Understanding your race results
The platform crew (Officer of the Day, Starter and Timekeeper) record your finish times - you'll know you have finished when they wave a white flag as you cross the line, and also the first in each class gets a hoot.
If there is just a single race the finish times may be entered on the race sheets in the clubhouse and you can see who got which place and what were the time differences. In the more likely case that there were 2 or more races, the results will be processed within the next day or so.
After the results are processed by the handicapper the official race report is posted on the club website: go to "Race results 2012-2013" and then "Results" for the appropriate race.
The "Results" link takes you to the Starters' and Timekeepers' Report:
On the left side you'll see the 'line' placings and times. On the right you see the handicap times and placings. Once you have finished one race, you get a handicap - beginners have a low handicap, from 0 to about 5 minutes, while experienced sailors may have up to 30 minutes. This handicap is added to your line time to give a handicap time - and if the handicaps work as intended, it makes the handicap race very even - anyone can win.
The right side also shows handicap points. If you win on handicap, you get about 100 points (details are in the Sailing Instructions). If you are close behind the winner, you still get nearly 100 points - and anyone finishing within 4 minutes of the winner gets more than 50 points. If you are second, even if you are a long way behind the winner, you get at least 75 points. So there are lots of ways to get good points. (You also get points for club duties - helping on the platform, and in the powerboats; so you don't miss out if you do duty.) These points go towards a handicap total over the season (the Race Report also shows your current total); the person with the most points gets the biggest trophy, and typically there are trophies for anyone with more than about 400 points over the season.
There are columns on the Race Report for line points and total too: these are for the 6 Championship Heat days during the season. On those days, there are points for the line placings, as well as the handicap points. Those who are the fastest sailors get the most line points. Over the 12-18 races (with a discard of the worst 3), these points decide who are the club champions - the best sailors in each class.
Getting these results correct, recognising your achievements, and rewarding you with points, depends on the platform staff recording times carefully, and on you signing on and off! The sign-on book is the only place where skippers' names are recorded - the platform staff work on sail numbers only. So it's vital that you sign on, and write both your first name and family name clearly. Sign on and off are also an important safety procedure, to check on who is on the water and off. Also, if you don't sign on and off, according to the Racing Rules, you are disqualified. Finally, please check the results once they are posted. Occasionally errors creep in - if the report says someone was ahead of you and you know they were not, let us know!
The other columns on the Results page are explained in more detail in the links below, but in brief:
The Handicap Points Summary ("Points" link in the Handicap points column) shows your total points from placings after handicaps are added, and your current handicap, plus details of both
The Championship Points Summary ("Points" link in the Championship points column) shows your total points from line placings in championship heats, plus discards.
The Low Points System Scores link shows what your championship, total line and total handicap points would be if OSC used the common Low Points scoring system. There will be significant differences in the handicap points, as the Low Points system has nothing equivalent to OSC's points for club duties.
The handicapping system
Two files are attached to explain the handicap system