 1.000 (a Sigma 33 is 1.0498) to 1.5 for a Farr 52 racer. A yacht new to the fleet will be allocated a number that, in the opinion of the Chief Sailing Officer and at his sole discretion, will place it on a par with yachts already in the fleet of similar size or design whose performance is known. Although not a Golden Rule, yachts rarely win a Cumberland Fleet race at their first outing. The Chief Sailing Officer will be pleased to relate a long and rambling anecdote from his days of smack racing on the East Coast as to why this should be so, and why it is entirely fair. Cumberland Numbers are adjusted once the make-up of the fleet is known in an attempt to level the more obvious differences in the boats that will be racing. For the sake of good order and disci­pline, the Cumberland Numbers to be used for a given race are never divulged until the race has finished. Although the system may appear apparently ad hoc or indeed random experience over the past decade has consistently shown that Cumberland Fleet races are usually won by the yacht that has best sailed the course paying attention to sail trim and navigation. Owners with concerns about the fairness or otherwise of their handicap are strongly recommend­ed to relax and enjoy the sailing.