Oxford Sailing Club has regular and well attended club racing sessions. They are lots of fun and although they are of course competitive, newcomers and always welcomed and the old hands are always glad to give you a helping hand. Racing is fairly straight forward, but the only way to learn is to just get on and enter the races and learn as you go along.
WHEN IS CLUB RACING?
Club races start at 6.45pm on Wednesdays and 11am and 1.30pm on Sundays (April to October). REMEMBER this is the actual start of the race, so you would be well advised to allow plenty of time to get changed, prepare your boat and get to the start line.
HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?
All you need to be is a club member. In terms of experience, you can be self taught or had formal training, but you should be at RYA Level 2 standard or above. Other than that, just turn up with your boat, or hire one of the club boats.
WHAT DO I DO WHEN I ARRIVE?
- Signing on: the first thing you need to do is sign-on, usually in the reception hallway of the club house. Sign-on details may vary but you will always need your name and sail number. A staggered start usually takes place, where by the fastest boats start first (e.g. spinnaker boats, skiffs etc). You need to sign-on in the correct section, but if it is not clear on the sign-on sheet, just ask someone and they should be able to help.
- Prepare your boat: It’s a good idea to be on the water 15-20 minutes before the start of the race. This gives you plenty of time to get to the start line and view the course and plan your start. The course is either displayed on the starting cabin, near the club house or on the starting boat (affectionately known as 'Skippy'). The starting line is usually the line between where the course is displayed and a flagged buoy about 20-30m away.
- Note down the course: The course is displayed as a sequence of buoy numbers. Each number is in green (starboard/right) or red (port/left) back ground to indicate from which side the buoy should be rounded. So a buoy number with a red background should rounded anti-clockwise (i.e. the port side of the boat nearest the buoy). All the buoys must be passed in the correct sequence and rounded from the correct side. If you are not good at remembering numbers, it’s a good idea to write them down somewhere on your boat. Click here to see an example race course
WHAT IS THE STARTING SEQUENCE?
Flags are the primary means of starting a race, but they are the subject of another article. In addition to flags a horn is nearly always used. The first horn blows 6 minutes and then 3 minutes before the start of the race. A long single blow indicates that those boats that signed-on in the "fastest" section can now start. Then 3 minutes later a further blow will indicate that the next group can start the race and so on.
HOW DO I KNOW I AM FINISHED?
A race will be a number of laps around the course. Generally at OSC this will range from 2-4 laps and this is usually (but not always!) displayed under the course display board. If in doubt, just keep racing until you cross the finish line and hear a single horn or bell sound as you cross (the winner always gets a hoot, rather than a bell!). If the wind drops or the number of laps is not shown, you should listen out for a double hoot on the horn that indicates the number of laps has been reduced and you are now on your final lap.
WHAT ARE THE RACE RULES?
Long books have been written about dinghy sailing rules and regulations, but you don't need to study these to get started in racing. For your safety and that of other sailors, you should make yourself aware of the basic principles of dinghy racing.
- Do not hit another boat.
If you hit another boat (or force it to alter course to avoid you when you do not have right of way) then you must take a penalty or be disqualified. The normal penalty is a 720 degree turn, in other words 2 tacks and 2 gybes. Even if you are the right of way boat, you may be in the wrong if there is a collision, so a right of way boat may have to take a penalty turn as well. A right of way boat must do all it can to avoid a collision. If it doesn’t it must take a penalty, but if it’s done all it can and still cannot keep clear then it doesn’t need to take a penalty. - Starboard tack has right of way.
A starboard tack boat is one which has the wind on the starboard side. Therefore its boom will be on the port side. A port tack boat approaching a starboard tack boat has usually two choices, either tack onto starboard tack or go round the stern of the starboard tack boat. - Windward boat must keep clear.
The windward boat is the one nearest to the wind. He must keep clear of the boat to leeward, and this means all of him, including his boom and rigging. Therefore, if sailing with your boom well out you need to be quite a bit away to stop your boom hitting the hull, head or rigging of the chap to leeward! - Boats on the outside at a buoy must keep clear of boats inside.
This rule only applies when you are approaching a buoy, which is defined as within 2 boat lengths of it. The boat on the inside is allowed room to round the buoy without hitting it, so the boat on the outside must keep clear. Therefore the inside boat will often call ‘Water at the mark!’ when approaching the buoy, warning the other boat to keep clear. - Hitting a Buoy
The penalty for hitting a buoy is a 360 degree turn, or one tack and one gybe. If you hit a buoy and do not take a penalty you will be disqualified. - Obstructions
There are a number of rules regarding obstructions. An obstruction is obviously the dock wall, but it could equally be a ferry or even another racing boat that you have to keep clear of. If you need to change course to clear an obstruction you are entitled to ask for room to do so, likewise, if someone asks for room you should give it to them. The most common call is ‘water to tack’. If someone calls this to you, you should tack immediately. - Other Rules
There are many other rules and sub clauses, but mainly they define when and how the above rules are applied, so for starting out these rules are all that is required.
