TSS Race Committee CLUB RACES AND PORTSMOUTH: Check weather forecast. Arrive one hour before skippers meeting. Prepare marks, flags, equipment. Load equipment on boat. If you are qualified and using the D. Heil, add extra time to launch. Note the wind direction and weather conditions. Racers race at their own discretion but this is a club race RC must exercise good judgment. If a race is to be postponed or abandoned, try to do it before you and racers leave the Club. Skippers mtg.on porch Check in any new racers. Get skipper & boat id info for RFC. Announce course(s) and number of races. Announce starts together or separate and order of starts. Sailing instrux. are posted on board. If pursuit race, give start times (x mins., x seconds after X time) and take a copy with you to check for premature starts. Announce X time. X time should be about 0 minutes after you depart. Depart dock well ahead of announced start time. Turn on and monitor radio. Check wind, drop marks and be on station at announced time. Fly orange flag on same side as start/finish buoy. Fly RC flag on opposite side. If available, fly blue (on station) flag on same side as RC flag. Fly come within hail as you check in boats (make a list so you can account for all racers before you come back in). List can be written on back of score sheet. One minute before start sequence begins, lower come within hail with horn toots. Start sequence and start. Hail and AP flag premature starters. (Unless you ve flown the I flag as prep, they can dip below the start line and start. If they don t return to start, mark as DNS on score sheet with a comment, over early. ) Mark start time(s), Race Committee, wind speed, course (W-L, W-L x, pursuit, triangle, gold cup) on score sheet. List anyone who is in starting area but doesn t start as DNS. Late starts don t matter (but are interesting, so note.) Finish. Mark score sheets in the order the boats cross the finish line. (If multiple races, check wind, reset course, if necessary. Use another score sheet.) Account for all racers before returning to Club. Pick up marks. Turn in ORIGINAL score sheet(s) to RFC. Make sure all writing on score sheet is legible. If not, attach the ORIGINAL score sheet to a rewritten, legible copy. The original score sheet is needed to resolve any discrepancies. NOTE: DO NOT USE A STOP WATCH! USE A GPS AND/OR DIGITAL WATCH. A STOP WATCH MAY CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR MULTIPLE CLASS STARTS AND IT WILL HAVE TO BE RESET (WHILE TIME PASSES) TO CAPTURE ELAPSED TIME. START SEQUENCES MUST BE PRECISE! FURTHERMORE, OUR SCORING PROGRAM USES THE CLOCK START TIME FOR EACH CLASS (EXAMPLE: START CLASS 1, 14:05:00, CLASS, 14:10:00) AND THE CLOCK FINISH TIME FOR EACH BOAT (Example: Finish boat 1, 14:45:00, Boat, 14:46:10). IF YOU ARE USING A STOP WATCH AND RECORDING ELAPSED TIME, THIS MAY BE CAUSE FOR REDRESS (a protest against Race Committee.) 1
A Committee Boat to be on station at start/finish line. Race Committee -- at least two people. Equipment: VHS radio set to channel 68 and leave on until return to Club. GPS and/or digital watch set to GPS time. (Try to have. There is a digital watch attached to the race bags, but may not be correct time). Club Race bag (in RFC s closet in shed) has much of the stuff we need inside (can also take Regatta # or Regatta # as back up but these have different contents) Flags (in golf bags in RFC s closet in shed) Mark(s) for the announced course, with anchors and line appropriate to the conditions. Boat hook (in RFC s closet) Flags for golf bag: RC Orange (start/finish line) Blue (on station) Come within hail (yellow/black checks) (blue with white square in middle) Class flag/pennant 1 spin or Sunfish Class flag/pennant jib& main or other Portsmouth T flag twice around Individual recall General recall Postpone race Abandon race Club race bag: Horn with bell; extra cannister (check that it fits the bell) (PORTSMOUTH TAKE REFILLS) Digital watch (attached to handle; sync time with GPS) Duct tape Zip ties; wire ties Pens, pencils Clip board ( one for data taker; one for start sequence) Binder clips (to hold lower part of page to clip board) Start sequence sheets Score sheets Sailing instructions for Portsmouth (with course diagrams) Sailing instructions for Club Races (with course diagrams) Pursuit race course diagram Pursuit race start times
DUTIES AT THE START (Do not talk to the racers, unless absolutely necessary. Things clear to RC are often very confusing to racers. Info must be fairly communicated to all racers so we have skippers mtgs.) Job assignments: Timer: Announce 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 4,,, 1.5 minutes til sequence starts. At 1 minutes toots and come within hail down. Refer to start sequence sheets. The start sequence continues until all classes have started. Keep focused. Concentrate. This is THE most important and difficult job assignment. Flags/Signal Person: Raises and drops the flags briskly. The drop signals the start. See start sequence sheet. Sounds/Horn: The flag signals control; sounds are a courtesy but racers are counting on sounds. If the horn does not sound, do not sound it late; go to a new cannister. Line Watcher: Have horn and Individual recall and General recall flags handy. Start line is a visual between the leading edge of the orange flag and the leading edge of the mark. Watch for any racer starting early. If more than you can keep track