HLSTC Race and Series Scoring

Appendix A of the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) deals with scoring.
We follow the Low Point Scoring system set out in RRS A4.1.

Series scoring

The winning boat in a race is scored 1, the second 2, and so on, and special scores are allocated to boats that did not achieve a normal finish (as detailed in Race Scoring Codes below).

To find a boat's position in a complete series, we discard a number of its scores, working up from the worst, and total up the rest. (The "discards" are shown in brackets/parenthesis in the results table.) The boat with the lowest "nett" score is the series winner. The number of scores discarded is set for each series, and is usually just under half of the number of races in the series.

(If you want to find out more details, such as the handling of ties, etc., please have a look at the RRS.)

Race Scoring Codes

If a boat finishes a race normally, the score sheet shows simply its finishing position. In other cases, we show a code, and the points corresponding to that code, as follows:

Appendix A codes (RRS A11):

DNC Did Not Come to the starting area (in our case usually meaning did not sail on that day)

DNS Did Not Start. The boat came to the starting area, but did not start in the race.

OCS On Course Side. The boat was over the line at the starting signal, and did not make a proper correction of the error.

DNF Did Not Finish. Covers the case where the boat started properly, but did not finish, usually either running out of time, or not sailing the correct course.

RET (we also use RTD) Retired. Covers a variety of cases, including damage or mechanical failure, accepting responsibility for breach of a rule, or simple disinclination to continue.

DSQ Disqualification. Rare, and usually applied after a protest hearing.

For DNS, OCS, DNF, RET and DSQ, we follow Appendix A in awarding a score of one more than the number of boats that came to the start area in the actual race.

For DNC, Appendix A prescribes a score based on the total number of boats competing in a series, but we apply a lesser score. In most series we see a fair number of one-off entries, which means that the total number of entrants is far higher than the realistic size of the fleet. So we award a score equal to the largest number competing in any single race of the series, plus two.

HLSTC special codes

RO Race Officer.
OOD Officer of the Day.

This member was acting as Race Officer or Officer of the Day. These scores are intended to ensure that a member is not disadvantaged by taking on RO/OOD duties. They are under review, but are currently based on the average of the member's scores (excluding DNCs) for other races in the series, and are adjusted retrospectively as the average changes over the series. If the member has no other scores at the time of the duty, the score initially defaults to the number of boats in the race; but is adjusted as soon as the competitor obtains a score in a subsequent race.

If a member undertakes more than three duties in the course of a series, subsequent duties are recorded as XRO or XOD (-- eXcluded), and are scored the same as DNC. This is to avoid undue distortion of series totals.

CRW Crew. At most clubs, an entry to a series is made by a named helm in a specific boat, usually with a regular crew (except for single-handers, of course), and scores apply to the outfit as a whole. At HLSTC, we permit/encourage casual partnerships for individual races in a series, and this is particularly valuable where an experienced member crews and coaches someone with less experience. So as not to disadvantage the experienced helm we award an explicit score for acting as crew, and for consistency we do the same for anybody crewing. The score is equal to the average of the member's non-discarded scores in the same series.