Air CapitolModel Sailing Club
2005 RacingSeason
SailingInstructions
1.
Rules
1.1
Racing will be
governed using the 2005 ACMSC Simplified Racing Rules (which can be
downloaded or viewed at: www.acmsc.org. In
the event where the Simplified Rules do not cover the situation, are ambiguous,
or conflict with the Racing Rules of Sailing, the RRS shall
govern.
2.
Classes
2.1
Boats wishing
to participate in the Club Championship Points Racing Series, must qualify
for the One Meter Sport Class rules format. (see ACMSC
Racing Classes document located at www.acmsc.org
for guidelines and rules of this class.) Any competitors/boats wishing to race
that DO NOT meet these criteria may race (granted there are not already 13 or
more One Meter Sport Class boats entered, howeverthey
may not be scored or assigned points towards the championship series.
2.2
At the
discretion of the ACMSC club officers and/or membership, special regattas may
be held for specific classes during the course of the season, separate from the
Club Championship Points Racing Series. Boats participating in these
special class races will be subject to the rules defined by their specific
class/class association, and the regattas will be governed using the rules
defined in section 1.1.
3.
Changes
to Competitors and Changes to Sailing Instructions
3.1
Notices to
competitors and changes to the sailing instructions will be posted on the ACMSC
web site no later than 24 hours before the scheduled race day. The official
notice board notice board is located at: www.acmsc.org.
4.
Schedule
4.1
The official
schedule is located at www.acmsc.org. On
regular race days, the Preparatory Signal will be given promptly at
4.2
Neither
the AMYA SeaWind Region 4 Regatta--held on June 3-5,
or any other special regatta
will be counted towards the Club Championship Points Championship Series.
5.
Officiating
5.1
If deemed
necessary by the club officers, and/or when a sufficient number of boats (~6)
are present to require a PRO (Principle Race Official), competitors will may rotate the job of PRO. A list of members will serve
as a the roster for this rotation. In addition, if
sufficient number of boats are present, the Heat
Management System, or HMS may be implemented.
5.2
Each PRO will officiate three consecutive heats before being replaced by
the next person on the list.
5.3
The duties of
the PRO shall be:
- Determine and
announce the course and starting line for each race
- Determine when
all competitors are in the starting area and then initiate the 60-second
countdown to the start (using the CD recording).
- Call out the
sail numbers of the premature starters or issue a general recall (see 7.1)
- Observe the
race.
- When possible,
serve as an on-the-water judge, making immediate judgment about which boat is
at fault in cases where the two skippers do not agree.
-
When possible,
judge and announce when the lead boat in an overlapped group reaches the four
boat length circle around a mark.
-
When possible,
judge and announce when boats do and do not have legally-established overlap
prior to mark roundings.
- Call out the
sail numbers for the scorekeeper as they cross the finish line and help
accurately record the order of finishers.
- Serve as
chairman of the protest committee.
5.4
For the heats
that he/she officiates, and thus cannot race in him/herself, the PRO shall
receive points equal to the average of his scores for the heats that he/she
sails that day (including those races that are thrown out in calculating
his/her overall score for the day)
6.
Courses
and Marks
6.1
Courses will
generally be windward-leeward-windward-leeward-windward, with all turning marks
rounded to port, as explained by the PRO at each individual race day. There
will sometimes (depending on the size of the fleet) be an offset mark to port
of the windward mark. At the leeward end of the course there will sometimes be
an offset mark (to port of the leeward mark) or a leeward gate used.
6.2
The
start-finish line is open. Boats may ignore the start-finish marks while racing
on the second, third and fourth legs of the course.
7.
Course
changes, time limits, cancellation, postponement and abandonment
7.1
The course may
not be changed or shortened after the starting sequence has begun (CD
recording). There is no time limit for heats; however a heat may be abandoned
when the wind has died, no boat has yet finished and all competitors agree to
abandon.
7.2
When only one
boat has not yet finished, the PRO may award that boat points for its last
place finish and order it to return to the starting area in order to expedite
the next race.
7.3
All racing on
a scheduled race day will be cancelled if, as of 9:00am that day, the pond is
frozen or the weather forecast for Wichita calls for an afternoon hear index of
102 degrees or higher. Otherwise, race days will take place as scheduled
despite inclement weather.
7.4
Racing may be
postponed temporarily or abandoned for the day if, in the judgment of the PRO
and a majority of the competitors, they or their boats are endangered by severe
weather conditions (e.g., lightning near the course or high winds which may
make it impossible to tack to avoid a collision with another boat or damage
from running aground).
8.
Starting,
Finishing, and Retiring
8.1
The PRO will
issue individual recalls (by calling out the sail number of each premature
sailor) for each boat that is over early, but reserves the right to issue a
general recall if there are multiple premature starters and he or she is unable
to identify each one.
8.2
After a
general recall, all boats must immediately return to the starting line area,
after which the PRO will announce the new course and starting line and restart
the starting sequence (CD recording).
8.3
Each sailor
must announce his/her sail number at the finish, so that the scorekeeper and
PRO can identify and record the finisher correctly (example: Bill Koch,
number USA-28, finishing now). A sailors failure
to make this announcement may be grounds for awarding a score of DNF.
8.4
The skipper of
a boat that drops out of the race must notify the PRO and scorekeeper upon
doing so, e.g Dennis Connor, number USD-9, has
retired from this race.
