Results are more related to wind strength and consistency of wind on any day where the majority can play (ie weekends). So thats pretty random between locations, and although you will see the more dedicated teams toward the top, imposing a handicap system would actually increase the weighting of conditions from a previous season which as we know can vary. eg clayton channel?
Take the SRM for example- theres been very little wind here this year so we are unlikely to repeat our efforts of previous seasons. Apply your handicap for next year and the wind comes back, what happens to our scores then??? Would make it an unfairly biased contest and pretty much write off a year for others who might have had good wind this year. Once written off it would be a benefit to not post so that the next season they have a good chance of winning. Maybe more and more rules...
I say stuff the handicap and keep the discards. The discards are good for when there really isnt any wind to go sailing. Which is a reality in Australia. Although this year the placings would not have changed (as they stand) the difference in points is significant, and there are still 2 months to go. So its not done and dusted just yet.
I dont think the discards have caused any problems. Our friends over in Holland have access to conditions we dont. So they are playing a different game somewhere else. And there are other teams over there that can choose to compete on that turf. Its interesting to see the speeds achieved over there, but I can easily see that on GP3S.
I'm more interested in the immediate challenge from a local perspective- to push and be pushed by the teams sailing where I am sailing. I still consider interstate "reasonably local" 
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PS: if you really want to introduce a handicap, the daily results have to be weighted by well known mechanisms/parameters that directly influence the raw speeds, not the just the speeds themselves. If you base the handicap on results alone, you actually increase the influence of the random variables. We know the strongest influences on the output results are wind strength/consistency, and chop- which have a lot of variability between seasons. If these can be factored into a day weighting, then the annual result will more closely reflect skill and opportunity for each team. Which would make an overall handicap more applicable. Heres an idea- day weighting based on sail size, board size, and body weight... now we're getting tricky...
Good Points slowey, thats why we need a lot of brains to make the right decisions
Thanks for that Slowey and Elmo, both raise good points.
If we are to change the scoring, it absolutely MUST conform to the following:
1) Be easy for a human to figure out -- very important so that mistakes aren't made in the algorithm and it's double checked properly
2) Create a competition that is close, but still rewards individual efforts.
If we can conform to both of these then I'm happy to code up any scheme you can think of 
Discards or not I don't feel strongly about. Probably a good idea because many areas go months with very little wind.
I do feel strongly about PB's being counted. A month playing for the ashes was the most fun I've had sailing in the GPS comp because there was a chance my effort would count. It also made me try harder.
There are professional/ semiprofessional teams but there are also ninjas and newbies in each team and if you're a newbie in a team with lots of ninjas your results never count, and if you're a lady it's likely they never will. Counting PB's changes that.
