With the start of the sailing season in the horizon, its probably a good idea to brush up on some sailing rules. The Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) govern the sport of sailing on the water. They are revised and published every four years by World Sailing. The current edition is The Racing Rules of Sailing 2017 - 2020, you can find it
here, it really makes for great bed time reading (seriously!).
Its a quite a hefty handbook, about 180 pages long and our Dinghy Handbook, a 32 page booklet, makes references to this. The Dinghy Handbook is a good place to start if you are interested in digesting the RSS in little chunks as splits the parts of a race in a recognisable form, i.e. Start of a race, End of a race, Penalties etc. You can find the digital version of the latest dinghy handbook
here and printed copies will be distributed soon.
The starts are always where the action is, boats are lined up as close to the line as possible. Volunteers on the start team are assigned to observe boats to ensure that no part of the boat crosses the line.
To the sailors, determining the transit is key to knowing where they are placed on the start line. There are more to it than being close to the line but knowing when the race begins is probably key to allowing the sailor to prepare for the race.
So lets look at 'Starts'. We refer to RSS Rule #26. It uses both visual and audible signals. In HYC, we use an air horn as the audible signal.
The first short sound indicates the 5 minute mark and the class flag is raised. At our club, we raise the Optimist or the Laser 4.7 on a regular training day although we may have the 125 or other Laser classes as well.
**Image above: Class flags commonly used in HYC
On the 4 minute mark, the 'P' flag is raised. The P flag is also fondly called the 'Blue Peter', here the P flag indicates the 'Preparatory' stage. Audio signal is the same as the previous, short.
On the 1 minute, a long sound signals the last minute and the P flag is brought down. Finally, the simultaneous lowering of the class flag and the short horn signals the start of the race and the Time Keeper starts the clock!
** the image above is copied of the internet as a visual aid.
Flags are used to relay messages to all the boats, so it is important to familiarise yourself with the flags. There are flags for every letter in the alphabet and flags that represent numerals too. The first 2 pages of the RSS are all about flags and the meanings based on the positions and combinations of flags. Many of the yacht club burgees are designed from combinations or modified flag signals. The Fremantle Sailing Club for instance is made out of the #2 flag. It would be interesting to know what inspired the HYC burgee!
