2016 OSYC SAILING INSTRUCTIONS FOR CLUB SERIES RACES

 

These sailing instructions (SI) are secondary to instructions given in any Notice of Regatta (NOR), officially announced at a skippers meeting for a particular race, or officially posted on the notice board.  Conflicts will be resolved in the following order: official posting, skippers meeting, NOR, and finally these SI.

 

1. Rules

Racing shall be governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing, current edition, (RRS), the prescriptions of the United States Sailing Association, the rules of the classes concerned except as altered by these sailing instructions, Class rules requiring competitors to be class members shall not apply to OSYC racing.

 

2. Notices to competitors

Notices to competitors are now posted on the OSYC WEB SITE CALENDAR.  Schedule changes will be sent to competitors via email.

 

3. Changes to sailing instructions

Any change to the sailing instructions will be announced during a skippers meeting.

 

4. Signals made ashore

Signals made ashore will be displayed from the club flagpole or other announced location.

 

When the flag AP (Postponement) is displayed ashore, racing will begin not less than 30 minutes after the AP flag is lowered in order to give boats reasonable time to reach the starting area from shore.

 

5. Schedule of Races

Races are scheduled as posted on the OSYC Web site calendar.  Additional notifications may be included in the club group emails.

 

Unless stated otherwise in the NOR or posted on the notice board, for regular series events the scheduled time for the skippers meeting shall be 1200 and the first signal shall be 1300.  For two-day regattas, on Saturday the skippers meeting shall be at 1200 and the first signal shall be at 1300 and on Sunday there shall be no skippers meeting and the first signal shall be at 1100.  Four (4) short blasts will be given not less than one minute before the first signal of the start sequence.

 

When more than one race will be held on the same day, the warning signal for each succeeding race will be made as soon as practicable.  To alert boats that another race or sequence of races will begin soon, a series of four or more short sound signals will be made from the Race Committee boat not less than one minute before the first signal of the start sequence..

 

No race shall be stared after 1600 during Daylight Savings Time or after 1500 during Standard Time each day, unless announced at the skippers meeting or in the NOR, with the intention being to complete the final race by that time.

 

 

6. Class flags (unless otherwise announced)

Class               Flag

Dinghies          red

Cruisers           blue

Mixed              Solid Green

 

 

7. Racing Area

Races shall be held in the general vicinity of OSYC on Lake Sinclair, Georgia or as designated by the Race Committee.

 

 

8. Courses

No later than the warning signal, the race committee boat shall display the course designation for the upcoming race.

 

Standard courses are described below.  Other course may be used as announced and described at the skippers meeting.  If not announced as “closed”, the line will be considered open and racers may cross the line during the race. If the start/finish is designated “closed”, boats may not cross the line while racing except to start or finish.

 

8.1 Triangle (T)

Race starts upwind.  Course is A-B-C-finish.  Marks are left to Port.  Multiple laps may be designated with a number (i.e., T-1, T-2, T-3).

 

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8.2 Olympic (MO)

Race starts upwind.  Course is A-B-C-A-C-finish.  Marks are left to Port.

 

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8.3 Windward-Leeward (WL)

Race starts upwind.  Course is A-C-finish.  Marks are left to Port.  Multiple laps may be designated with a number (i.e., WL-1, WL-2, WL-3).

 

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8.4 Turkey Foot (TF)

Race starts in the direction of the first mark.  Course is A-gate-B-gate-C-finish.  A, B, and C marks are left to Port.  The start/finish line is a “gate” and must be crossed each lap and may be rounded to either end.

 

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8.5 Long Distance (LD)

Long Distance courses may include any number of marks at any location on the lake and left to either side as described at the skippers meeting or in the notice of regatta.

 

8.6 Other Courses

Other course designs may be used provided that they are within the bounds of the RRS and that they are adequately described to all competitors prior to the warning signal.

 

 

9. Marks

Marks of the course will be inflatable yellow cylinders or other floating buoys.

 

10. The Start

Races will be started using RRS rule 26 with the warning signal given 5 minutes before the starting signal.  An attention signal consisting of multiple short horn blasts may be given not less than 1 minute before the first signal of the start sequence. 

