Calculations for Back Calculated Handicap

Progressive Handicap
1

I am trying to manually calculate BCE & BCR from the elapsed time and rating.

I am close to the printed numbers but not exactly the same.

The numbers are too far apart for a rounding error.

If you could look at the corrected time numbers please.

If you could confirm the BCE & BCR calculations

All boats have the same rating 109

Thanks

Phillip

F15 Race 1 breakdown.pdf (611.0 KB)

2

The BCE numbers are correct. Can’t remember exactly what BCE stands for
but I believe it is the elapsed time a boat would have to improve by in
order to tie on corrected time with the winning boat. When boats all
rate the same that will simply be the difference between the elapsed
time of the boat at issue and the winning boat.

Consider boat Two Dogs [5th]: her elapsed time is 38:46 and the winning
boat’s elapsed time is 35:07 so the difference would be 3:39. That is
what the BCE column shows.

We have found the abbreviation/acronym BCE to be confusing to sailors so
we rename as “1st+” since that is basically what it is - the time a bout
corrects to behind the winning boat.

I cannot comment on BCR, which is supposed to be the handicap that a
boat would need to have to tie with the winning boat. I thought the
formula for NHC was Corrected_Time = Elapsed_Time * Rating. With a
rating of 109 the corrected times would be on the order of 55 hours,
which makes no sense; so I am missing something. But, if the BCE times
are all correct (they are) then the BCR handicap ratings probably are as
well.

Art

3

Hi Art

Thanks for the reply.

I believe the BCR is the back calculated rating which will be applied to the next race.

I calculated the CT (corrected time)= ET(elapsed time) X 100/R(rating or yardstick)

John Hassen CT =35:07X100/109 = 32:17
The printed result shows 32:13 a slight difference. So I think there is an additional adjustment in the calculations that I am not aware of.

Thanks for pointing out the BCE. Yes I would like to know the proper meaning of BCE.

BCYS (back calculated yardstick) = CTxYS/SBT( Standard Boat Time)

These are the calculations we use in Australia.

cheers

Phillip

4

He is AI’s answer for you, which is correct and explained very nicely

BCE and BCR are not used in any calculations and are only published if you optionally select to display them, but once you understand them, they are very interesting and good discussions at the Bar with a nice pint at the end of racing.

Hope this helps, Jon

BCE – Back Corrected Elapsed time

What it is:

  • The amount of time a boat would have needed to sail faster (i.e., how much less elapsed time) to tie with the winner on corrected time.

  • It’s effectively a “how far behind the winner, expressed as time after handicap” metric.

How to read it:

  • Small BCE → they were close to the winner.

  • Large BCE → they’d have needed to sail a lot quicker to match the winner.

BCR – Back Corrected Rating

What it is:

  • The rating (handicap) a boat would have needed to have, given its actual elapsed time, to tie with the winner on corrected time.

  • It answers: “If they’d sailed exactly as they did, what rating would make them equal first?”

How to read it:

  • Lower BCR than their actual rating → they sailed better than their current handicap suggests.

  • Higher BCR than their actual rating → they sailed worse than their handicap expects.

Put simply:

  • BCE = “How much quicker in time to be equal first?”

  • BCR = “What rating would make this result equal first?”

1 Like
5

Thanks for the info.

Will definitely have a cold aussie beer to discuss the regatta.

Phillip