kSail - kSail KnowHow , Event Management

Scoring a Team Race - RRS D3

Wed, 28 Nov 2018 02:12:58 +0000

The rules that govern how to score each individual Team Race is given in the Racing Rules of sailing Appendix D - specifically Rule D3.1. The following provides some basic interpretation as to what each section of D3.1 actually means for whoever is scoring your racing.

D3.1 (a)Each boat finishing a race shall be scored points equal to her finishing place. All other boats shall be scored points equal to the number of boats entitled to race. A boat that does not start or does not finish will be scored as the number of boats entitled to race.
e.g. in 3 v 3 any boat not finishing the race is scored 6 points. Unlike in fleet racing, there is no +1; for example, a boat which fails to finish after a capsize would be scored 6 points and not 7 points were it a fleet race.

D3.1 (b)When a boat is scored OCS, 10 points shall be added to her score unless she retired as soon as possible after the starting signal.
This is probably the scoring rule that creates the most confusion. 10 points is added to any boat that is over the start line and does not return, eg if a boat finished third but was OCS it will be scored 13 points.
Another big difference from fleet racing is that other boats do not have their scores adjusted – for example if a team win 1,2,3 but the boat in third was OCS they would be scored 1,2,13 = 16 points and the opponents will be scored 4,5,6 = 15 points
The start boat needs to record which boat (e.g. boat 5) was over the line so that the results are accurately recorded. Similarly, at the finish the order in which every boat crosses the line needs to be recorded, regardless of whether they were OCS or not.
D3.1 (c)When a boat fails to take a penalty imposed by an umpire at or near the finishing line, she shall be scored points for last place and other scores shall be adjusted accordingly.
This quite frequently happens when a boat is penalised around the finish. It is worth noting that it is a situation dealt with specifically in a rule; again however even if this rule applies, the boat would still (in 3v3) be scored 6 points.
D3.1 (d)When a protest committee decides that a boat that is a party to a protest hearing has broken a rule and is not exonerated:
1. If the boat has not taken a penalty, 6 points shall be added to her score;
2. If the boat’s team has gained an advantage despite any penalty taken or imposed, the boat’s score may be increased;
3. When the boat has broken rule 1 or 2, rule 14 when she has caused damage or injury, or a rule when not racing, half or more race wins may be deducted from her team, or no penalty may be imposed. Race wins deducted shall not be awarded to any other team.
These penalties can only be given by a protest committee – scorers should liase with the chair of the protest committee (or the chief umpire) to confirm if any penalties have been awarded.
If you are using HLS and some other formats; the scoring for this may be changed by the sailing instructions. When using HLS for example, a ‘wins’ penalty this is changed to be both a wins & points penalty.

D3.2 When all boats on one team have finished, retired or failed to start, the other team’s boats racing at that time shall be scored the points they would have received had they finished.
If a team is very behind, they can be scored 4,5,6 without having to sail the course. This means changeovers can be sped up.
D3.3 The team with the lower total points wins the race. If the totals are equal, the team that does not have first place wins.
The last sentence deals with race ties and is very important for 2 and 4 boat team racing where the total points available mean that ties frequently happen. In 2v2; while the rule is worded to count against the boat that has first; the more colloquial "last boat loses" is often an easier way to explain. Unfortunately it is not quite so straight forward in 4v4!

Scoring a Team Race - OCS

Mon, 19 Feb 2018 02:57:24 +0000

Everyone knows that in a team race, the boat in 1st gets 1 point, the boat in 2nd gets 2 points, (etc.) and the team with the fewest points wins.

However, what happens to boats that are OCS, do not start or retire? Looking at the rule book you will find:

D3.1 (a) Each boat finishing a race shall be scored points equal to her finishing place. All other boats shall be scored points equal to the number of boats entitled to race.

D3.1 (b)When a boat is scored OCS, 10 points shall be added to her score unless she retired as soon as possible after the starting signal.

Therefore, in 3 boat team racing: If a boat doesn't start, retires during the race, or fails to finish correctly they are scored 6 points.

If a boat is OCS and does not return, they are given their finishing position and 10 points is added to their score.

It is worth noting that this is different from what you would do in fleet racing which does sometimes create confusion for those who are new to team racing.

How Many Teams? How Many Flights?

Mon, 30 Oct 2017 16:40:47 +0000

One of the things that we are regularly asked is what is the correct ratio of teams and flights when running a team racing event. There is not a perfect answer to this and every event will be slightly different depending on what the event objectives are.

For example, a group of friends who are having a fun series of races between themselves will want to try and get as much racing in but won't mind everyone having a break to add to the social part of the day. At a larger event where making the most of the time available to run as many races as possible, there needs to be consideration for giving teams chance to come ashore for breaks as well as how to keep starts going without having to wait for teams to finish previous races.

Generally, in anything other than a 1 flight event, the rule of thumb should be that teams appreciate between 30% and 60% of their time afloat.

This ratio is calculated by dividing how many teams will be sailing at any one time by the number of teams at the event. Eg. at a 3 Flight Event with 12 teams; 6 Teams will be sailing in boats at any one time. 6/12 gives 50% sailing time. In larger events, once teams start being afloat for more than 50% of time, the delays caused by slow changeovers can mean that there is not enough time ashore and therefore working to slightly lower ratios can work better.

Should an event be planned such that teams will spend less than 30% of their time afloat racing; sailors will begin to feel that they are spending significantly extended periods ashore and may feel that they are not getting value for money from their entry fee. As a general principle, 1 Flight of boats provides entry capacity for up to 6 Teams; therefore with 3 flights, there should be a maximum of 18 teams to ensure everyone gets a good event.

The following table aims to highlight what generally can work for different numbers of teams and flights. The traffic light colours are a general indication of what can work well and what ratio's can cause problems! As always, if you think you want to know more or are unsure exactly how to achieve the best for your event please ask!

No Teams	1 Flight	2 Flights	3 Flights	4 Flights	5 Flights
2	100%	-	-	-	-
3	67%	-	-	-	-
4	50%	100%	-	-	-
5	40%	80%	-	-	-
6	33%	67%	100%	-	-
7	29%	57%	86%	-	-
8	25%	50%	75%	100%	-
9	-	44%	67%	89%	-
10	-	40%	60%	80%	100%
11	-	36%	55%	73%	91%
12	-	33%	50%	67%	83%
13	-	31%	46%	62%	77%
14	-	29%	43%	57%	71%
15	-	27%	40%	53%	67%
16	-	25%	38%	50%	63%
17	-	-	35%	47%	59%
18	-	-	33%	44%	56%
19	-	-	32%	42%	53%
20	-	-	30%	40%	50%
21	-	-	29%	38%	48%
22	-	-	27%	36%	45%
23	-	-	26%	35%	43%
24	-	-	25%	33%	42%
25	-	-	-	32%	40%
26	-	-	-	31%	38%
27	-	-	-	30%	37%
28	-	-	-	29%	36%
29	-	-	-	28%	34%
30	-	-	-	27%	33%