Burton Sailing Club
Sailing Instructions Issue 3 – February 2004
1.1 Racing will be governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS), the prescriptions of the RYA, the rules of Burton Sailing Club, the rules of the appropriate classes and the requirements of Severn Trent Water, except where any of these are changed by these Sailing Instructions.
1.2 Entries
The safety of the boat and her entire management, including insurance, shall be the sole responsibility of the owner/person in charge, who must ensure that the boat and crew are adequate to face the conditions that may arise in the course of a race. Neither these sailing instructions nor any inspection of the boat limits or reduces this absolute responsibility for any loss, damage, death or personal injury howsoever caused. Every owner/person in charge warrants the suitability of the boat for the race or races. The boat shall have current 3rd party insurance of at least £2,000,000.
1.3 A declaration sheet in the Clubhouse shall be signed by the skipper to certify that the boat was fairly raced within the rules and completed the set course, or has retired, or is protesting, within 30 minutes of the last crew to finish arriving ashore from each race. Should races be sailed back to back, then the time limit for signing off will be 30 minutes from the last crew to finish the last race arriving ashore. Skippers failing to sign off will be disqualified.
1.4 The minimum number of starters to constitute a valid race will be 3.
1.5 A boat may be required to present her valid measurement certificate and/or racing certificate on request by the Race Committee.
1.6 Boats may be measured before or after any race at the discretion of the Race Committee, who also reserve the right to inspect buoyancy at any time.
1.7 A boat wishing to use alternative distinguishing marks on her sails must apply to the Race Committee prior to racing. This changes RRS 77.
1.8 Adequate personal buoyancy shall be worn at all times when afloat. This changes RRS 40.
1.9 Wetsuits, drysuits or polar wear shall be worn by all sailors in cold weather.
2.0 NOTICES TO COMPETITORS
2.1 Notices to Competitors and amendments to Sailing Instructions shall be posted on the official notice board located in the Clubhouse area.
3.0 CHANGES TO THE SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
3.1 Changes to the Sailing Instructions will be posted 30 minutes before the advertised starting time of the race concerned. Flag ‘L’ will be flown.
3.2 All proposed permanent changes must be submitted to the Sailing Committee for approval, in writing, before the changes may be effected permanently. Any permanent change to sailing instructions shall be displayed on the official notice board for 14 days before taking effect. Any changes within 14 days must comply with 3.1.
4.0 SIGNALS MADE ASHORE
4.1 Signals made ashore will be displayed on the Clubhouse flagpole. A red flag indicates that no sailing is allowed. Flag ‘N’ over Flag ‘H’ on any flagpole indicates that all racing is abandoned; boats must leave the water; further instructions will be made ashore.
4.2 When flag AP is displayed ashore, ‘1 minute’ is replaced with ‘not less than 20 minutes’ in race signal AP.
5.0 SCHEDULE OF RACES
5.1 Races are scheduled as published in the Annual Programme.
6.0 FLAGS
6.1 Fleet flags and the starting order will be as published in the Annual Programme.
7.0 RACING AREA
7.1 Except for the launching and beaching areas, sailing may not take place within 15m of the banks. Sailing in the crosshatched areas of the map is also prohibited. The racing area is further limited by yellow marker buoys 15m from the bank, outside which it is prohibited to sail. These limits are to be treated as obstructions under the RSS. The Race Committee may protest offenders who are liable to disqualification. Non-competing boats in the race area shall comply with the RRS.
8.0 THE COURSE
8.1 The course/courses will be displayed on the committee boat. If a separate Cadet Fleet course is set it will be proceeded by a ‘C’. The course/courses will be indicated by numbers/letters corresponding to the racing marks. The positions of the marks are shown on the map of the water.
8.2 The order in which the marks are to be passed and the side on which each mark is to be left shall be shown by numbers/letters on a red board to signify rounding to port, or numbers/letters on a green board to signify rounding to starboard. The inclusion of a black G on a white board indicates that the starting gate is to be included in each round.
8.3 The number of laps to be sailed shall be displayed on the Committee Boat. A lap constitutes rounding all the marks in the order specified on the course board. The full course comprises the specified number of laps, plus any leg to the finish line, whose position shall be shown on the course board, passing all intervening marks to the finish on their designated side. The exception is a PURSUIT race, where a full course comprises an unspecified number of laps but a fixed duration.
8.4 Should it be necessary to change the course after it has been displayed, but before the warning signal, then International Code Flag ’C’ shall be flown with a sound signal. This amends RRS 27.1.
9.0 MARKS
9.1 Rounding marks are as follows:
1 to 10 are fixed Orange Can Buoys
X is a movable Green Can Buoy
Y is a movable Red Can Buoy
10.1 Races will be started in accordance with RRS 26.
Succeeding starts will be at intervals of five minutes. The warning signal for each succeeding fleet shall be made with the starting signal of the preceding fleet.
Fleet Flag
Handicap Fleet A white flag bearing the letter ‘H’
Cadet Handicap Fleet Pale Blue Flag bearing the letter ‘C’
10.2 The start line will be between a mast displaying an orange flag on the Committee Boat and either an outer distance mark with an orange flag, or a course mark. The mark to be used will be specified on the course board.
10.3 Boats whose preparatory signal has not been made shall keep clear of the starting area. Any craft failing to keep clear may be disqualified by the OOD, without a hearing, from their subsequent race.
10.4 Individual Recalls: Flag ‘X’ will be displayed for a maximum of two minutes. This amends RRS 29.2.
10.5 General Recalls: In the event of a General Recall RRS 29.3 will apply.
10.6 The orange flag will be lowered after a minimum of two minutes to indicate that the start line has closed.
11.0 THE FINISH
11.1 The finishing line will be between a mast carrying an orange flag and any specified mark of the course or flag buoy.
12.1 The time limits will be 120 minutes for the leading boat of each fleet. Boats failing to finish within 60 minutes after the first boat (in their fleet) finishes or within the limit, whichever is the later, shall be scored ‘did not finish’. In the event of the course not being completed in 120 minutes by the leader, then the position at the last recording may be used to give a result. This changes RRS 35 and A4.1.
13.1 Protest forms are available at the Clubhouse. Protests shall be delivered there within the protest time limit.
13.2 For each fleet, the protest time limit is 60 minutes after the last boat has finished. When races are sailed ‘back to back’ the protest time limit is 60 minutes after the last boat finishes the last of those ‘back to back’ races. This changes RRS 61.3 and 62.
13.3 A deposit of £5.00 is required to accompany a protest form. This will be returned unless the protest committee deems the protest to be frivolous.
13.4 The protest Jury will hear protests in approximately the order of receipt. A notice will be placed on the official notice board to inform all parties of the time and place of the hearings.
14.1 The Low Point scoring system of RRS Appendix A will apply except as defined in 14.2, 14.3 and 14.4.
14.2 Boats Retiring shall be scored for the finishing place one more than the number of starters for that race.
14.3 Long Series – 10 or more races.
Disqualified boats will be awarded points equal to the number of starters plus 5. Non- starters will be awarded 50 points. The number of races to count will be the whole number just greater than 40% of the races in the series.
14.4 Short Series – 9 or less races.
Disqualified boats and non-starters will be awarded points equal to the number of entries in the series plus 3. There will be one discard allowed.
14.5 The number of races scheduled to constitute a series will be specified in the annual programme.
14.6 Handicap races shall be decided by the Time and Distance scheme as described in YR2. Portsmouth Yardsticks set out in the current YR2 will be used.