The preferred method of contacting HalSail is using our users' group on Google

Go to the HalSail User Group. The answer to your question may already be there. If not, post a new topic and wait for a reply.

The aim is to build this group over time to be a valuable source of advice to all users.

Note that you need a Google or Gmail account to use this group.

HalSail supports any handicap scheme that uses a Time Correction Coefficient (TCC) (sometimes called a Time Correction Factor) to convert elapsed times into corrected times. Such schemes are often known as time-on-time handicapping. The only difference between them is the degree of precision in the numbers and way they are displayed.

In the majority of cases (e.g. IRC and ORC) the handicap is displayed as a number given to 3 decimal places (e.g. 0.965). In that case the faster the boat the higher the number.

In some cases the handicap is given as a reciprocal, so that the faster the boat the lower the number. For instance in the RYA's Portsmouth Yardstick scheme and in its YTC scheme the handicap is given as 1000/TCC, so that a boat with a number of 1050 has a TCC of 0.952

In other cases, for instance in CYCA, the handicap is given as the number of minutes allowed per hour sailed.

The following handicap schemes are commonly used in HalSail. The ones in red are progressive schemes, sometimes known as golf schemes, where the handicap of each boat is modified after each race, depending on its performance.

In addition there is a generic scheme:

Note that you can give a local name to any of the above schemes when you apply it to a particular racing class (fleet). You might have a class that sails under PY numbers that you have modified to suit your own conditions and call the scheme "Club Handicaps", for instance.

HalSail is not free. The cost of developing the app and running our server has to be recouped somehow.

The cost of using HalSail is £80.00 (pounds sterling) per year, or for those clubs in the European Union €95.00, or for those clubs in the US $100.00. These prices will increase from 01 March 2025 to £100.00, €120.00 ane $130.00.

There is a free introductory period of 45 days, during which you can use the full capabilities of the app, except that you cannot download a backup file of your data or upload to the archive service. You will be limited to a maximum of 200 individual results during the introductory period.

At the end of your free introductory period you will be asked to pay a subscription. You can pay online with a credit or debit card via Stripe, our online payment partner, or we can send you an invoice to pay by bank transfer or cheque.

If you pay for a subscription, your data will be kept and will be available as long as you maintain your payments. If you subsequently let your subscription lapse, your data will be kept for 180 days from the date of lapse.

If you do not pay for a subscription at the end of your free introductory period, your account will be removed and your data deleted after 30 days.

Scan this QR code with the camera on your device.

Once you have HalSail visible on your device, do the following:

On an iPhone or iPad

• Click the share button (box with an up arrow)
• Scroll down and click add to home page

On an Android phone or tablet

• Click the menu icon (three dots in upper right corner)
• Click add to home screen

HalSail takes the protection of your data very seriously. It stores its data in the UK and is careful to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulations. To that end it only collects the minimum amount of information needed to compute and display your sailing results.

The EU has agreed that the UK General Data Protection Regulations are adequate to meet their General Data Protection Regulations. Details of the agreement are on the EU website and on the UK Information Commissioner's website .

The personal data HalSail can collect and store is:

• The name and email address of each registered user. Registered users are those people who can log into an account on HalSail. HalSail does not collect personal data when anybody looks at results without logging in.
• The name of the owner, helm and crew of each boat, if that information has been entered by a registered user. Note that none of these is essential to compute results, but storing and displaying them makes the results more meaningful.
• The email address and telephone number through which a boat can be contacted, if that information has been entered by a registered user. This is not displayed to anybody who browses HalSail without logging in, but it is available to registered users for boats in their own account.

In each case, HalSail provides the mechanism by which the personal data is collected, processed, stored and displayed. HalSail does not decide whose data is stored. That is up to the registered users of HalSail.

HalSail stores your data on computers in the UK. It does not pass your data to third parties, except by displaying results containing the names of owners, helms and crews of boats.

As a user of HalSail you have the following rights:

• The right to see any data about yourself.
• The right to correct anything that is wrong.
• The right to have your data deleted.

To exercise any of the above rights, in the first instance you should contact the registered user who put your data into HalSail.

If you do not know who put your data into HalSail, you can apply to HalSail for that information by sending a message through our enquiry form.