of, use general recall flag; otherwise, use individual recall flag. The line watcher should have a horn to be sounded to call attention to any boat starting prematurely. Yell their name(s), boat names, sail numbers. If there are no premature starters, the line watcher should call out "all clear" towards the starting line. Data taker/recorder: Write down start time of each class. Separate page for each race. Write down boats/sail #s of premature starters. This happens fast, scribble to help line watcher. When the start properly, strike off the list but note for RFC. Example: Dana over early, returned, cleared, good start. Example: Dana in area, but did not start. Example: Dana started, going back to Club DNF. Premature Starters : Note that any part of the hull or equipment counts as being over the start line. Loudly hail the yacht(s) by announcing the boat name, skipper name or sail number(s). Premature starters MUST clear by returning completely (all parts of the hull and equipment) behind the start line by dipping or rounding the ends (must go around the ends if I flag is used instead of P flag). If practical, tell the over early boat when she has cleared the start line. General Recall: a flag and sound signal that must be used when a significant error in the starting procedure has occurred or if there are a significant number of unidentified yachts starting early. Hoist the First Repeater (General Recall) Flag and sound of two blasts of the horn. All of the racers in that class must return and they start BEHIND the class that is now in the sequence. Postpone Race: used when the conditions are not right for the fair start of a race. Light air to the point of little or no steerageway is reason to postpone. If a start isn t possible within a reasonable time, abandon race. Abandon Race: used when it is highly unlikely that the race will take place that day or be completed in the published finish time. Sound horn three times and hoist the N" (Abandon race) flag. Racers will return to Club. RC stay out until all racers are accounted for.
DUTIES AT THE FINISH: Job Assignments: The line watcher/horn signaller: Calls the sail number (and boat, skipper name) as each boat approaches the line. Call "Mark" and blows the horn as soon as any part of the boat (in its normal position) crosses the invisible plane lying between the leading edge of the orange flag and the leading edge of the finish mark. (If the horn fizzles, the timer and data taker/recorder can hear your voice to judge the finish time). WATCH FOR ANY PROTEST FLAGS. The timer starts calling out the hour and minute when the boat approaches the finish line. Then call out seconds and minutes. After you hear Mark or the horn, repeat the hour, minute and second and the boat ID info for the data taker/./recorder. The recorder lists on a score sheet the boat name or skipper name, sail number and CLOCK TIME (HOUR, MINUTES, SECONDS) of each boat in the order the finish. Note any protest flags and statements (on the back of the page) of protests. Note any boats that withdrew. They may call on the radio or cell if they communicate by cell, they are automatically DNF. Note all info that may be helpful to the RFC, a scorer or a protest committee. 4
TSS RACE COMMITTEE FLAG STARTS ( starts per page) CLOCK TIME MIN. SOUNDS AND SIGNALS MEANING CLASSES/ RECALLS/Etc. 6 SHORT HORN BLASTS and COME WITHIN HAIL flag DOWN 5 1 SHORT HORN BLAST and Class Flag(s) UP 4 1 SHORT HORN BLAST and P or I or Z or Z/I or Black UP Sequence begins in 1 minute. Warning 1 1 LONG HORN BLAST and Flag(s) DOWN 1 GUN OR HORN BLAST and 0 5 Class Flag(s) DOWN Class Flag(s) UP START Warning 4 1 SHORT HORN BLAST and P or I or Z or Z/I or Black UP 1 1 LONG HORN BLAST and Flag(s) DOWN 1 GUN OR HORN BLAST and 0 5 Class Flag(s) DOWN Class Flag(s) UP START Warning 4 1 SHORT HORN BLAST and P or I or Z or Z/I or Black UP 1 1 LONG HORN BLAST and Flag(s) DOWN 1 GUN OR HORN BLAST and 0 Class Flag(s) DOWN 5 START
PORTSMOUTH START SEQUENCE Signal Sound / Flag Time Warning long /Class Flag UP minutes If, Class goes times around the course long / OR UP minutes 1 long / OR DOWN 1 minute short 0 seconds short 0 seconds 1 short 10 seconds START 1 long /Class Flag DOWN 0/START The RC shall wait at least 1 minute before giving the warning signal for the next class. The I ( India ) flag at the preparatory signal (black dot on a yellow square flag) means Rule 0.1 Round an End Rule shall apply. The Rule is: If any part of a boat s hull, crew or equipment is on the course side of the start line or its extensions during the minute before her starting signal, she shall thereafter sail across an extension to the pre-start side before starting. This means, if you re across the start line in the minute before your start, you cannot dip start; you will be scored OCS unless you sail around the pin end or the RC boat end of the start line, then sail across the start line. The T (Tango ) flag at the Warning Signal (red, white and blue stripe) with the class flag means that class will go around the course two times. For TSS races, the twice around course is always marks to port and it is only used for the Windward-Leeward course. 6
TAMPA SAILING SQUADRON DATE OF RACE RC credit to: Your initials: Race # Class: Start Time: Class: Start Time: Class: Start Time: Class: Start Time: Class: Start Time: Class: Start Time: Boat Name, Skipper or Description Sail Number Finish Time Hour: Minute: Second 7