SFS handicap system
Your handicap is how many minutes before the scratch boat you start. A boat on 10 minutes starts at 2.20pm, ten minutes ahead of the scratch boat at 2.30pm. After every race the handicaps move, so the fleet keeps finishing close together.
How the start works minute by minute, with the numbered boards, is on the handicap start signals page.
- 0minutes is scratch, the fastest boat, which starts last
- 20minutes is the limit, the most a boat can be given
- −2minutes for a win
- −1minute for second
After a race: what happens to your handicap
Only finishers are adjusted. If you do not finish, your handicap stays where it is; that is the reason to finish wherever you are placed. Going out means a bigger handicap, so an earlier start next time.
- −2 You win. Your handicap comes down 2 minutes.
- −1 You come second. Your handicap comes down 1 minute.
- +2 The scratch boat wins. Every other finisher goes out 2 minutes, up to the limit.
- +1 The scratch boat comes second. Every other finisher goes out 1 minute, up to the limit. The winner still loses 2 for the win, so ends 1 minute down.
- +1 The winner was on 1 minute. The winner loses 1 minute and goes to scratch. Every other finisher goes out 1 minute.
- 0 You do not finish, or do not compete. No change to your handicap.
- 0 The race was scratch only. No change to anyone's handicap.
The rules add together. A boat that comes second when the scratch boat wins loses 1 minute for second and gains 2 from the scratch boat, so goes out 1 overall. Nobody goes past 20 minutes: a boat's own minutes come off first, so a boat on 20 that comes second when the scratch boat wins goes down to 19 and back out to 20.
A scratch race can also be run as a handicap race. Every boat starts together, and each boat's handicap comes off its race time to give the handicap result. Handicaps then change by the rules above, as after a handicap start. A scratch race run on its own changes no handicaps.
Worked examples
The club's four examples, place by place. Every number is a handicap in minutes.
An ordinary race
First and second were both on 10 minutes. The scratch boat is not in the first two.
| Place | Before | After | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 10 | 8 −2 | Loses 2 for the win |
| 2nd | 10 | 9 −1 | Loses 1 for second |
| 3rd | 10 | 10 0 | No change |
| 4th | 20 | 20 0 | No change |
The scratch boat wins
The scratch boat is already on 0, so instead every other finisher goes out 2.
| Place | Before | After | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 0 | 0 0 | Pushes all finishers out by 2 |
| 2nd | 10 | 11 +1 | Loses 1 for second, gains 2 from first place |
| 3rd | 10 | 12 +2 | Gains 2 from first place |
| 4th | 19 | 20 +1 | Gains only 1, because 20 is the limit |
The scratch boat comes second
Every finisher goes out 1, including the winner.
| Place | Before | After | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 10 | 9 −1 | Loses 2 for the win, gains 1 from second place |
| 2nd | 0 | 0 0 | Pushes finishers out 1, no gain |
| 3rd | 10 | 11 +1 | Gains 1 from second place |
| 4th | 20 | 20 0 | No change, already on the limit |
A boat on 1 minute wins
The winner can only lose 1 minute, so the other minute goes to the fleet.
| Place | Before | After | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1 | 0 −1 | Loses 1 to go to scratch, pushes finishers out 1 |
| 2nd | 10 | 10 0 | Loses 1 for second, gains 1 from first place |
| 3rd | 10 | 11 +1 | Gains 1 from first place |
| 4th | 20 | 20 0 | No change, already on the limit |
At the start of a season
Handicaps carry over from the end of the previous season, or from when a boat last raced. The sailing committee can adjust any boat's handicap at any time, for example after a change of skipper or crew.
Why the limit is 20 minutes
The limit was 15 minutes until the 2021/22 season. The rivalry between the two scratch boats, Yendys and The Mistake, had lifted their racing until they were taking most of the podium places. Under the old limit, the boats on the limit got nothing from those results, while the middle markers such as Aust IV did. The limit was reviewed and raised to 20.
How places become series points is on the point scoring page. This explanation was prepared for the club with the help of Bob Chapman and Peter Notley.