Pursuit Race

A handicap race format where boats start at staggered times set by their handicap, the slowest first and the fastest last, so that on corrected time all should finish together and the first boat across the line wins on the water. It removes the post-race arithmetic of a conventional handicap fleet, since elapsed-time correction is built into the start. Clubs run pursuit races under PHRF or RYA Portsmouth Yardstick numbers, which set each boat’s delayed start in minutes and seconds.