by Adam H Smith

Race Instructions

RULES:

The race will be governed by the rules as dreamed up by the Race Director and may be changed without notice at his slightest whimsy.  Once on the water, sailing activities will be governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing

SCHEDULE OF RACE:

A warning signal for the start will be at 1327 hours on Friday January 26th, 2018.

TEAMS:

The race will be contested by teams of 2.  Team members will sail together on one boat or may sail individually on 2 boats in the same Division.

REGISTRATION:

Teams must register for the race by email (info@westernport.org.au) or on the sign-on sheet provided at the club by noon on the day of the race.

DIVISIONS:

The race will be conducted in Divisions as follows:

• Division 1 – Catamarans with yardsticks below 88 – i.e. Hobie 16, Hobie 18
• Division 3 – Catamarans and monohulls with yardsticks between 88 and 125 – i.e. 420, Laser Radial, Nacra 4.0
• Division 5 – Monohulls with yardsticks greater than 125 – i.e. Mirror, Optimist, OziOpti, Sabre

RACING AREA:

Will be in the waters immediately in front of Westernport Yacht Club, inside the reef, and on the beach to the east of the jetty and in the club premises

THE COURSE:

The race will consist of 6 legs.  The first, third and fifth legs of the course will be sailing legs.  The second, fourth and sixth legs of the race will be challenge legs.

For the sailing legs, the course will be as follows:

• Division 5 – Beach – Tide Gauge – Beach
• Division 3 – Beach – Tide Gauge – Finish Buoy– Tide Gauge – Beach
• Division 1 – Beach – Tide Gauge – Finish Buoy– Tide Gauge – Finish Buoy– Tide Gauge – Beach

Courses may be shortened, in which case Flag S will be displayed in from the Race Control boat. The flag for each Division for which the course is shortened will be displayed accompanied by two sound signals.  When the course is shortened for a Division, any boat in that division may complete the leg of the course by rounding the Race Control boat and proceeding directly to the beach.

MARKS:

The Tide Gauge is the tall yellow pylon with a navigation light on top directly in front (to the south east) of the club.  The finishing buoy is the buoy with orange base and red and white horizontal stripes close to shore directly south of the club.  All marks must be rounded to STARBOARD.

THE START:

The start line is the line of the main beach gate entry to the club.  One member of each team must be behind (to the north of) this line prior to the start.  The other member of the team may be holding the team boat(s) in the water.  All divisions will start together on a sound signal made 3 minutes after the warning signal.

THE FINISH:

Will be the line of the door to the James Douglas Race Control Tower

RETURNING TO THE BEACH:

After each sailing leg, the team boat(s) must be placed securely on their trailer or beach wheels, made safe and placed on the beach, head to wind, far enough above the waterline to not be at risk of being carried away by the tide in the next half hour.  Once this is done, competitors should proceed to the Race Director at the end of the jetty.  If the Race Director is happy that the team boat(s) has completed the last leg and has been correctly beached, he will provide direction for the next Challenge Leg

CHALLENGE LEGS:

At each challenge leg, teams will be given a choice between a primarily physical task and a primarily mental task.  At any point a team may decide to switch tasks by returning to the Race Director and getting instructions for the alternate task.

PENALTY SYSTEM

For on water indiscretions, the rules of sailing apply other than multi-hulls Rule 44.2 is changed so that the 720° turn is replaced by a 360° turn.

If the Race Director is displeased by the actions of any competitor while on land (including attempts to bribe or coerce an official with gifts or services of less than $100 value incl GST) the penalty applied to the offending competitor is that they shall strut around in a circular motion whilst performing a convincing impersonation of a chicken (complete with flapping wings and nodding head) and stating in a clearly audible high-pitched voice “I’m a silly sausage” over and over again for a period of ONE MINUTE.

TIME LIMIT

The time limit for a division is 3 hours after the start of that division or 60 minutes after the first boat in that division has finished whichever is the earlier.  All boats finishing outside these limits will be deemed to have lost interest in proceedings and should lock the front gate and come and see us in the bar when you have had enough fun for one day

PROTESTS

Protest forms are available at the Tourist Information Centre at the Cable Beach Resort Caravan Park in Broome (I think I left them there when we went on holiday). Competed protest forms shall be delivered to the Race Director within the protest time limit.

The protest time limit is 45 minutes after the last boat to finish.

PRIZES:

Prizes will be presented to the first, second and third teams in the clubhouse at 4.30pm on the afternoon of the race and trophies will be presented at the WYC Presentation Day and AGM.