The Cumulative Points Scoring System

Deciding the club champion and encouraging turn out for club racing:

This is old, the version here is a transcript of a photocopy from the June 1982 Edition of 'Dinghy & Boardsailing' and was by Bryan Willis. I couldn't find it anywhere on the net, I don't own any Copyright - the system presumably belongs to Bryan Willis and Queen Mary SC, the article to a now defunct magazine. I'm publishing it here for public information purposes!

About 10 years ago I sat down with my club's top helmsmen and the sailing secretary, and armed with the previous season's race results we tried to agree on who we would like to have won, had the scoring system not been the conventional 'best of so many race results out of the total races held'. It was an interesting project; one helmsman had 12 firsts and 2 seconds but nothing else, another had 11 firsts and S seconds and 2 thirds. The members who spent most of their time on the circuit usually cleaned up when they were at home, and the actual overall winner had won the series a month before the end of the series and hadn't bothered to enter the last 4 races. We discussed whether any credit should be given relating to the standard of the helmsmen beaten in any particular race, or the number or helmsmen beaten.

There was one point on which we were all agreed. and that was that there should be no individual handicapping. All helmsman should start as equals and the overall
winner should be the one who achieved a combination of success and turnout. After all, if you are going to award a trophy to a club champion, he must be a champion, not the 'best bar the top six', or the 'most improved'; he must be the best by some particular definition, and the problem was simply to decide on the principles that should be used to decide on the definition.

What should the principles be? Winning races is an obvious one, but it would be great to give some benefit for beating good helmsmen and beating lots of them! Then, of course, there is the principle that to turn out often deserves some credit.

I went away to mathematically construct a system which would incorporate these principles and give each the right balance. Predictably the system Was complex and had to be drastically simplified, but the end result was a scoring system which was simple, understandable, and fulfilled all our ambitions. It was first adopted by a single
fleet in 1971 and is now used by over 40 clubs throughout Great Britain.
Onc of the main benefits is that it create interest and thereby encourages turnout.

The salient features are:
Everyone starts at 0; the helmsman with the highest score after the last race is the winner.
After each race (even after the first race) there is a cumulative total so that at any time in the season each competitor can see where he stands in relation to the others.
Points are awarded for beating other helmsmen, in particular good ones (i.e. those with high cumulative scores).
The system has the automatic effect of making the races near the end of the season more important than those at the beginning. This gives the end of the season added interest and usually means an to the series; Helmsman entering other than the beginning of the season have a chance to catch up.

What about disadvantages? 'The only one is that someone is required too keep the score chart up- to-date! This is essential as it is the continual display of the cumulative totals which produce so much interest. At first this job may seem a little awesome but in fact it does not take very long (and whatever system is used someone has to maintain some sort of results chart). At Queen Mary Sailing Club at Ashford, Middlesex, 16 of the 17 fleets use the system with a total of some twelve and a half thousand entries over the year, and the scores are maintained meticulously by Dave Smith, the bar steward in his off peak moments. Generally a score chart for one fleet, with 2 races per weekend and a turnout average of 10, takes 10 minutes per week; really not much longer than any other system.

So how does it work? Each helmsman gets one point for every other helmsman he beats who started the race within a predetermined number below him or any number above him. This predetermined number might seem critical but experience shows this is not. Selecting a relatively large number will give emphasis to success; a low number will benefit the man who turns out often. An average would be about the same as average turnout, For example, if the average turnout is about 10,
a number of 5 would put most emphasis on turnout, would be normal and 20 would put emphasis on success. One small thing more; every helmsman gets an 'extra' point provided he is not disqualified.

The length of the series (total number of races) is not important but the system works best with more than 8 races. Ties sometimes occur at the end of a series; they cannot be broken and must stand.

As an example, let's follow a series of a small singlehanded fleet last winter. A number of 5 was chosen which turned out to be somewhat less than the average turnout, thereby emphasising 'turnout'.

The were 8 entrants in the first race and the score chart has plenty of room downwards for people to join in later in the series. Across there are columns for 'Position in race', 'Points awarded', arid 'Cumulative Total' for each race. Scoring the first race is easy; Bart won so he gets one point for each helmsman he beat (7), plus the extra point which everyone gets, provided they are not disqualified, so that is 8 points. Jason came second and gets 7 and so on.

	7th November
	Pos	Pts	Cum
Bart	1	8	8
Matthew	2	6	6
Jason	2	7	7
Christian	7	2	2
Davd	5	4	4
Dombey	6	3	3
Kevin	4	5	5
Simon	8	1	1

In the second race Sean and Nicola join the series. They are both good but Nicola has a leg in plaster which does hinder her quite a bit! Sean wins and because he started the race with no points he gets his point for each helmsman he beats plus one 1 totaling 10. Bart came second. Here comes I the interesting bit. He started the ace with 8 points from which we deduct the number 5 and the remainder is 3, so he only scores. Off people he beats who started this race with 3 or more points. There are 5 of them. plus his extra point, which makes 6. Kevin and Simon retired so they each get just their one point.

	7th November			14th November
	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum
Bart	1	8	8	2	6	14
Matthew	2	6	6	3	7	13
Jason	2	7	7	4	5	12
Christian	7	2	2	8	3	5
Davd	5	4	4	7	4	8
Dombey	6	3	3	6	5	8
Kevin	4	5	5	R	1	6
Simon	8	1	1	R	1	2
Sean				1	10	10
Nicola				5	6	6

After the fifth race Sean is, at lasl, in the lead and Bart and Matthew are lying for second place. Let's just analyse the results to date:

Sean has 1,2,2,1
Bart has 1,2,1,3
Matthew has 3,3,1,2

You may think that as Matthew's scores are not as good as Bart' s he doesn't deserve his 2nd but on closer scrutiny, Mauhew's win beat Sean and Bart, where as neither of Bart's 1st beat Sean and Matthew.

