The points scored in each race are added together to give a boat’s “series score”. The overall winner of each event is the boat which scores the lowest number of points.

There are eleven races scheduled for every event, except the 49er which has 16 races scheduled.
After a minimum of five races have been completed, a boat can “discard” a race. This means they can throw away their worst score in the event. On the results sheet, this score is shown in brackets i.e. (15).

The Medal Race

The top 10 boats (those with the lowest series score) can compete in the final Medal Race.  During the Medal Race the points are doubled.  The boat which finishes first scores 2 points, second scores 4 points and so on.  If there is a tie on points, the finishing position across the line in the Medal Race is used to decide the final result.

The Racing Rules

If a sailor breaks a Rule during a race they can take a penalty before they cross the finish line to clear themselves.  The penalty is either a 360 or 720 degree turn on the race course, during the race.

If however, there is a dispute over who has broken a Rule the sailors may protest and the decision about who is at fault will be made after the race has finished by a panel of Rules experts called the Jury.  The scores therefore may change, for example if the Jury decides a boat should be disqualified.

If a boat retires, is disqualified or does not finish a race they will receive a “letter score” e.g. DSQ and they receive points on their score that are equal to the last place score plus 1.