Challenges which few teams manage can create a large score gap

[takluyver]

A team that decides against participating in one of the challenges, or does not fulfil the minimum objectives defined for each challenge, will be given a ranking equal to the number of teams registered in its category plus 1.

This can create large score differences. E.g. if a class of 5 boats attempt a challenge, and only one manages a valid entry, that boat gets 1 point, and the other four each get 6 points. It's hard for the other boats to catch up in the other challenges unless the first boat fails a challenge.

Ideas:

• Adjust the scoring so each challenge awards the same total number of points, regardless of how many boats completed it.
  • In the example above, there would be 15 points in total for a 5 boat class. The boat that managed a valid entry gets 1. The other 14 points are divided among the remaining boats, for 3.5 points per boat. So the difference to make up is 2.5 points instead of 5.
• Differentiate between teams that go out on the water to attempt the challenge (even if they don't meet the minimum requirements) and teams that don't try it at all?
  • Maybe this is a bit too much 'participation trophy'?

[takluyver]

Thinking more about this, I think it's been exacerbated as we relaxed the minimum requirements, making it easier to register a valid attempt. Particularly for the obstacle avoidance, teams can end up in first place in their class by sailing one leg along the course, with no obstacle to avoid. This is a challenge in itself, and they deserve some credit, but it feels unfair that they can open such a big score difference without really reaching the intended goal.