The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages of each class of boats, so that results reflect crew skill rather than equipment superiority.
If a class of yachts is strongly outperforming their assigned rating, the PHRF committee of a region can adjust the handicap as they see appropriate.
This prevents classes of yacht within a region from obtaining mistakenly favorable PHRF ratings and compromising the competitive nature of a fleet.
The process of determining the PHRF for an individual boat begins with the regional PHRF rating, then adjustments are made for the individual attributes of the boat such as: modifications to the rig, the size of the largest foresail (jib or genoa), the size of the spinnakers, type of keel (full, fin, wing etc.
PHRF shares this flaw with all sail racing rating systems, as those utilizing mathematical computation models also assume shapes are perfect, as designed - not worn, dirty, blown out, sagging, or deliberately altered.
PHRF is often viewed as political since the empirically based calculations are adjusted by historical performance, and rating values can be challenged to a committee of judges.
The perception of it being political is based largely upon the requirement to follow a formal dispute process, which many find intimidating and creates a bias to those willing to put in the effort to present their case.
PHRF does not address these differences, which can especially have an impact in races run over a distance, without variety in points of sail and occur within a time period where weather and sea conditions do not change.
To mitigate this, as with other rating systems, PHRF suggests that race organizers assign boats with similar design in their fleet divisions.
While the PHRF dispute process was argued to favor only those willing to pursue it; there is a regional and a national appeal mechanism to question the validity of a rating.