Allow for Trials results to be entered with Score + Time

[rdunlop]

Sometimes, trials events are run such that the final rankings are based on not only the number of points achieved, but the speed at which you completed the course.

In other words, turning in your card early may be an advantage.

The CFM used this method of scoring in 2017, and would like to see the calculation performed by UDA.

Before we can work this issue, we need to know:

• Is this part of the current IUF rulebook? (perhaps an older edition?)
• Will this be used by upcoming conventions? Which?
• How might this interact with other parts of the system?

[GingoO]

I really thought this was used in international events. Curious to see what Scott has to say about it.

[scotthue]

The current IUF Rulebook certainly does not include this method for tie breaks, but I think that it is not an unreasonable method.

The European Championships used this method for finals, and I used the following strategy to enter it into UDA without requiring any change to the competition settings.

Results would be in the form:
xx.tt "XX points, TT minutes remaining"
where xx is the number of lines/points (this was finals, so each line was 1 point) and tt was minutes remaining in the competition when the card was turned in. Because "more points are better" in the competition setup for trials, this calculates the ranking correctly.

For example, Pierre completed all 8 lines in the final with 20 minutes remaining, and Tim completed all 8 lines in the final with only 3 minutes remaining. Thus Pierre received a score of 8.20 and Tim got 8.03, which ranks them in the correct order. Additionally, in the description of their score in UDA, Pierre got "8 lines, 20 minutes remaining" and Tim got "8 lines, 3 minutes remaining" in order to have the results published in a nice way.

I don't see a strong requirement to build this feature directly into UDA. For me, building the three different 'points amounts' (easy: 1; medium: 3; hard: 7) directly into trials scoring in UDA is a much more useful feature. However, if a 'trials' scoring class would need to be created anyways, maybe it makes sense to add time as an option as well at the same time.

I predict more competitions will begin to use this setup, and I would not be surprised if it makes it into the rulebook as an option for tie breaks in the next round of the committee. (I am also personally a fan of this method for certain competitions.)

[GingoO]

We used the point system succesfully too, and as I told Robin, it is definitely not a strong requirement. I agree with about everything you said in the above message. If it is a very easy feature to code into UDA, I think it could make sense to do it, otherwise, I would not bother.