	7th November			14th November			21st November			28th November			5th December			12th December
	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum
Bart	1	8	8	2	6	14	1	3	17	3	1	18	-	-	18	Gales - No Racing
Matthew	2	6	6	3	7	13	-	-	13	1	4	17	2	1	18
Jason	2	7	7	4	5	12	3	2	14	-	-	14	-	-	14
Christian	7	2	2	8	3	5	-	-	5	5	3	8	5	2	10
Davd	5	4	4	7	4	8	6	1	9	-	-	9	6	1	10
Dombey	6	3	3	6	5	8	-	-	8	-	-	8	-	-	8
Kevin	4	5	5	R	1	6	4	3	9	6	1	10	3	4	14
Simon	8	1	1	R	1	2	5	2	4	4	4	8	4	3	11S
Sean				1	10	10	2	4	14	2	3	17	1	2	19
Nicola				5	6	6	-	-	6	-	-	6	-	-	6

Nicola had to rest while her plaster was removed but joined in earnest at the end of January. She gets good results and because of the effect of the system catches us fast.. As she approaches the leaders though, she'll find it more difficult to advance.

It is interesting to see how Kevin fares, he never misses a race but also he doesn't win races nor beat the top helmsmen. However, because the relatively low number of 5 has the effect of restraining the leaders Kevin is now tying 4th with Nicola.

	5th December			2nd January			23rd January			30th January			6th Febuary			13th Febuary
	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum
Bart	-	-	18	3	2	20	3	2	22	1	2	23	-	-	23	2	3	26
Matthew	2	1	18	2	3	21	2	3	24	-	-	24	3	2	26	-	-	26
Jason	-	-	14	-	-	14	R	1	15	-	-	15	5	4	19	-	-	19
Christian	5	2	10	5	1	11	6	2	13	-	-	13	4	5	18	-	-	18
Davd	6	1	10	-	-	10	5	3	13	4	1	14	6	3	17	4	3	24
Dombey	-	-	8	-	-	8	-	-	8	-	-	8	-	-	8	-	-	8
Kevin	3	4	14	4	2	16	4	3	19	3	1	20	8	1	21	3	3	24
Simon	4	3	11S	-	-	11	-	-	11	-	-	11	7	2	13	5	2	15
Sean	1	2	19	1	4	23	1	3	20	1	-	26	2	2	28	R	1	29
Nicola	-	-	6	-	-	6	-	-	6	2	4	10	1	8	18	1	6	24
Cam	-	-	1	R	1	2	R	1	3	5	1	4	-	-	4	6	2	6

On 13th February Sean got fed up and retired. It is costly for a leader to retire because everyone scores off him. A third place in the next race on 20th February and not entering the race on 27th February removes him from the lead. A 2nd and 4th on the next two races and he's down to 3rd equal, though with a 2nd on 20th March he climbs back to 2nd.

	13th Febuary			20th February			27th February			6th March			13th March			20th March
	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum
Bart	2	3	26	3	4	29	1	3	32	1	3	32	4	1	33	3	4	39
Matthew	-	-	26	-	-	26	2	2	28	3	4	32	2	4	36	4	3	39
Jason	-	-	19	-	-	19	2	6	25	9	1	26	5	5	31	6	2	33
Christian	-	-	18	-	-	18	4	3	21	5	5	26	7	3	29	-	-	29
Davd	4	3	24	-	-	20	6	2	22	7	3	25	8	2	27	7	2	29
Dombey	-	-	8	-	-	8	-	-	8	-	-	8	10	2	13	-	-	13
Kevin	3	3	24	4	1	25	Dsq	-	25	8	2	27	6	4	31	5	3	34
Simon	5	2	15	5	1	16	5	3	34	4	1	34	4	1	35	2	5	40
Sean	R	1	29	3	2	31	2	3	34	4	1	34	4	1	35	2	5	40
Nicola	1	6	24	1	4	28	-	-	28	1	6	34	1	4	38	1	4	42
Cam	6	2	6	6	1	7	8	2	9	-	-	9	11	1	10	9	1	11

With two more races to go anyone of four or live can win and all will do their utmost to attend these last vital races. Unfortunately Nicola could not make the 27th March. She could still have won the series though had she won the last race, but Sean took the honours which gave him the series.
The system was first called 'Ostrobogulous League' (indeed many clubs still use this name). Since then I've discovered 'league' means something quite different and I use the word 'cumulative' which better emphasises the most vital fealure of the system: the facility for each helm to see at any time just where he stands in relation to the leaders and, if he is a middle of the fleet man, in relation to the helmsmen of his own standard.
But perhaps the real benefit of the system is that it produces a champion; someone who will have to win, at home, often, and when the best are racing, and who really can be called the 'club champion'.

	27th March			3rd April
	Pos	Pts	Cum	Pos	Pts	Cum	Overall position
Bart	1	4	43	4	2	45	= 3rd
Matthew	2	3	42	3	3	45	= 3rd
Jason	6	3	36	5	3	39	= 5th
Christian	8	1	30	7	3	33	= 7th
Davd	7	2	31	8	2	33	= 7th
Dombey	-	-	13	-	-	13	10th
Kevin	4	4	38	6	1	39	= 5th
Simon	5	4	29	9	1	30	9th
Sean	3	1	41	1	6	47	1st
Nicola	-	-	42	2	4	46	2nd
Cam	-	-	11	-	-	11	11th

P.S. There may be typos in the tables, the Editor