There’s a new scoring system for the Volvo Ocean Race designed to reward leg wins more than in the past. Bonus points for wins as well as for significant race milestones are giving incentive to the teams to push for wins — harder than ever before.
Scoring for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 is based on a high-point scoring system. The goal is to collect as many points as possible throughout the 11 legs.
Every leg win is worth 7 points, second place is worth 6 points, third place 5 points, and so on. A team that doesn’t start or finish a leg scores no points. So far, so standard.
But points are doubled for three of the longer west to east legs of the race. So double points apply to Leg 3 (Cape Town to Melbourne), Leg 7 (Auckland to Itajai) and Leg 9 (Newport to Cardiff).
Additionally, there is a one-point bonus for each leg win, as well as for being the first boat to cross the longitude of Cape Horn and for having the lowest elapsed time in the race. One point is also awarded to all boats completing Leg 5 — Hong Kong to Guangzhou to Hong Kong.
“The key to this system is that we give incentive to teams to push hard for things that are important,” said Phil Lawrence, Race Director. “The long ocean legs are rewarded with double points, leading at an iconic location like Cape Horn picks up a bonus, and so does having the quickest elapsed time for the whole race.
“But I think the most important reward is the extra point for each leg win. For the first time, there is a reason to push even harder to grab that extra point.”
Under the new system, it is very possible that Leg 7 could be one where the eventual winning boat makes its move. A team scoring maximum points on this leg could collect a whopping 16 points (7×2 for first place; plus 1 point leg win bonus; plus 1 point IF there were also the first team to pass Cape Horn).
But with a total of 104 points available in the race, this is far from the only opportunity to separate from the pack.
Historically, the Volvo Ocean Race rewards consistent finishes near the top of the fleet in each leg over the course of the race, but with double points and win bonuses, the incentive to go for broke to grab a leg win has never been higher, which could make for some agonising decisions in the nav station.
In Port Tie Breaker
The In Port Races the teams sail at the various stopover ports around the world will be scored as a series, under a high-point scoring system (7 points for a win, 6 points for second place, 5 points for third place and so on). This leaderboard, updated following each In Port Race, will be used to break any ties throughout the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, including following the final race in The Hague.
Making the point:
(total points available in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18)
10 legs x 7 points = 70 points
3 x double points legs = 21 points
10 x win bonus points = 10 points
Leg 5 — Hong Kong – Guangzhou = 1 point
Cape Horn bonus = 1 point
Elapsed Time bonus = 1 point
Total Points Available = 104 points
