> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.estela.co/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.estela.co/tracking-races-with-estela/rating-and-handicap-racing.md).

# Rating and Handicap Racing

Rating lets you compare boats of different speed potential in the same race by applying a handicap coefficient from each boat's measurement certificate (TCC, GPH, PHRF, etc.) to its elapsed time. This produces a corrected time that determines the handicap results, separate from the raw finish order.

### Setting Up Rating

There are three places rating comes into play:

1. **Boat default rating** — set on each boat's profile in the Fleet section (field `Rating`, e.g. `1.025`). See Adding and Managing Boats. Leaving it empty means that boat won't receive any correction, even if the race has a handicap mode enabled.
2. **Race handicap mode** — chosen when configuring a tracking session: `No handicap`, `Time on Time (ToT)`, or `Time on Distance (ToD)`. This decides whether and how corrected time is calculated for that race.
3. **Per-race override** — on a boat's entry within a specific race, you can override its rating just for that race (e.g. a different certificate applies for one event). Leave it empty to fall back to the boat's default rating.

### How Corrected Time Is Calculated

* **Time on Time (ToT)**: `corrected time = elapsed time × rating`
* **Time on Distance (ToD)**: `corrected time = elapsed time − (rating × distance sailed)`

The lower the corrected time, the better the result — this is what determines the handicap classification.

### Where It Applies — and Where It Doesn't

The live leaderboard and map (what spectators see while the race is running) always show boats ordered by raw elapsed time, or by finish order in a Pursuit race. Rating never changes what's shown live.

Handicap correction is calculated afterwards, in Post-Race Analysis: the Time Table and CSV exports show the corrected time and the resulting handicap ranking whenever the race has a handicap mode enabled.

### Combining Rating with Pursuit Races

Handicap rating is independent of the start procedure, so it can technically be combined with a Pursuit race. In practice it's most commonly used with the Default start procedure, where every boat starts from the same line and corrected time is what makes the comparison fair.