postponed race and handicap advice please

M

Medway Matt

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Hi

My club is currently running a series of races and we had to postpone our Race 3 last Saturday due to the high winds, we went ahead with our Race 4 on Sunday as planned.

We still use the old NHC system as it suits the rather disparate range of boats we have participating, from keen racers to cruisers out for a bit of fun, and use Sailwave to calculate the results and adjust competitors handicaps.

We're planning on running the postponed Race 3 this coming Saturday, which we had reserved for just such a need, and the final Race 5 on Sunday.

So my question is this; When calculating the results for the postponed Race 3, should the handicaps following the calculations from Race 2 or Race 4 be used? Given the races are now out of sequence and handicaps will have been adjusted.

Cheers
 
I don't know but it makes more sense if race 4 calculations are used, becaise surely the whole point of adjusting handicaps after each race is to make the next race "closer".


Bing copilot disagrees with me:


Great question — and one that touches on the quirks of using NHC with out-of-sequence races.

🧭 Short answer: You should use the handicaps as they stood after Race 2, not after Race 4.

Here's why:​

  • The NHC (National Handicap for Cruisers) system is designed to adjust handicaps progressively based on performance in each race.
  • Even though Race 3 was postponed, it was originally scheduled to follow Race 2. So, for consistency and fairness, its handicap calculations should reflect what they would have been had it occurred in sequence.
  • Using handicaps from Race 4 would unfairly incorporate performance data from a race that was meant to come after Race 3, potentially skewing results — especially for boats that performed unusually well or poorly in Race 4.

How to handle this in Sailwave:​

  • Sailwave allows you to manually set the handicaps for any race.
  • For Race 3, manually input the handicaps that were calculated after Race 2.
  • Then proceed with Race 3 as if it had occurred in its original slot.
  • Race 4 and Race 5 will continue to adjust handicaps as normal based on the actual sequence of races.
This approach keeps the integrity of the handicap progression intact and ensures all competitors are treated fairly, regardless of the rescheduling.

Let me know if you’d like help setting that up in Sailwave or need a quick guide on how to adjust handicaps manually.
 
Mark, if you do that, then race 4 should be recalculated with the results from race 3. It is surely simpler, and more understandable, to call race 4 ‘race 3’, and carry on from there?
 
Mark-1 said:
I think you may have misread my post.
Click to expand...
No. I think the AI response is bonkers,
The issue seems to be naming the races “race 1” “race 2” etc, then taking the bizarre view that the third race run is “race 4”.
Better to not name the races - or use pretty names that don’t imply a sequence - race blue, green, yellow, red etc. Then if run out of sequence it doesn’t matter.
Ie just do what Chiara says and treat the THIRD chronological race sailed as Race 3 and the next one Race 4. Simple, logical, and can then spend the time otherwise wasted by buying a beer at the bar.
 
dunedin said:
No. I think the AI response is bonkers,
The issue seems to be naming the races “race 1” “race 2” etc, then taking the bizarre view that the third race run is “race 4”.
Better to not name the races - or use pretty names that don’t imply a sequence - race blue, green, yellow, red etc. Then if run out of sequence it doesn’t matter.
Ie just do what Chiara says and treat the THIRD chronological race sailed as Race 3 and the next one Race 4. Simple, logical, and can then spend the time otherwise wasted by buying a beer at the bar.
Click to expand...
If a race is scrubbed at our club, we just carry on, and it remains blank. If race 3 is cancelled, then that is permanent. The race after race 4 is race 5, or higher if there’s another cancellation. Works fine too.
 
Chiara’s slave said:
If a race is scrubbed at our club, we just carry on, and it remains blank. If race 3 is cancelled, then that is permanent. The race after race 4 is race 5, or higher if there’s another cancellation. Works fine too.
Click to expand...

Ours too, but this race wasn't cancelled. It was moved.
 
Thanks for all your input everyone, it was very helpful.

We've decided to treat Sunday's race as Race 3, this coming Saturday's race as Race 4 etc. so that everything, including handicaps, are just bumped along a date.

This was my inclination to start with but I've got skin in the game as a competitor myself so wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing.
 
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