It has been told to me that there has been at least one disagreement over how to compare finish times of boats in different class. It was suggested that I should explain how to do this. So ...
Some scores can be compared as published without any adjustment. If the boats in question where in the same start, their published scores compare directly. For example: Fall Series Classes S & H can be compared as printed. And you can directly compare the “Course Times” of all boats all starts. This is elapsed time, no handicapping.
If you want to compare corrected times of boats in different starts, you need to adjust our scoring program’s output for starting time differences. First you need to figure out the difference in start times. Then you need to adjust the “Corrected Finish Time”: add the starting difference to the faster boat’s score, or subtract it from the slower. For example: to compare a boat in Class B Fall Series with one in Class H, subtract five minutes from the B Class boat’s “Corrected Finish Time”.
Steve Worcester, Sugar Magnolia