Highpoint is really Competitive Racing

If you happened to read through the Notice of Race, you might have seen that there is a new system for scoring "Highpoint" this year. Nothing particularly shocking, but here is how it works.

Honestly, the name "Highpoint" is a misnomer. Since we are using the low-point scoring system from Appendix A, the winner will actually have a small number of points compared to others in their class. But the history of the trophy is to call it the Highpoint Trophy.

So if we are not using the highest number of points to define a winner, we need another system. There is an added problem now that we have three classes racing dramatically different boats on different courses. To compare the quality of racing from one class to another, we need something objective that can be compared. For help, we looked to other venues where this problem comes up.

Venue 1 was the Screwpile Regatta run every year down in Solomons. There they have many classes on several courses and, like us, they want to have an over-all winner. Their solution: use a corrected time difference between the 1st-place competitor and the 5-place competitor in each class. The smallest corrected time difference must have been the closest and most competitive racing.

Venue 2 was block Island Race Week. Similar problem with varied classes on several courses. Same idea - use the difference in points between the 1st-place competitor and the 5th-place competitor (with some undefined correction factors).

Venue 3 was Key West Race Week. Once again we see the difference in points between the 1st-place competitor and the 5th-place competitor being used to create a factor for "most competitive class". KWRW has more factors they throw in there to confuse us.

The pattern seems to be forming. When we look at our classes, we see different courses at different times with dramatically different boats. How can we tell where the racing was closest? Well, the difference in points between the 1st-place competitor and the 5th-place competitor. If this number is large, then the winner didn't have a lot of competitors nipping at her heels. If the number is small, the winner was struggling to hold off the other boats.

So, for this year, as a test to see how we like it, we are awarding the "Highpoint" trophy to the winner of the most competitive class as defined by the smallest number of points between the 1st-place competitor and the 5th-place competitor.

Okay it's not really a "Highpoint", but it serves the original purpose to have an overall winner who did an outstanding job in his class. Most importantly, it awards close competition because that's what keeps people coming back!