When averages stop being fair

The saying “Every dog has their day” occurs in sailing when certain conditions favor some more than others. In this report, Tomas Nilsson with the ORC rating system explains how their mission is for all dogs to always have their day:

Over the years, ORC has developed several ways of scoring races – not to make racing more complicated, but to make racing more fair. Sailing is inherently variable. Wind strength changes, angles shift, sea state evolves, and courses are rarely identical from race to race. In that reality, a single average number cannot always describe what actually happens on the water.

In some cases, relying only on a “one-number” rating does not just simplify reality – it can actively distort results. – Full report