Our PHRF rating in Detroit (Lake St. Clair which is also a light air area) is 138 with a one design configuration. The 138 includes a 6-second spinnaker pole penalty. We use masthead spinnakers only for one design racing and we haven't gotten a PHRF rating for racing with masthead spinnakers. Several people have expressed the opinion that we would take a 6-second hit, making our rating 132. Most of us don't think that would be an improvement. The masthead spinnaker helps mainly in windward-leeward races in light and moderate air because it allows you to sail deeper and faster. It doesn't work as well in point-to-point long distance races where you do more reaching.

Other thoughts for PHRF: A couple of our boats have #2 genoas which are helpful when the wind puts you at the top of the #1 range or when you are sailing short handed and don't have enough weight on the rail. If I were racing PHRF I would also consider getting a flat reaching spinnaker instead of an AP spinnaker if I were doing distance or other races where reaching is likely. Crew weight is also a key factor for PHRF. The class crew weight maximum is 880 which means that your ability to use the #1 effectively tops out around 14-16 knots. Sailing with more crew weight, perhaps up to 1100 pounds enables you to carry the #1 in higher windspeeds and you will find that the upwind performance of your boat is very competitive. None of these changes (#2 genoa, reaching spinnaker, more crew weight) would result in a PHRF penalty. Several years ago an Express 27 won the Long Island PHRF championship. The owner told me that he always sailed with 1000 pounds of crew weight. The only time you want to go light is in a downwind race like the one from San Francisco to Catalina Island.