Chichester Yacht Club Magazine January 2019 | Page 19

The start sequence we use, in common with
The Course
most sail racing, is a 5-minute warning, a 4-
minute Preparatory period, a 1-minute warning, After the start it’s simply a matter of sailing the
and then Go.
stipulated course and doing the specified
number of laps.
These times are indicated by a flag hoist,
either at the race hut or on the committee boat, When learning the names of the marks, it’s
accompanied by a hooter / sound signal.
useful to have a sketch of the course on a
piece of gaffer tape stuck where it can be seen
Because most of our racing is handicapped,
in your boat. An alternative strategy is to follow
i.e. different boats racing against each other,
a boat in front but, as life tells us, the person in
we do separate the fleets. This is sometimes
front doesn’t always know where they’re going!
fast, medium and slow, and sometimes
modern / asymmetric and others.
The Rules
We also sometimes have a regatta fleet for
larger numbers of beginners.
Each fleet is assigned a class flag; it’s
important to know which class your class of
boat is assigned to. Because we start each
fleet separately, the start of one fleet is the 5-
minute warning for the next. In diagram form,
the start sequence is:
Sticking with port gives way to starboard, and
windward boat gives way to leeward boat,
overtaking gives way and if unsure, keep clear,
will work for 90% of encounters.
One extra rule you may have heard of is giving
room at the mark (a mark being a marker buoy
that makes up part of the course).
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