The Marion Bermuda Race will be scored using ORR’s Performance Curve Scoring (“PCS”). The core of PCS is a Velocity Prediction Program (“VPP”). The VPP is the program that developed your boat’s polars, available through US Sailing. When you apply for an ORR rating, the VPP uses the boat’s measurement information (design, sails, etc.) to predict the boat’s seconds-per-mile ratings over a range of wind speeds and directions.

ORR’s VPP-based scoring system provides a scoring model designed specifically for the Marion Bermuda Race by replicating the historic conditions of beat, reach, and run seen during a typical race. PCS uses those conditions to generate a corresponding curve of performance (or seconds per mile) versus wind. You will see a series of ratings for each boat on the scratch sheet. The time that boats owe each other changes with wind speed. And a boat that owes time in one wind speed may be owed time in a different wind. PCS captures this by using the appropriate ratings for the complete range of slow, average and fast races. How does it do this?

As each boat finishes, the boat’s elapsed time is divided by the course distance (645 NM) to calculate the boat’s elapsed seconds per mile. The scoring program drops this figure onto the boat’s performance curve to find the average wind speed it appears the boat sailed in, often dubbed the “Implied Wind.” This is then converted to a corrected time using a scratch boat (fastest boat in the division). As it turns out, the boat with the highest Implied Wind wins the race, because relative to their rating they sailed the course the fastest among their competitors. In other words, they sailed so fast it looked like they had the highest wind.