Over time, several scoring systems for Sailing were used during the Summer Olympics.More scoring system will be added as the series of article about Sailing at the Summer Olympics gets updated. Many of these systems were also used by other regattas in their times. In order to understand how the medals in the Olympics were handed out one must have a look at the scoring system of that specific olympic sailing regatta.

From the start of sailing till the turn of the millennium one practiced the principle that the difference in points between No. 1 and 2 must be larger than between No. 2 and 3 and so on. Several systems in different variations were invented. For the last couple of Olympics this principle was no longer followed.

1900 Olympic scoring system In 1900 for the different races different systems were used:

Olympic races at Meulan In the following classes only one race was sailed for each gold medal. 0 – ½ Ton ½ – 1 Ton 1 – 2 Ton 2 – 3 Ton 3 – 10 Ton In these races each boat was given, in advance, a handicap of several minutes and seconds. For each boat, the sailing time over the course was measured. This sailed time plus the handicap gave the corrected time. The boat with the lowest corrected time became winner.

Olympic races at Le Havre Since in the 10 – 20 Ton a series of three races was sailed, a scoring system beside the handicap system was used. Per race one could earn points as follows: 1st place: 10 points 2nd place: 9 points 3rd place: 8 points ... 6th (last) place: 5 points A disqualification of penalty gives the points of the last place minus 1. Therefore, In the Olympics with six boats competing this gives 4 points. All races counted and the scoring system was used after the corrected time was calculated.

Open class at Meulan For the Open class NO handicap or scoring system was used. The order in which the boats crossed the finishing line was the result of the regatta. This with the exception of the boats that were disqualified.

In case of a tie There are no known provisions for breaking a tie in the 1900 sailing regattas at the Olympic Games.

1908 Olympic scoring system Three races would be scheduled in each class. The winner is the yacht with the most 1st placesWe see this system still in use with the medal tables during the Olympics.

In case of a tie In the event of three different yachts winning these Races, points will be allotted to them according to the following scale: 1st place: 3 points 2nd place: 2 points 3rd place: 1 point 4 ... no points. The tie is broken in favor of the yacht with the most points. Should two or more winners in any class tie under these conditions, they shall sail an extra match, on a day to be appointed, and the winner of this match shall be adjudged the absolute winner of the series. Any tie for second place will be decided in the same manner.

1912 Olympic scoring system In each class there will be 2 ordinary races, with the following method of scoring: 1st place: 7 points 2nd place: 3 points 3rd place: 1 point 4 ... no points.

In case of a tie Should two or more yachts in any class tie under these conditions for one of the first 3 places overall, the yachts involved shall sail an extra race. The winner breaks the tie in its favor.

1920 Olympic scoring system For the Games in Belgium a so-called Point for Place system was used: 1st place: 1 point 2nd place: 2 points ... DNF: points equal to the No. of started boats DNS: points equal to the No. of entered boats

In case of a tie Should two or more yachts in any class tie under these conditions a sail-off would determine the final result.

1924 Olympic scoring system For the 1924 Games in France system of elimination series and semi finals was used.

French National Monotype 1924 In this class a total of 17 competitors participated. The France Olympic Committee had made available a total of 8 mostly identical boats. So here the fleet was divided in two flights of eight. In each elimination series one country was exempt and was automatically qualified for the semi-final. Per flight the best two boats earned a place in the semi-final. Finally a sail off was held for the places 2–4.

6 & 8 Metre In this class three elimination series were scheduled. The two best of each flight got a place in the semi-final. Eventually ties were broken by the result of the final race. The result of the other boats, up to place 6, was determined by the total result of the elimination series by the point for place system.

In case of a tie Ties in the elimination series were not broken. Ties in the semi-finals were broken by the result of the elimination series.

1928 Olympic scoring system

12 Foot Dinghy Each contestant participates in four events and receives a number of points corresponding to his order of arrival in his group. Should a contestant retire or be disqualified he shall be allowed a number of points identical with the number of starters in his group. Should a contestant not start he shall be allowed a number of points identical with the number of entrants in his group. The ten contestants obtaining the lowest number of points in the preliminary contests participate in the finals. The ten contestants in the finals, sail in four events in accordance with the principles laid down for the Int. 8 and 6 metres classes.

6 and 8 Metre Seven events are held; After 4 events all contestants drop out which have not been placed first, second or third at least once. The crew of the vessel finishing first in most events is the winner. Should the crew of a vessel retire or be disqualified their place in the order of merit shall be the same as the number starters. In the event of a crew not starting their place in the order of merit shall be the same as the number of valid entries in the respective class.

In case of a tie Should there be a tie as regards the first places, the number of second places obtained by those concerned shall decide which vessel is winner. In the event of this being a tie, the number of third places shall be the deciding factor. An identical system shall be applied with regard to the vessels qualifying for the second and third places, etc.

