The Dart 18 handicap system
The Dart 18 handicap system prevents the top sailors from taking all the silverware, and gives mid-fleet sailors a chance of glory. Handicap prizes are awarded at UKIDA Travellers Trophy (TT) events and the National Championships.
The system works in a similar way to golf handicaps, where each person has their own personal number. This number, between 1 and 1000, shows their predicted result in a theoretical fleet of 1000 boats .
A new helm starts with a handicap of 999 and is not eligible for a handicap prize in their first event. This event is used to establish their handicap number, which is calculated according to the formula below.
At all subsequent events, each helm’s result is used in conjunction with his handicap to calculate whether his performance has improved or deteriorated . The helm with the greatest positive difference between his current handicap and his handicap for that event wins 1st prize on handicap. (Handicap prizes are not given to any competitor who finishes “in the trophies”.)
After each open meeting the handicap numbers are updated by the UKIDA computer. lan Fraser added a “Race Standard” factor, so that a good result in a quality fleet results in a greater handicap reduction than a good result in a poor fleet . Helms whose performance is worse than their handicap suggests, will see their handicap increase, but only by 20% of the difference. These two controls mean that handicap numbers do not fluctuate wildly, and ensure that helms whose sailing abilities are steadily improving are rewarded.
How it works
HC – Current handicap number
HR – Handicap for the event
HN – New handicap number
RS – Race standard
FP – Finish position of the crew for that event
ST – Number of starters at the event
I – a crew’s improvement(+), or deterioration(-)
At the event
HR is read from a set of standard tables.
HC is read from the latest set of handicap listings.
The simple calculation of HC – HR gives I, the improvement in handicap. Anyone already winning a main prize, and anyone with a handicap of 999, is excluded from the calculations. Everyone else is placed in order of improvement. (Note; no race standard is needed to work out the handicap prizes, because everyone is sailing in the same fleet!)
To calculate new handicaps
After the event, the event results are fed into the UKIDA handicap computer, which calculates the new handicaps based on the formulae below:
RS = sum of all handicaps at the event / ST
HR = (FP/ST) x 1000
I = HC – HR
If I is positive, showing an improvement:
HN = HC – (I x ((1000 – RS) / 1000))
If I is negative showing a deterioration:
HN = HC – (I x RS / 1000) x 0.2