High Point Scoring System Explained
Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association (CBYRA) Junior Sailing hosts a season-long High Point (HP) Racing Series. The HP system provides a way to measure each skipper’s performance against all of the other skippers/teams performance in a particular fleet throughout the season without having to sail in all of the same regattas. HP is calculated for Club 420s, Laser Radials, and Optimist fleet events.
The HP series uses a complex scoring formula that takes into consideration the total points earned (based on boats beaten) throughout the season’s racing, as compared to the total possible points (i.e. if the sailor won every regatta they entered). Additional points are earned for participation in our region’s Junior Olympic Sailing Festival, Maryland State Championship and Virginia Commonwealth Championship.
The top performing sailors/teams in each fleet are recognized for their achievements at our annual awards ceremony. Awards are given to the highest scorers in Laser Radial, Club 420, Opti-Overall including individual Red, White and Blue Fleets, and top girls sailors. Awards are also given for overall regatta participation to recognize those sailors who have competed in at least 10 CBYRA regattas.
High Point Score = Points Earned / (Points Possible +20)
- Points Earned: One (1) point for each event in which the sailor is scored as a competitor, plus One (1) point for each boat beaten or tied with (in case of unbreakable ties) in the final standings of the event.
- Apply point factors for Junior Olympics (2.0) and MD and VA Championships (1.5).
- After competing in six (6) regattas, the competitor’s worst score may be dropped.
- After competing in ten (10) regattas, the competitor’s worst two (2) scores may be dropped.
Scoring Example:
| Regatta | No. of Competitors ( C ) | Final Position ( P ) | Points Earned PE= ( C-P+1 ) x Bonus | Max. Possible Points MP= C x Bonus | Regatta Score Score = PE/MP |
| Event 1 | 52 | 19 | 34 | 52 | 0.6538 |
| Event 2 | 32 | 11 | 22 | 32 | 0.6875 |
| Event 3 (1.5 Bonus) | 65 | 14 | 78 | 97.5 | 0.8 |
| Event 4 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 15 | 0.8667 |
| Event 5 | [19] | [15] | [5] | [19] | [0.2632] |
| Event 6 | 28 | 8 | 21 | 28 | 0.75 |
| Total (Before Drops) | 173 | 243.5 | |||
| Total (After Drops) | 168 | 224.5 |
High Point Score – 168 / (224.50 + 20) = 0.6871
In the example above the sailor competed in six regattas and therefore the lowest regatta score was dropped, shown in [].
Why is there a +20 in the formula?
This factor does two things: it encourages participation (sailing in more events) and sailing in events with larger fleets. This can be illustrated in the hypothetical case shown below with two skippers who sailed in different events from each other but have the same winning percentage (.8000). Theoretically their ability and skill level is the same; however, skipper #2 sailed in more regattas and/or in regattas with more competitors. As you can see in the final standings Skipper #2 finishes with a higher HP score for the season (.7273 compared to .6667). It is simple arithmetic in that the impact of adding 20 points in the denominator becomes less significant as the denominator increases.
| Points Earned | Total Competitors in Events Sailed | Winning Percentage | High Point Percentage | |
| Skipper 1 | 80 | 100 | 0.800 | 80 / (100+20) = 0.6667 |
| Skipper 2 | 160 | 200 | 0.800 | 160 / (200+20) = 0.7273 |