How Races Are Scored

Races are handicapped by "Portsmouth numbers", which account for the inherent performance difference between boats of different classes. These numbers, which depend on both boat class and wind speed, are derived from timings of many races in many clubs. The order of finish in a race is based on corrected time: actual time multiplied by 100 and divided by the Portsmouth number.

Each finishing place in a race gets a certain number of points—more points in bigger races. A boat's Cox-Sprague percentage for a race series is the total number of points the boat earned in the series divided by the total number of points it could have earned by placing first in every race it entered.

In race results posted on this website, Handicap is the Portsmouth number. Minutes and Seconds are measured on a stopwatch started at the 5-minute warning; actual race times are 5 minutes less. DNF means did not finish; DSQ means disqualified.

Example

Suppose a boat places 2nd among 5 boats in one race and 3rd among 4 in another. Then, according to the table below, the boat earns 46 out of a possible 52 in the first race and 33 out of a possible 43 in the second. Its percentage for the two-race series is (46+33)/(52+43) = 79/95 = 83.16%.

Cox-Sprague Table

Place                       Number of Boats
         2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

 1      10 31 43 52 60 66 72 76 80 84 87 90 92 94 96 97 98 99 100
 2       4 25 37 46 54 60 66 70 74 78 81 84 86 88 90 91 92 93 94
 3       . 21 33 42 50 56 62 66 70 74 77 80 82 84 86 87 88 89 90
 4       .  . 29 38 46 52 58 62 66 70 73 76 78 80 82 83 84 85 86
 5       .  .  . 35 43 49 55 59 63 67 70 73 75 77 79 80 81 82 83
 6       .  .  .  . 40 46 52 56 60 64 67 70 72 74 76 77 78 79 80
 7       .  .  .  .  . 44 50 54 58 62 65 68 70 72 74 75 76 77 78
 8       .  .  .  .  .  . 48 52 56 60 63 66 68 70 72 73 74 75 76
 9       .  .  .  .  .  .  . 50 54 58 61 64 66 68 70 71 72 73 74
10       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 52 56 59 62 64 66 68 69 70 71 72
11       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 54 57 60 62 64 66 67 68 69 70
12       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 55 58 60 62 64 65 66 67 68
13       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 56 58 60 62 63 64 65 66
14       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 57 59 61 62 63 64 65
15       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 58 60 61 62 63 64
16       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 59 60 61 62 63
17       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 59 60 61 62
18       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 59 60 61
19       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 59 60
20       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 59
DNF/DSQ  0 17 26 32 38 42 46 48 50 52 53 55 56 57 58 58 58 58 58