About PaddleRace
PaddleRace tracks open water paddle races and results in the Pacific Northwest. Instead of splitting the field into craft and age-group categories we measure each paddler against their own history. We then award virtual trophies to competitors who performed best relative to their standard.
Contact: mike.liddell@gmail.com · GitHub issues.
How indexed results work
Each racer has a pace index per series and craft category — a multiplier reflecting their relative speed.
After each race, every racer's finish time divided by their index gives an estimate of the par time for the course. We sort the estimates and take the 30th-percentile value to be the official par time. Once we have the par time we calculate the projected time for each racer as par x index and compare their actual result with their projected time.
The par racer trophy is just a fun recognition for the racer who happened to define par that day.
FAQ
- How do I get my results added?
- Results for tracked series are added automatically after each race if they're on a supported platform (WebScorer, Race Result, or Jericho). For missing results or new series, contact us.
- Why no age groups, gender categories, or open-water kayak sub-types (SK, FSK, HPK)?
- The indexed system makes them unnecessary — each racer competes against their own projected times, not directly against others. Splitting further would also leave too few racers per group for a reliable index. Many racers also choose their boat based on conditions, so we track K-1 performance broadly. See Sound Rowers kayak classifications for SK/FSK/HPK definitions.
- Why are there craft categories at all?
- A racer's SUP and K-1 performances are genuinely different things. Grouping them would mean the index tracks two different profiles at once. Within a category, specific boat models are treated as equivalent.
- What do the craft abbreviations mean?
- K-1/K-2: single/double kayak. OC-1/OC-2/OC-6: outrigger canoe. Va'a: rudderless Polynesian outrigger. SUP: stand-up paddleboard. Prone: prone paddleboard. Specific models (e.g. "Surfski") appear in parentheses where known.
- What does ^ mean on a result?
- Outlier — the result was more than 10% outside projection and the index was not updated. Also used for a racer's first result back after a long absence.
- What is the streak trophy?
- Awared to racers who have three or more consecutive races beating their projected time. Rewards steady improvement.
- Why track indexed time at all?
- Finish time shows who was fastest. Indexed time shows who performed best relative to their own history — rewarding improvement rather than raw speed.
- What does "establishing index" mean?
- Your first three ranked races in a series set your initial index. Only established racers are considered for indexed-time awards. Races in small groups or on ineligible courses don't count toward establishment — only ranked races do.
- What is an outlier?
- A result more than 10% outside projection. The index doesn't change — protecting against wrong turns, equipment failures, or other anomalies. If a racer is flagged outlier three races in a row, the system auto-resets their index to the mean of those three races and they resume normal racing.
- Can people game the system?
- Yes. Variable effort in different races will cause a fluctuating index and potentially a high number of podiums. We protect against
inadvertant issues by ignoring results that are more than 10% higher than projection.
- How is the index updated?
-
| Situation | Update |
|---|
| Establishment race 1 | Index = result vs par (100%) |
| Establishment race 2 | 80% shift toward new result |
| Establishment race 3 | 60% shift toward new result (racer is now established) |
| Faster than projected | 30% shift toward new result |
| Slower than projected | 15% shift toward new result |
| Outlier (>10% off) | No change (but see auto-reset below) |
| 3 outliers in a row | Auto-reset to mean of those three races |
During establishment the weighting is biased toward more recent races. Final weights on the three establishment-race results are 8% / 32% / 60%, reflecting the common pattern that racers improve through their first few races.
- How is the projected time calculated?
-
Projected time = Par time × Your index
And par time is a consensus estimate from observing the result of all the established racers.
Example: par 52:00, index 0.847 → projected 44:02. Finish 43:01 → 61 seconds faster than projected → index improves.
- What are indexed points vs finish points?
- Finish points: 10 for 1st down to 1 for 10th, by crossing order. Indexed points: same scale, by indexed time order. Not awarded during establishment (first three ranked races) or on the auto-reset race. In multi-distance races, points are weighted by group size.
References
Race organizers
Data sources
Methodology
The index system uses the same multiplicative time-correction approach as used by the TopYacht sailing system.
We have adjusted some of the terminology to (hopefully) make it more accessible but the core concept and math is unchanged.