Page 104 - Misconduct a Reference for Race Officials

The most common ‘series longer than a regatta’ is clubs’ points racing, extending over many
weeks with some competitors entering after some races in the series have taken place and
only a proportion of the fleet/class compete in each race. Frequently, the number of entries
is not known until the end of the series. For clarity, it is helpful to state in the notice of race
for such series that rule A9 scoring will apply.

Rule A9 scores all non-finishing places in a race (DNS, DNF, RET, DSQ) as one more than
the number of boats that came to the starting area, so the number of entries in the series is
not required to be known for those scores.

However, the score for DNC remains as one more than the number of boats entered in the
series, which is an unknown value at the beginning of (and on through) the series. A
possible, commonly used, solution to this problem is to change rule A9 by a sailing
instruction giving a fixed, but deliberately high, score for DNC, which not only enables races
to be accurately scored from the beginning of the series but also is an incentive for sailors to
turn out for as many races as they can. If no change is made to rule A9, earlier races will
have to be rescored as new entrants come into the series.

Series Scoring

a) General

A boat’s series score is the total of her race scores excluding her worst race score (rule
A2.1). The number of discards allowed may be varied by the sailing instructions, one discard
being the default number. However, if a boat is scored DNE (Disqualification that is Not
Excludable) in a race, that score may not be discarded (rule 90.3(b)) and the next worst
score is excluded instead.

b) Discards

Many events specify, in the notice of race and sailing instructions, that the number of
discards increases as more races are completed. A race is completed when it is scored; and
a race must be scored provided that it is not abandoned and if one boat sails the course and
finishes within the time limit, if any, even if she retires after finishing or is disqualified (rule
90.3(a)). It is theoretically possible that no boat is scored for a finishing place but the race is
‘completed’ for series purposes.

If a boat has two or more equal worst scores, it is the one for the race(s) sailed earliest in the
series to be excluded (rule A2.1). However, because of changes made previously to the tie-
breaking rule the result will be exactly the same if it were not the earlier worst score that was
excluded.

c) Tie-breaking

When boats have equal total scores for the series rule A8 provides a two-step system for
breaking such ties.

The first process requires the scores (N.B. not places) of the tied boats to be listed in
ascending order (i.e. best to worst) and not including any discarded scores. These lists are
then compared and at the first point of divergence the tie is broken in favour of the boat(s)
with the better (best) score(s) (rule A8.1).

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