 

The starting line will be between a yellow flag on the race committee boat and a flag on the pin buoy.  The race committee boat may be positioned at either end of the starting line at the convenience of the race committee.

 

A boat that crosses that start line later than 5 minutes after her starting signal may be scored DNS at the discretion of the race committee. The race committee may choose to extend this time depending on prevailing wind conditions.  This changes rule A4.1.

 

11. The Finish

The finishing line will be between a yellow flag (or other if announced pre-race) on the race committee boat and the announced pin buoy.  The race committee boat may be positioned at either end of the finishing line at the convenience of the race committee.

 

12. Shortened Course

When the course is shortened, the finish shall be between a flag on the race committee boat and the nearest mark and boats shall finish by sailing through the line from the direction of the previous mark.

 

13. Penalty System

RRS Rule 44.1 and  44.2 shall apply, except 44.2 is modified to require only a 360* turn.   RRS Rule 61.1a is modified to remove the requirement to fly a red protest flag.  Scoring penalties will not be used.  

 

14. Time Limits

For buoy races, the race officials will attempt to conduct races of less than one hour.  After the 3rd boat crosses the finish line, other boats will have 20 minutes to round the buoy before the last leg of the race.  Those that do not finish in the required time limit will be scored DNF and required to proceed as quickly as possible, preferably motorized or under tow, to the start line for the start of the next race.  The official(s) will sound a horn and put up a flag to signal everyone to return and get ready for the next race.

 

15. Protests and Requests for Redress

Protests must be submitted in writing.  Protest forms are available in the clubhouse.  The protest time limit shall be 30 minutes after the race committee boat docks.  Hearings will be held in the clubhouse as soon as possible after all parties have been notified.  Hearings will be open to all racers.

 

 

16. Scoring

The Low Point scoring system of Appendix A will apply, except as modified by these Sailing Instructions, by a Notice of Regatta, or by a posting on the notice board.

 

16.1 Daily Results

·      Daily results will be posted for information only.

 

16.2 Series Results

Series standings will be based on all the individual races in the series with 1 of every 5 races being dropped from the scoring.  The dropped race(s) would be the highest of the racers accumulated placements.

 

·       Each boat starting and finishing a race day shall be scored points as follows: 

            First                 1 point

            Second            2 points

            Third               3 points

            each place thereafter, add 1 point

 

 

·       Boats that do not start/finish a race will be scored as follows:

 

a.  DNC or DNS will be scored the number of finishers plus 2.:  Any boat that does not launch and sail to the starting area (DNC) or does not start a race.

 

b.  DNF, RET, or DSQ will be scored the number of finishers plus 1.  DNF is for boats that started but did not finish.  RET, started but voluntarily retired.  DSQ, competed but broke a rule and did not do penalty turns. 

 

 

 

·       Boats who choose to fly a spinnaker will receive a 1% handicap penalty, for the race but need not declare SP prior to a race.

 

 

17. Miscellaneous

 

1.         We will attempt to have a race official on the barge for club races when 4 or more boats are expected on the start line.  We will ask for volunteers to man the barge.  If the volunteer is competing in the series, he/she will receive a score equal to the average their other races for the series.  Each boat that performs Race Committee duties will be scored as the average score of races sailed during the series, after the “dropped races” adjustment.

 

2.         If 4 or fewer boats are racing or if a race official is not available, one of the boats racing will need to conduct the start sequence.

 

3.         If conditions are right, the race officials may opt for a race of longer time and distance (to Hauck’s Reef of other designated buoys) instead of a buoy race.  These races are intended to be “one for the day” and do not require any condition on finish time.

 

4.         Club Series racers will be handicapped using the system developed for the 2013 season.

 

5.         Races may be canceled one day prior to race day.  The race chair or other designated person will look at the NOAA forecast on the day before the race and if the temp in degrees F minus the wind in mph is outside the range 35 to 90, an email will be sent out notifying racers that the races will not be conducted.  This will be known as the 35-90 rule.  If the weather is within the 35-90 rule, any decision to cancel the races will be made near race time on the day of the race.