Since we started the Match Race trainer at http://www.tacticat.com we were looking for a fair way to rate the sailors according the matchs raced, winned or lost.

We tried several methods and now we're using the ELO system, the same used in chess, go and other 1 vs 1 games.

Applying the system to the historical data (3 months, 1500 match races, 300 sailors) has given a very interesting new ranking. Sailors get or lose points now taking into account who are they racing.
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We are even considering to extend the system to fleet racing too, it would be a lengthy task but computers today are fast!.
The idea being that your score on a fleet race is affected by the quality (ELO rating) of the sailors you beat and you'are beaten by.
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I'm wondering if similar systems are used in 'real' regattas.

[Due to the popularity of Match Racing at Tacticat and the 'technical' problem of being yet unable to start several flights in the same field we restrict Match Racing to registered users. We've setup match-race fields in the three Tacticat servers (London, Dallas, Brisbane) but today only 3*2=6 users can be racing at the same time.]

aestela