Notes & Club Rules
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Following a Drivers’ forum at which 7 drivers attended the following was agreed or recommended: 1.) Approved, 2.) Approved, 3.) the concept was approved but the RC is asked to consider that 1 short and 4 long be dropped instead of 2 'days' 4.) concept approved and recommend for RC endorsement worded as 'Engines cannot be held from full power by any means other than the drivers foot, unless instructed to do so for safety reasons by the OOD on the day.' 5.) concept approved and recommend for RC endorsement 6.) not approved but recommended for further work and discussion at race committee.
1.) Remove counting of scratch races from the overall number of starts - this is purely an accounting exercise. At the moment scratch races are counted in the calculation of what is '100% of races' but they are excluded when it comes to working out how many races you entered for the end of year analysis. At the moment, even if you enter every race (including scratch races) your performance record will can only show you entered 97%. After this change, if you enter every race, your record of performance will show 100%. 2. Allow the computer to rework your handicap time if you 'Bust' - currently the timekeepers take the average of the 2nd and 3rd fastest laps of the race and this becomes your new lap time. This could be quite a significant amount and it is proposed that the computer is allowed to use the system by which it has, for the past couple of years, reworked the lap time instead. This is the total amount of time you bust divided by the number of laps and then removed from your existing lap time. This helps prevent a 'Busted' boat from being pushed to the back of the pack for the rest of the day - it is a lot more subtle. 3. 10 out of 12 races days to count for the long (Rothwell) and short (Campbell) course prizes. Those completing all 12 race days will have their two worst performance days races discarded from the total. Despite this looking rather lucky dip when it comes to the structure of race days, typically 3 long and 1 short race, not all days are the same and we also change the makeup of a day to either catch up time or catch up previously missed races. By dropping all the races from a bad average day from the points tally the concept of choice is removed and therefore the chance for a driver to manipulate the situation. This year’s make up of the calendar is challenging due to the proximity of some races and there if you have one unlucky day or pressing engagement, any chance you had of winning these prizes could be scuppered. This change will allow the best average performance to win though, still encourage attendance at all 12 races and further encourage those to race who have suffered a mishap at some point in the season. An alternative suggestion is to drop the 3 worst short and 7 worst long performances but this is open to manipulation. All other major prizes will continue to be calculated on all your attended races i.e. accurate starting, Sheba average etc 4. Ban the use of throttle adjustment to meter performance. For instance, throttle pedal stops can be adjusted to allow varying throttle opening and the wide open throttle (WOT) stop can be screwed in at the start of the season and then over the course of the year unscrewed a couple of turns per day. These gradually increase the performance of the outfit circumventing the timekeepers efforts as you 'improve' gradually. The proposed change would outlaw the practice and ensure that at scrutineering all outfits are entered with the ability to achieve WOT. Engines cannot be held from full power by any means other than the drivers foot, unless instructed to do so for safety reasons by the OOD on the day. A manufacture's standard electronic limiter is not considered to transgress this rule (yet), adjustable rev limiters are prohibited. 5. Points reducing scale be changed from a 10% reducing scale to a 5% reducing scale. The current scale places a large advantage to the winning boat (some 40 points) which in handicap racing could be considered excessive and while the 10% reducing scale is credible for class scratch racing it is inappropriate for handicap racing. Going to a 5% reducing scale will remove the excessive advantage a win gives to calculating the overall day winners and the major points prizes and also give a closer overall result more consistent with handicap racing. e.g.
6.) Introduce an 'Index of Performance' (IOP) for passing. To take a win often an outfit has to pass several other competitors to get to the line first. while the current handicap does take this into consideration when calculating your average lap time, none the less, passing is difficult especially in the latter stages of a race. This new system would augment the points scales so that for every boat that makes a move forward from their starting position is rewarded on a fixed scale. This will boost the number of finishing points slightly but wont remove the gap between any of the top positions. Its considered that depending upon scales (see 5 above) the number of points be appropriate 10% = 4 per outfit passed, 5% = 2 per outfit passed. The computer will work this out so there is no additional maths overhead. These points can also be used to create an additional annual prize for the total number of IOP points over the season. This concept reflects the importance of passing a competitor in boat racing and help balance other inequalities in the system. eg 1) an outfit starts 5th over the line and takes the flag without busting would collect 400 points (a win) + 10 points (e.g. 2 per outfit passed during the race), total = 410, e.g.2) start 8th and finish 3rd = 361 + 10 points (2 per outfit passed during the race), total =371, e.g.3) start 3rd and finish 3rd = 361 + 0 points (no outfits passed during the race), total =361, e.g.4) start 3rd and finish 5th = 326 + 0 points (no outfits passed during the race), total =326, e.g.5) start 8th and finish 1st and BUST to 8th = 279 + 14 points (7 outfits passed during the race), total =293.
This page also links to the documents used to define and control matters of club handicap racing at WMBRC
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