Handicapping and Results explained

Each week I will be putting up the results from the previous weeks. Sometimes if there is time I will be able to do them on the day but with 3 boats to unrig it becomes unworkable to do on the day!!!!

For each race there will be 2 sets of results - Scratch and Handicap.

Scratch

The scratch results are slightly different this year in that they are done by division rather than class. This is because we have a Tasar, which needs a group to compete with. I have put it in with the 125’s to boost the numbers. This now means that I can apply a Yardstick to make the scratch results meaningful across the division.

Ths divisions I have set up are:

1.      Sabres

2.      125’s and Tasars and NS14

3.      Herons

4.      Holdfast Trainers

So look for your division rather than the class.

Handicap

After the scratch results have been calculated I then apply the handicaps for the race. This is an area where most confusion reigns, and I will attempt to explain the various terms.

So if we consider a race with 9 boats in it and look at 3 of them. In this race the fastest boat finishes in 70 mins, the 3^rd boat in 80 mins and the 6^th boat in 100 mins.

Example 1

The boat that came 6^th has a handicap of 0.9 and an elapsed time of 100 mins. We calculate that the Corrected time is now 90 mins (100 x 0.9) and a handicap position can be given for the race.

The other task is to try and adjust the handicap for the next race. For this we look at the reference boat (the boat which came 3^rd out of 9, with a time of 80 mins), and see what handicap we would have to have given to get to this reference boats time. This is the Back Calculated Handicap and in this case is 0.8 (100mins X 0.8 = 80 mins). So the Allocated HC is 0.9 and the Back Calculated HC is 0.8. We therefore adjust the Handicap by ¼ of the difference (1/4 of 0.1 =0.025). This is the Calculated HC and in this case is 0.9-0.025 =0.875. This is now the AHC for the next race.

Example 2

The boat that came 1^st has a handicap of 0.9 and an elapsed time of 70 mins. We calculate that the Corrected time is now 63 mins and a handicap position can be given for the race.

The other task is to try and adjust the handicap for the next race. For this we look at the reference boat (the boat which came 3^rd out of 9, with a time of 80 mins), and see what handicap we would have to have given to get to this reference boats time. This is the Back Calculated Handicap and in this case is 1.143 (70mins X 1.143 = 80 mins). So the Allocated HC is 0.9 and the Back Calculated HC is 1.143. We therefore adjust the Handicap by ¼ of the difference (1/4 of 0.243 =0.061). This is the Calculated HC and in this case is 0.9+0.061 =0.961. This is now the AHC for the next race. (In fact we never adjust by more than 0.04, so the AHC for next time will be 0.94 – still a significant change)

Example 3

The boat who came 3rd has a handicap of 0.9 and an elapsed time of 80 mins. This is the reference boat and does not get its handicap altered. All the other boats get altered around it.

The data is summarized on the next page.

Thank goodness the computer does all the calculations.!!!!!!!!!!!!

So from these 3 examples you can see that the reference boat does not change the HCP, boats which are slower will have their HCP lowered, and boats which are faster will have them increased. Some of the faster boats are above 1.000. They actually have time added on to the Elapsed time.

Handicaps vary across the various series ie the Navy Cup has different HCPs cf the Championship cf Series Races.

I am happy to answer any questions people have, but don’t guarantee to change your handicap!!!!