Racing
The EYC provides sailboat racing for each of its’ designated fleets: Flying Scot (FS), Optimist and Flying Junior (FJ). There are weekday and weekend races scheduled as well as Fleet and specialty Regattas (Please see schedule)
2007 EYC RACE RULES:
Race Committee Notes to Racers:
- The EYC will run an official race if there are 2 or more boats wishing to race.
- Up to 3 races per daily series will count towards the series standing
- If 2 or more racers wish to race more than 3 races, they are considered fun/practice races and are not recorded. The race committee shall accommodate racers when appropriate
- The Race Committee is the final say when Safety is a concern: Cancellation of Races, Abadonment of Race, etc.
RACE COMMITTEE GUIDELINES:
Setting the Course: (See Diagrams on Following Below)
1. SET THE PIN END/LEEWARD MARK: Anchor the pin end of the starting line and park the committee boat next to it (close to the EYC is fine — unless there are shifty winds… or an East wind). Make sure that is really set, and not drifting.
2. SET THE WINDWARD MARK: Check the wind direction while you are still parked at the pin end (cassette tape on a stick or old masthead fly will work well for this). Double check the direction again, and drive the boat directly upwind from the pin end of the line to set the windward mark. For weekly racing, the windward mark should be no more than a 15 minute upwind sail from the starting line – and no less than 10 minutes. For weekend races it should be no less than 15 minutes upwind. With practice, you will develop the ability to judge this distance based on wind speed. (try timing boats before or during the races – to see how much distance they cover in 5-7 minutes of upwind sailing). After you have set the windward mark, recheck the wind direction to see that it is blowing directly downwind toward the pin end of the start line.
3. RECHECK THE COURSE: Return to the pin end of the line, and recheck that the windward mark is within 5 degrees of straight upwind from the pin. If it is not – YOU MUST RESET THE COURSE. An easy way to reset the course would be to move the pin end (so you don’t have to go all the way upwind again).
4. STARTING LINE: Create the starting line by anchoring the committee boat perpendicular to the first beat. A good rule of thumb on line length is:
- 1 to 5 Boats take 1 1/2 boat length (30 ft.) times the # of boats
- 6 to 15 Boats take 1 boat length (20 ft.) times the # of boats
- 16+ Boats take 1/2 boat length (10 ft.) times the # of boats
If you are a poor judge of distance, find out how far the committee boat idles per second, and you can figure out the line length by timing the committee boat. If you are still unsure of the line length, have the boats do a practice start, and watch to see if they are too bunched up (lengthen line), or if there are miles of water between them (shorten line).
5. COURSE: The best, and easiest courses for weekly racing are windward/leeward courses (a finish to leeward also means you won’t have to move the committee boat). Double windward leewards are okay too – if there is enough wind to get the boats around quickly. Remember: shorter races = more races = better practice = better sailors.
Course Considerations:
-Race courses should be set so that you can run corner to corner without running aground, this is particularly hard with the low water right now, so set them far enough out to accommodate.
-If there is a significant wind shift (45 degrees or more) after the start then the course must be changed to accommodate, this will eliminate non-tactical drag races.
6. 5 MINUTE STARTING SEQUENCE: Prior to starting sequence (~10 sec) give a few short blasts with whistle or horn. Then follow the starting sequence in Racing Rules (pg 9).
