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A
Race Officer’s Guide - 2007
This guide
is intended for those with rusty memories or for those who have never
been Race Officer before. It is written in such a way to lead you
through the process of starting a race and all the events that lead up
to it. It is hoped that the more experienced sailors will remember how
the process is done but, just in case, this will act as a check list to
ensure that all the right things happen at the right time in the right
way.
For every
race there is a duty Sailing Committee member, whose responsibility it
is to set the course. This is not intended to suggest that you, the Race
Officer, is not capable of doing so, but the Sailing Committee regularly
discuss course setting and so, hopefully, learn from their, and each
other’s, mistakes. By all means help the Sailing Committee member with
constructive comments.
You should
hoist the Club burgee to the masthead and the red ensign to the end of
the yard. This indicates to all, that racing is to take place. No
further flags will be flown from the mast unless racing is cancelled or
postponed, or unless there is a general recall. The latter is unlikely
in Club racing, but it is best to prepare for it by clipping the First
Substitute onto one of the crosstree halyards.
The outer
distance mark is now permanently laid, so to set up the line, position
the 2 orange posts (one on the front of the Signal Station building and
one on the compound wall) so that the distance mark is in line with
them.
Check that
the hooter/light is set up properly so that it is pointing straight down
the start line. Make sure it’s connected to the transformer, which
should be switched on at the mains socket inside the radio locker. Give
the button a quick press to make sure the hooter and light are working.
Make sure
the radio base station is connected to its antenna lead and its power
supply.
Take the
following items with you to the starting platform on the rescue boat
shed roof:
Race
results sheets (one for each class)
Pens/pencils
A stopwatch
Binoculars
A
calculator
As the
boats are launching, make a note of their sail numbers and boat types on
the relevant results sheet.
The Club
use signing on sheets firstly as a Safety control and to ensure results
are allocated to the correct Boat/Helm/Crew.
It is
very important that the race starts at the published time unless there
is a really good reason not to. Therefore you have to be ready to make
the first sound signal SIX minutes before that time.
Ideally all
racing marks should have been laid before beginning the starting
sequence. However, if the line is in place and the first mark of the
course is laid, it is generally safe to begin the sequence while the
other marks are being laid. If in doubt, contact the safety boat to
discuss how long they think they need to lay the remaining marks.
Check that
the marks are in their intended positions. Don’t get too picky about it
– it is often more important to get on with the race rather than try to
create the perfect course.
The start
line is a transit between the two orange posts. It is preferable that
the distance mark should be in line with them, but not essential. It is
better to have the line slightly ahead of the ODM rather than behind it,
to discourage early starters.
Once you
are happy that all is set, proceed with the STARTING PROCEDURE section
of this guide.
If, for any
reason, you have to abort the starting sequence (marks drifting, safety
boat problems etc) then make 3 long sound signals and hide all shapes.
When it’s all sorted out, begin the starting sequence again.
Remember
it’s the appearance/disappearance of the flag shapes, which indicates
the official signal. The sound signal is merely to draw attention to the
flag shapes.
Starting Procedure – 4 Class Starts (Saturdays and Tuesdays)
Class 1 –
Black flag shape
Class 2 –
Red flag shape
Class 3 –
Yellow flag shape
Class 4 –
Green flag shape
Official start minus 6
minutes
Warning
signal Class 1
One
hoot/light signal
Expose the
black flag shape
 
Official start minus 3
minutes
Preparatory
signal for Class 1
Warning
signal for Class 2
One
hoot/light signal
Expose the
red flag shape
Expose the
Blue Peter
   
