[nl]

Of course it[1] is gameable. Yachts are designed specifically to perform well under it.

Nevertheless its a reasonable rule system, that tends to produce mostly decent boats. Its quite impressive that a yacht from the 20's can be competitive under it.

Incidentally, handicap racing is quite normal in yachting. However, most races have a separate 'outright' division, and depending on the race that often attracts more attention

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Measurement_Syste... is the most common system.