1932 Olympic scoring system The winner in each class of the Yachting competition was decided on the following point system: A yacht was given one point for finishing. A yacht was given one point for each boat it defeated. The number of defeated yachts was figured on the number starting in any one race. A yacht that started and did not finish did not receive a point for starting, but was counted as a defeated yacht in awarding points to the other yachts. Where only one yacht was entered, it was necessary for her to sail over and properly complete the course in order to be awarded a place.

In case of a tie In case of a tie after all races were sailed, provision was made for an extra race between the competitors tied.

1936 Olympic scoring system Equal as 1932.

In case of a tie In case of a tie after all races were sailed, provision was made for an extra race between the competitors tied. This rule only applies as it concerns the places 1, 2 or 3.

1940 Olympic scoring system For the 1940 Olympics the following scoring system was intended:Handboekje der Koninklijke Verbonden Nederlandsche Watersport Vereenigingen, 1940 1st: points equal to the number of started boats + 10 2nd: points equal to the number of started boats – 1 (+5 if four or more boats did start) 3rd: points equal to the number of started boats – 2 (+3 if six or more boats did start) 4th: points equal to the number of started boats – 3 5th: points equal to the number of started boats – 4 ... DNF: 3 points DNS: 0 points DSQ: 0 points

In case of a tie In case of a tie the helmsman with the most first places wins the serie. If this does not break the tie the helmsman with the most second places wins the serie and so on. If the tie is still not broken the series goes to the helmsmen with the best result in the last race.

1948 Olympic scoring system Until the 1932 Olympics many scoring systems were used. Most of them put a lot of weight at winning of races. This changes in Los Angeles where a point for place system was used. Still the need for awarding the winning of races remained.

In Austria a point system was developed were the delta between two sequential places was decreased with the rank. In other words: a lot of points between 1 and 2 and less difference between 24 and 25. The system was based upon a formula taking the number of entries and the rank of into account. Not finishing, retiring after the finish, disqualification or not starting gave 0 points. The formula looked like this:

N = Rank and A = Number of entries. This formula is in the table below exercised for 1 to 25 entries.

This system was used for the 1948 Olympics. Seven races were scheduled, of the seven races, a yacht counted only the points for her best six races. No. of entries (A) Rank(N) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 116 Metre 12Dragon 13 14Swallow 15 16 17Star 18 19 20 21Firefly 22 23 24 25 1101402578703800879946100410551101114211801215124712771305133113561380140214231443146314811499 2 101277402499578645 703 754 800 841 879 914 946 9761004103010551079110111221142116211801198 3 101226323402469 527 578 624 665 703 738 770 800 828 854 879 903 925 946 966 98610041022 4 101198277344 402 453 499 540 578 613 645 675 703 729 754 778 800 821 841 861 879 897 5 101180247 305 356 402 443 481 516 548 578 606 632 657 681 703 724 744 764 782 800 6 101168 226 277 323 364 402 437 469 499 527 553 578 602 624 645 665 685 703 721 7 101 159 210 256 297 335 370 402 432 460 486 511 535 557 578 598 618 636 654 8 101 152 198 239 277 312 344 374 402 428 453 477 499 520 540 560 578 596 9 101 147 188 226 261 293 323 351 377 402 426 448 469 489 508 527 54510 101 142 180 215 247 277 305 331 356 380 402 423 443 463 481 49911 101 139 174 206 236 264 290 315 338 361 382 402 421 440 45812 101 136 168 198 226 252 277 301 323 344 364 384 402 42013 101 133 163 191 218 242 266 288 309 329 349 367 38514 101 131 159 185 210 234 256 277 297 317 335 35315 101 129 155 180 204 226 247 267 287 305 32316 101 127 152 176 198 219 239 259 277 29517 101 126 149 172 193 213 232 251 26818 101 124 147 168 188 207 226 24419 101 123 144 165 184 202 22020 101 122 142 162 180 19821 101 121 141 159 17722 101 120 139 15723 101 119 13724 101 11925 101DNF|| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- |align=center|'''DNS|| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- |align=center|DSQ'' 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNF = Did Not Finish DNS = Did not start DSQ = Disqualified

In case of a tie Ties were broken as follows: First count the number of times one boat placed ahead of the other The number of first places The number of second places and so on Tie breaker race

1952 Olympic scoring system The Austrian scoring system of 1948 was used. Below you find the relevant tables: No. of entries (A) Rank(N)116 Metre 125.5 Metre14Dragon17Star28Finn111421305133114231548284110041030112212473665828854946107145407037298219465443606632724849636452755364577072974604865787038239402428520645918835137746959410142305331423548111012642903825071222625234446913191218309434141591852774021512915524737216101127219344171011933181816829319144269201222472110122622206231862416825150261332711728101DNF00000DNS00000DSQ00000 DNF = Did Not Finish DNS = Did not start DSQ = Disqualified

1956 Olympic scoring system The Austrian scoring system of 1948 was used. Below you find the relevant tables: