[tsenator]

If I owned the boat to sail and get where I am going fast than I would want a lower number.

If I was in a PHRF sailboat race and I wanted to win I''d want my boat to have a higher number so I''d get more time on the handicap.

The number are mostly relative, but they relate to ''seconds allowed per mile". So lets say I have a 150 rating and you have a 145 rating, and lets say we are in a 3 mile race. If you are over the finish line 14 seconds before me I would win the race because I would be allowed 5 seconds a mile and at 3 miles I would get a 15 second allowance over you (you would get what they call "line honors"). If you finish 16 seconds ahead of me then you win the cup and hold the "line honors".

the numbers are relative seconds per mile, but they don''t really work out that way, because there are some "super speedster" Maxi boats that actually have ratings of 0 and negative numbers.