Handicap Racing - by Ben Morris
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What do you do in a club when performance of RC yachts and
sailors vary so much that running races ends in a string of yachts finishing
he races in a predictable order - always the same ones at the front and
always the same at the rear? The answer lies in handicap racing.
There are two main ways this can be achieved
-
By timing all of the yachts and applying a correction
factor like full sized yachts
-
By having a staggered start so slower yachts start first
and faster ones later.
As RC yacht racing already uses a timed start using a CD or
similar, it makes sense to use a staggered start with a modified starting
sequence. This has three additional benefits
-
If handicapped
well, the yachts should all finish close to each other adding to the
excitement.
-
There is no added complication of timing and recording
finishes separately as the results are simply based on the finishing
positions.
-
In addition, there is a fair chance that yachts that never
finish first in scratch racing will have the thrill of 'getting the gun'.
Complaints about handicapping and handicappers are common in
most systems so it is important that personal feelings about how a yacht
should or should not perform must not colour the handicap. In full
sizes yachting a system of 'back corrected handicaps' can deal with this
issue where the handicap in the next race is determined by how well they
went in the current race and previous ones. Again, as we have many races and don't want a
lot of calculation to do, I have devised a much simpler system whereby only
the first few finishing yachts and the last few finishing yachts have their
handicaps changed.
How does it work? The starting CD consists of a series
starts or divisions separated by a fixed time interval. I currently
use a difference of 30s for calm days and 20s for days with more consistent
wind. The CD may contain as many starting divisions as is needed but I use 9.
The CD prompts yachts in division 1 to start then 30 s later division 2
to start etc. yachts not currently starting are asked to keep clear.
Some initial 'seeding' of the yachts is required and this can be done
by estimation based on past performance (if available) or simply letting all yachts start
in
division 5 and working from there.
A magnetic board or paper system is used to reset handicaps
after each race. Each yacht/skipper has a magnetic strip on a board
alongside a list of starting divisions. For a fleet of 10 or so yachts
the first three finishing yacht are set to a later start - e.g. division 6
while the last three finishers are set to an earlier start - e.g. division
4. By continuing this process the fleet will soon be spread over a
range of starting divisions and the system will begin to deliver a variety
of winners and giving everyone a chance to experience success. If the
fleet is much smaller than 10 then I would only alter the handicap of the
first and last two yachts whereas if a larger fleet is sailing then up to 4
places are altered. Other than recording the finishing places, it only
requires a RO to shift a magnetic strip up or down one division and then for
each sailor to be made aware of their new starting division for the next
race.
The effect of the
system can be readily seen by comparing a handicap set of results with those
of a Club championship (scratch) race. In particular look at the range
of values in the column 'Score' and which yacht recorded a win in the two
series. It is very popular in our club and there has been a call to
use it more regularly. Currently we have a handicap race once a month.
The system favours those yachts who sail most consistently
|
Stirling Marblehead Yacht Racing Club 26-May-2010 (Race 2 in RM
Handicap) |
|
Place |
Names |
Sail No |
Points |
Discards |
Score |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
1 |
COCKSHELL Mal |
86 |
29 |
12 |
17 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
3 |
3 |
|
2 |
MORRIS Ben |
93 |
30 |
11 |
19 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
|
3 |
SMART Colin |
27 |
37 |
17 |
20 |
9 |
1 |
8 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
|
4 |
KNIGHTS David |
64 |
34 |
13 |
21 |
5 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
4 |
|
5 |
GOLD Alan |
32 |
41 |
16 |
25 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
2 |
7 |
9 |
6 |
|
6 |
DARBY Terry |
19 |
50 |
21 |
29 |
7 |
9 |
2 |
5 |
9 |
1 |
5 |
12 |
|
7 |
WOLLASTON Phil |
|
48 |
17 |
31 |
6 |
2 |
7 |
8 |
7 |
9 |
1 |
8 |
|
8 |
WESTE Bill |
70 |
47 |
16 |
31 |
3 |
7 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
6 |
8 |
7 |
|
9 |
GERRARD Jeff |
35 |
56 |
24 |
32 |
8 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
10 |
MARSHALL Rod |
91 |
77 |
22 |
55 |
10 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
12 |
9 |
|
11 |
LEVI Phillip |
67 |
96 |
24 |
72 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
|
|
Colour indicates non-finishing scores |
|
DNF |
|
DNS |
|
DSQ |
|
OTH |
|
|
|
Italic & underlined are discards |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stirling Marblehead Yacht Racing Club 19-May-2010 (Race 3 in RM Club
Championship) |
|
Place |
Names |
Sail No |
Points |
Discards |
Score |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
|
1 |
MORRIS Ben |
93 |
11 |
3 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
KNIGHTS David |
64 |
17 |
4 |
13 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
3 |
MORRIS Wayne |
|
26 |
6 |
20 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
|
4 |
WESTE Bill |
70 |
30 |
7 |
23 |
7 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
|
5 |
LEVI Phillip |
67 |
40 |
9 |
31 |
5 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
9 |
|
6 |
SMART Colin |
27 |
47 |
8 |
39 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
|
7 |
GERRARD Jeff |
35 |
51 |
11 |
40 |
10 |
11 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
9 |
5 |
|
8 |
DARBY Terry |
19 |
50 |
10 |
40 |
3 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
3 |
6 |
|
9 |
WOLLASTON Phil |
|
50 |
9 |
41 |
6 |
5 |
8 |
9 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
|
10 |
MARSHALL Rod |
21 |
64 |
10 |
54 |
9 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
Colour indicates non-finishing scores |
|
DNF |
|
DNS |
|
DSQ |
|
OTH |
|
|
Italic & underlined are discards |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A few points
should be noted to keep the process working
-
Yachts that do
not start or finish for any reason maintain their handicap division for
their next start and are not included in the last three yachts whose
division start is reduced by one.
-
Yachts that
reach division start 9 yet still win cannot be made to start division 10
as there is no division 10 on my starts. Instead I place a dot or
some indicator alongside their magnetic strip. Next time they come
in the last three position in a race the indicator is removed rather
than their position changed. Obviously more than one indicator may
have accumulated if the won twice or more while still on division 9.
-
The reverse
situation can be used for yachts finishing in the last three positions
while starting in division 1. An indicator is added and again if
they subsequently finish in the top three, the first action is to remove
the marker rather than moving them to division 2 start. These two
processes essentially give you a much greater range than just the 9
divisions.
I have included
four files representing the two sets of starts using either a 30s or 20s
interval between division starts in either wav or mp3 format.
Right click on
these links and select 'Save Target as' option to download and save. Copy them onto a CD(s) and give it a try!
30s wav
30s mp3
20s wav
20s mp3
I would be very interested in responses to this scheme and
any ideas to improve or refine it. email
Ben
Morris
STIRLING MARBLEHEAD YACHT RACING CLUB
Inc.