Official start time
Start for
Class 1
Preparatory
signal for Class 2
Warning
Signal for Class 3
One
hoot/light
Hide the
black flag shape (if all clear)
Expose the
yellow flag shape
Official start plus 3
minutes
Start for
Class 2
Preparatory
signal for Class 3
Warning
signal for Class 4
One
light/hoot
Hide the
red flag shape (if all clear)
Expose the
green flag shape
Official start plus 6
minutes
Start for
Class 3
Preparatory
signal for Class 4
One
light/hoot
Hide the
yellow flag shape (if all clear)
Official start plus 9
minutes
Start for
Class 4
One
light/hoot
Hide the
green flag shape (if all clear)
Hide the
Blue Peter
All races
have now started
Starting
Procedure – Single Class Starts (Sundays)
Official start minus 6
minutes
Warning
signal
One
hoot/light signal
Expose the
black flag shape
Official start minus 3
minutes
Preparatory
signal
One
hoot/light signal
Expose the
Blue Peter
Official start
One
hoot/light
Hide the
black flag shape (if all clear)
Hide the
Blue Peter
If any part
of any boat or its equipment is over the line (OCS – On course side) at
the time of the start signal, two actions should be taken:
Make a
second sound signal
Move the
flag shape of the class in question to a halfway position, rather than
completely hiding it.
Make a note
of the class and sail number(s) of the boat(s) in question and watch to
see if they return to a position behind the line to exonerate them self.
If they do, then hide the flag shape fully. If any of them don’t, then
leave the flag shape half hidden for at least one lap of the course.
In the
unlikely event that there are so many boats over the line that you can’t
identify all of them (or if you can’t identify the boats behind
the line), then a general recall is required. The following actions
should be taken:
a)
Make two extra sound signals (i.e. a total of three)
b) Fly
the First Substitute flag on the crosstree of the mast behind you.
c)
Start the remaining classes as programmed. The class with the General
Recall goes to the back of the queue.
d) At
the time of the last legitimate start, the First Substitute should be
dropped. One minute later, the class and Blue Peter flag shapes should
be shown together. Three minutes later the restart takes place.
Take a note
of the time that each boat crosses the line at the end of each round.
Except at the finish, you need only take a rough note of the
hours/minutes. This will be useful in deciding whether or not to shorten
course (i.e. predicting how long boats will take to do subsequent
rounds) and may also be useful to “backtrack” times in the (unlikely!)
event of mistakes or confusion with finishing times.
It is
generally a good policy for the duty Sailing Committee member to set an
overlong course, which can easily be shortened, rather than risk setting
a course, which is never going to be long enough. For that reason, it is
often appropriate for the Race Officer to shorten the course during the
race. These decisions are often difficult, as you have to consider the
boats at the back of the fleet as well as the boats at the front. It is
generally agreed that people would rather have a race that was a little
too short, than one which was a little too long, so bear that in mind –
especially on a Tuesday evening (when it can quickly get dark and people
get thirsty!) and on a Sunday (when they are supposed to be SHORT COURSE
races).
 
The
finishing line is between the orange post directly in front of you on
the starting platform, and the outer distance mark. The orange post on
the compound wall is not part of the finishing line and should be
removed soon after the start.
When each
boat crosses the line after the prescribed number of rounds, or after
the shorten course signal, then give it a hoot/light and record its sail
number and finishing time (including seconds) on the race results sheet.
Portsmouth yardsticks are the method utilised by the club to
differentiate between boats in Handicap racing. These numbers are
published annually by the RYA and a full list is available.
When all
the boats have finished, complete the race sheet by working out the
corrected time with a calculator.
The formula
is as follows:
=
ELAPSED TIME IN SECONDS X 1000 /
PORTSMOUTH YARDSTICK NUMBER
For
example:
A Laser 1
with a PY of 1078 starts a race at 14.36.00 and finishes at 16.07.33
Elapsed
time is 16.07.33 less 14.36.00 = 1 hr 31 min 33 secs
Which
equals 3600 secs + 1860 secs + 33 secs = 5,493 secs
Now put
this into the formula:
5,493 x
1000 = 5,095.55 rounded to 5,096
1078
For average
lap time races, the corrected time should, then be divided by the number
of laps each boat has sailed. So if our Laser has sailed 3 laps, his
corrected time would be 5,096 divided by 3 = 1,699
If in
doubt, consult the duty Sailing Committee member.
Remember
that you the Race Officers, and the safety boat drivers, are entitled to
average points. Please make sure you add your names to the race results
sheets to ensure this happens.
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