Scoring Systems

Two scoring systems are in use:

• Points - Points are a scoring method where each boat is assigned a numerical value based on its finishing position in a race, and the overall ranking is determined by the total points accumulated (lowest wins).
• Ouse Yardstick - used to adjust time-over-course according to boat class, allowing crews rowing different types of boat on coastal waters to compete on an equal footing.

The Ouse Yardstick (OY) has been used on the Tudor Challenge and Head of Harbour to equalise times.

Points

Point scoring currently works like this:

1. Boats in an event are ordered by time. For normal class races, ranking uses elapsed time. Multi class events uses OY-compensated time.

2. Finishing position determines points. 1st = 1, 2nd = 2, 3rd = 3, and so on up to 20th = 20.

3. Ties share the same position and the same points. If two boats tie for 1st, both get position 1 and 1 point.

4. Only the first boat from each club scores in an event. If a club enters multiple boats, the first one encountered in the ranked results gets the points. Any additional boats from the same club get 0 points.

5. Status results use penalty points. RET = 999 DNF = 999 DNS and source DNE are both treated as DNS = 2999 DSQ = 1999

6. Non-scoring events do not contribute to totals.

7. Overall leaderboard is the sum of event points. Lower total points wins.

Ouse Yardstick

The Ouse Yardstick is a handicap system developed by Sussex and south coast rowing clubs that uses past race data to assign boat-specific factors, allowing different boat classes to compete fairly by adjusting their times.

OY coefficients are used to adjust race times so different boat types can be compared fairly.

Formula:

Compensated Time = OY × Elapsed Time

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Example

• Start time: 12:01:13
• Finish time: 13:58:41

➡️ Elapsed time: 1:57:28

• OY coefficient: 0.83

➡️ Compensated time: 1:37:30

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Note: The compensated time is the adjusted result used to rank boats.

Ouse Yardstick (OY) Values