9.
Handicapping
Although the ACMSC utilizes the One Meter Sport
Class fleet structure during its regular raceswhich
should keep the competition level relatively equal, differing racing skills and
experience may make it desirable to implement a handicapping system to even the
playing field for beginning racers. Therefore, when a new sailor joins the
fleet, he/she will be offered a handicap, using the RYGGed
Start system (guidelines for this are located in the Club Documents section of
our web site: www.acmsc.org ), which the
sailor may accept or decline. This system is self-correcting, in that handicaps
are decreased according to a formula based on that sailors
subsequent performance.
10. Protest procedures
10.1
Protests must
comply with the spirit of RRS Rule 61 as modified by E5.
10.2
Rule E5.3 is
modified as follows: A protester intending to intending
to submit a protest shall inform the PRO immediately after the end of
the relevant race.
10.3
Protests must
be submitted in writing using the official ACMSC protest form available at the
scorers table. The protester will be given 10 minutes to complete the form. A
diagram of the incident must be drawn, using the space provided on the form.
10.4
Protests will
be heard immediately after the protest form is submitted to the PRO, and before
starting any further races.
10.5
The protest
committee will consist of the PRO for the relevant race, the ACMSC Commodore,
and the Chairman of the race committee who will generally be the person who set
up the race course that day. If any of these persons are a party to the protest
or unavailable, the PRO shall appoint other ACMSC members who are present, to
ensure that the committee consists of three persons.
10.6
All sailors
and visitors are welcome to observe protest hearings as a learning experience,
but shall not participate except as called as witnesses.
10.7
The decision
of the protest committee shall be final and not subject to appeal, with the
following condition.
10.8
If any party
to the protest or a member of the protest committee feels that the rules have
been misconstrued or misinterpreted, within no more than five days he or she
may request a rehearing, generally to be conducted by email among the parties
to the protest, the members of the original protest committee and any
consultant(s) that the protest committee chairman may wish to use. Such
re-hearings shall consider only the rules and their interpretation; the facts
of the case shall be considered to have become finally established by the
original hearing. Re-hearings shall be completed within five days of the
request for re-hearing, prior to the next scheduled race day.
11. Scoring
11.1
Scoring will
be by sailor, not by boat.
11.2
The low point
system described in Appendix A.4.2 of Racing Rules of Sailing will be
used. First place receives one point, second place two points, etc.
11.3
Did Not Finish
(DNF), and Over-early with failure to return to start
properly (On Course Side of the line at the start, OCS) score one point more
than the number of boats that started at least one race that day. Did Not Start
(DNS) and Disqualification (DSQ) score two points more than the number of starters. Competitors may choose to a Finish In Place (FIP)
if in last place, so long as they have completed at least of the number of laps designated for that
given heat (for example, if a heat is two laps, you must complete one lap to
ask to be Finished In Place).
11.4
Each sailors
worst 20% of heats on a given race day will be thrown out; i.e., two throw-outs
if the fleet sails a total of 10-14 heats that day, three throw-outs if 15-20
heats are sailed, etc. DNS, DNF, and OCS heats may be included in the allotted
number of throw-outs, but DSQ heats may not be thrown out.
11.5
Ties will be
broken using the method described in Appendix A, Rule 8 of Racing Rules of
Sailing.
11.6
The Club
Championship Points Series final results will be determined by the total of
each sailors race day places (low score system) after throwing out his or her
worst race day of the Series. The throw-out will occur no matter how many race
days are sailed in the Series.
11.7
A minimum of
seven eats must be completed for a race to be counted toward the Club
Championship Points Series. If no more than 6 heats are ran on a given race
day, then racing will resume on the scheduled backup date for the event
(generally the next calendar day). If it is not possible to race on the backup
date, then that race will be considered abandoned and not scored or counted
towards the Club Championship Points Series.
12. Radio Frequency Channels
12.1
It is the
responsibility of each sailor to be sure that the radio channel he/she uses
does not conflict with another channel in use by a member of the ACMSC or
create a 23 Channel Separation from another, higher numbered, channel in use
that day (e.g., if one boat is using channel 90, no boat may use channel 67.
Radio channels in use by each ACMSC boat are posted on the ACMSC web site at: www.acmsc.org, and there is a general
description of radio interference and the 23 Channel Separation Syndrome at www.m3sc.org/radio_channels.htm.
In addition, the official Frequency Dispute Policey
for the ACMSC can be viewed at www.acmsc.org.
12.2
Each sailor
must report any new channel to the PRO before entering a race, and be prepared
to switch to another channel if the new channel conflicts with one that will be
in use by another boat that day.
13. Prizes
13.1
Prizes for
first, second and third places for the One Meter Sport Class will be awarded at
the conclusion of the season.
13.2
Ties for the
Club Championship Series will be broken using Rule 8 of the RRS Appendix
A.
13.3
All prizes
will be awarded at either the conclusion of racing at the final race of the
season, or at the winter planning meeting after the conclusion of the season.
14.
Disclaimer
of Liability
Competitors participate in ACMSC races entirely at
their own risk. ACMSC does not accept liability for material damage or personal
injury or death sustained during or in conjunction with ACMSC races.
Special thanks to the Mid-Missouri Model Sailing Club for letting us use their 2004 Sailing Instructions as a template.