Scoring Systems

Four scoring systems are available. Select the system when creating the fleet; it can be changed later, but you must click Calculate on the Standings page to recompute scores after any change.

Low Point (RRS A1.1)

The standard fleet-racing scoring system. A boat's score for each race equals her finishing position — 1st place = 1 point, 2nd place = 2 points, and so on. Lowest series total wins. Penalty-code scores are assigned per the Finish Code Reference below.

Bonus Point (RRS A1.2)

Identical to Low Point except that first place scores 0.75 points instead of 1. All other positions and penalty codes score the same as Low Point.

Time-on-Time

Handicap scoring using a Time Correction Factor (TCF). Each boat's elapsed time is multiplied by its TCF to produce a corrected time. Boats are then ranked by corrected time and assigned position points as in Low Point. Corrected time = elapsed time × TCF. A lower TCF represents a faster boat receiving a larger handicap.

Time-on-Time fleets support two scoring basis modes:

• Total elapsed time (default) — the full race elapsed time is corrected by TCF. Used for IRC, ORR, and similar offshore handicap systems.
• Average lap time — each boat's corrected time is divided by the number of laps she completed, allowing boats on different lap counts to be compared fairly. Used for RYA Portsmouth Yardstick (PYS), RYA NHC, and other lap-based club handicap systems. See Average Lap Scoring below.

Time-on-Time fleets can use either a single manually-entered rating per entry or full ORC / IRC certificates where the scoring number varies by race conditions. See Entries & Ratings.

Time-on-Distance (PHRF)

Handicap scoring using a PHRF rating in seconds per nautical mile. A boat's time allowance is her rating multiplied by the course distance, and her corrected time is: elapsed time − (PHRF rating × course distance). Because the rating is already expressed in seconds, no unit conversion is applied — a boat rated 84 s/nm sailing a 10 nm course is owed 840 seconds. Boats are ranked by corrected time and scored as in Low Point. The course distance (in nautical miles) must be entered on each race record. A higher PHRF rating represents a slower boat receiving a larger handicap allowance.

Time-on-Distance fleets can also use ORC TOD certificate numbers in place of a fixed PHRF rating, allowing the allowance to vary by wind speed and course type. See Entries & Ratings.

Throwouts (Discards)

A throwout (also called a discard) allows each boat to exclude one or more of its worst race scores from the series total. Throwouts are configured on the fleet and applied automatically during score calculation.

Simple Throwouts

Enter a number in the Throwouts field and leave the per N races field blank. Every boat may discard exactly that many scores regardless of how many races have been sailed. For example, setting Throwouts = 2 always allows two discards.

Progressive Throwouts

Enter a number in both the Throwouts and the per N races fields to grant throwouts progressively as races are completed. For example, Throwouts = 2, per 5 races means:

• After 1–4 races sailed: 0 throwouts
• After 5–9 races sailed: 1 throwout
• After 10 or more races sailed: 2 throwouts

Leave the per N races field blank to always allow the full throwout count from the first race.

Non-Excludable Scores

Only DNE (Disqualification Not Excludable) cannot be used as a throwout — DNE scores always count toward the series total regardless of the throwout setting. All other finish codes, including BFD, DSQ, and UFD, are throwout-eligible. After changing throwout settings, navigate to the Standings page and click Calculate to recompute.

Average Lap Scoring (Portsmouth Yardstick / NHC)

Average lap scoring is used by UK clubs (RYA Portsmouth Yardstick, RYA NHC) and Australian club handicap racing where dinghies sail a fixed windward–leeward or short-course circuit and the number of laps completed may differ between boats in the same race. Rather than comparing total elapsed times, the system corrects each boat's average time per lap, allowing a boat that completed four laps to be scored fairly alongside boats that completed five.

Formula: Corrected time = (elapsed time × TCF) ÷ laps sailed

Boats are then ranked by corrected time and scored by position as in Low Point. This system only applies to Time-on-Time fleets. Time-on-Distance (PHRF) is distance-based and cannot be combined with average lap scoring.

Setting Up a Fleet for Average Lap Scoring

1. Create or edit the fleet. Set Scoring System to Time-on-Time.
2. Set Rating Format to match your handicap numbers:
   • TCF: enter decimal multipliers (e.g. 0.983, 1.000, 1.063). Use this if your club already publishes TCF values.
   • Portsmouth Number: enter PN or NHC numbers as published (e.g. 1017, 1000, 941). The system converts using TCF = 1000 ÷ PN. Use this for RYA PYS and NHC where numbers are listed in the RYA Portsmouth Yardstick tables or your club's NHC database. Higher PN = slower boat.
3. Set Default Scoring Basis to Average lap time (Portsmouth / NHC). All races in this fleet will use average lap scoring by default.
4. Click Save Fleet.

Per-Race Override

Each race has its own Scoring Basis field (on the race edit form, visible for Time-on-Time fleets only). Set it to Inherit from fleet default to use the fleet setting, or override to Total elapsed time for a specific race (e.g. an offshore passage race in a series that otherwise uses average lap for short-course races). This lets a mixed series use both modes without changing the fleet configuration.

Entering Ratings

On the Entries page, enter each competitor's PN or TCF in the Rating column. The column header shows "(PN)" or "(TCF)" depending on the fleet's Rating Format setting.

Common RYA Portsmouth Yardstick examples (2024 table values — verify against the current official list):

Boat Class	PN	TCF (= 1000 ÷ PN)
Laser / ILCA 7	1100	0.909
Laser Radial / ILCA 6	1147	0.872
RS400	942	1.061
RS200	1046	0.956
Mirror (single)	1380	0.725

After entering or updating ratings, click Calculate on the Standings page to recompute scores.

Recording Laps

When a race uses average lap scoring, a Laps column appears in both Bulk Entry and Detail View. Enter the number of laps sailed by each boat.

• In Bulk Entry, filling in a laps value propagates it to all subsequent blank rows — useful because most boats will sail the same number of laps as the leader.
• Boats with a penalty code (DNF, DNS, etc.) do not need a laps value — penalty codes score N+1 regardless of elapsed time or laps.
• A finish with elapsed time but no laps value is excluded from the corrected-time calculation (same as a finish without elapsed time). The boat will not receive a score for that race until laps are entered.

How Scoring Works

1. For each finish with elapsed time and laps, the system computes: corrected time = (elapsed × TCF) ÷ laps.
2. Finishes are sorted by corrected time (lowest = 1st).
3. Position-based points are assigned: 1st = 1 pt, 2nd = 2 pts, etc.
4. Penalty codes score N+1 (or N+2 for DNC) as in all other modes.
5. TLE, AVG, throwouts, and A5.3 all work exactly as described elsewhere — average lap scoring only changes how corrected time is derived.

Compatibility with Sailwave

Sailwave's equivalent is its "Number of Laps" column combined with "Corrected Time = Elapsed × 1000 / (PN × Laps)" formula. If importing results from Sailwave, verify that TCF values entered here match Sailwave's exported PN-derived corrected times. Small rounding differences (centiseconds vs whole seconds) may cause minor position differences when boats are very close.