Factoring in all the factors for scoring

For handicap systems to be accurate, they must be complex. Assessing the variables that contribute to boat performance, and overlaying that on the impact of wind strength and angle, is not a simple task. Thomas Nilsson has been on a mission to explain how the ORC handicap system approaches the problem:

In the previous two articles, I explored how ORC ratings work and why scoring choices matter.

First, we saw why relying solely on averages can sometimes distort results. Then we looked at the practical tools most sailors know best: Single Number scoring, with a choice between Time-on-Distance and Time-on-Time.

Those tools are widely used — and for good reason. They are robust, simple to administer, and work well in many racing situations. But they are still built on an approximation.

They assume that the race sailed resembles the theoretical “average race” behind the chosen Single Number. What happens when that assumption is no longer good enough?

This is where ORC’s scoring methods move one step closer to reality. – Full report