U.S Sailing VPP sailrater program

[capnjim02]

The other day I posted an article re; putting an asym spin pole on an O''Day 30.
One of my big questions has gone unanswered.
HAS ANYONE USED THE VPP PROGRAM AND HOW ACCURATE DID THEY FIND THE RESULTS TO BE.

[paulk]

Used target speeds while racing earlier this season on a friend''s boat. They seemed a bit high for us upwind, but did provide a theoretical goal for us to work towards, helping to egg the crew on for go-faster ideas and keeping the helmsman focused on boatspeed. Each set of polars is going to be more or less correct for each different boat at each different wind speed and each different heading. There are so many variables - actual wind strength, bottom growth, sea state, condition of sails, to name just a few. What the US Sailing polars do is provide at least a starting point to work from (or towards). What every boat owner should actually do is prepare his own set of polars for his particular boat and crew, but doing this would take a lot of time and effort. Using the theoretical VPP''s provides a useful benchmark that can be taken with a grain or two of salt if experience shows they''re needed.