RACE OFFICER AND ASSISTANT DUTIES FOR AFTERNOON SAILING

Prior to your Rostered Day:   It is highly recommended that sailors undertake the  YNZ on-line free  "Introduction to Race Officiating" and "Club RO" courses .  YNZ Embark

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Arrive at 11:30

The safety of all competitors requires that the Race Officer and Assistant Race Officer ensure the Start Box and Rescue Boats are adequately resources according to the conditions.

Check the wind speed and direction at two weather stations and look at forcasts on MetSerice and PredictWind.

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Racing will not proceed until this requirement has been met.

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• Minium of Three fully crewed rescue boat is to be operating on station for racing to commence with combined  Junior and Senior fleets.

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• The Race Officer and the Assistant Race Officer are to familiarize themselves with the detailed list of duties and guidance notes below and also within the start box and rescue boats sections of the web site. Read the current NOR & SSIs. They also must ensure that Rostered volunteers are on-site or have been substitutued.

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• On the day of racing they are to satisfy themselves that adequate race management is in place and proposed courses are appropriate for the conditions.

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• Duty RO must remain on shore for the duration of racing, as the Duty Officer for the day. The assistant race office may sail, but only if all Rescue Boats are crewed. 

The Race Officer will:

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• Check the Roster page to see who else is on the days race management team.

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• Confirm the rostered  start box crew is available on the day or arrange for somebody else to do this task beforehand. For senior racing, contact the Vice Commodore in the first instance.  Ideally the Start Box team can use the can operate the Voice Sail Start Timer APP that uses the LEDs and the Horns, but old school starts using a timer and boards are fine too.

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• Ensure Sign-on-sign off sheets are avilable for the Sailors at least 1 hour before the start. The regularly updated "Senior Active" & "Junior Active" Sign-on sheets are available on the computer Home sreen [ raceofficer / raceofficer ]. These Sign On sheets are sorted by Sail Number to reduce the time it takes to reconcile Starters to Finishers in Sailwave. Avoid using any old piece of paper as it increases the results work load.

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• Be familiar with the club's rescue boat operating procedures and launch the rescue boats if that has not already been done. Hold a briefing session with the skippers or the mark laying boats to describe what you need in terms of Beat Lengths and buoy location information. Do a Radio Check on each one as it passes the Start Box.

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• Set a course that conforms to the sailing programme and sailing instructions and is fair to all competitors. EG Series Races are sailed acording to the published schedule and NOR and SSI. Target time for 1st finisher is 45 minutes for Seniors and 40 minutes for Juniors.  The actual laying of the Courses may be deleated to the two Rostered Mark Boat crews. ( Lovelocks  and Catalyst ).  Quick Guide to Laying a Course.  Quick Guide to Laying the Start - Finish Line.

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• In order to have fair racing with good timing an Inner AND an Outer Course should be layed.

  • Default Beat Lengths from Table below.

  • Wing Mark 45 Degree included angle  and Half way between Top and Bottom​ Marks

  • The Inner Coarse should have a Beat Length of about 70% of the Outer Course

• Default Beat Length (nm)  v. Wind strength (knots) Guide. ( subject to review as measurements are confirmed)​

Wind Speed      5            10            15       20

Outer               0.40        0.50       0.60    0.60

Inner                0.28        0.35       0.42    0.42 

• Measuring Beat Lengths

If one mark on the Beat has a GPS Coordinate   -41 deg   18.462 decimal minutes ( eg off Sunken Rock)

Then the other mark on the beat will be found by either adding ( going South )  or subtracting (going North )  the Beat Length. 

Example Top Mark is North and beat is aligned approximately  North-South 

-41  18.462     ( Top North Bouy  GPS near Sunken Rock (Format=Decimal Minutes dd mm.mmm )​)

       + 0.600     (beat length required  in nautical mile (nm))

-41  19.062     ( Bottom South  Bouy GPS (dd  mm.mmm))

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• At least 30 minutes before the 1st Warning Signal write the course ( or Specify a WBBC Course Diagram T or W ) and fleet starting order and any other supplimentatry Sailing instructions on the White Board near north doors. (SSI 3). 

The APP uses this sequence and Course Codes  as Default so the Default should be:

• 1.  Mono                               T3 Outer​

• 2.  Sunburst                         T2 Outer

• 3.  Zephyr                             T2 Outer

• 4.  Starling U19 & Adult     T3  Inner

• 5.  P and Optimist Open    T2 Inner

• 6.   Optimist Green             T1 Inner

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• First Warning Signal shall be at 13:00 sharp  ( = First Start at 13:03) or as per Calendar and Sailing Program. 

At about midday , Set the APP to start automatically using

either  "Sequence Start"        set for   12:55   ( gives first Start at 13:03 as  the Default  Sequence starts with Orange Flag for 5 mins. )

or           "Start Signal"             set for    13:03   ( gives first start at 13:03 )

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The APP will display the Orange Flag  for 5 mins ( 12:55 - 13:00 ) before the 1st Warning  at 13:00 , then there will be a 3 min Sequence to first Start at 13:03. Check that the app will do what you expect by looking at the time for the 1st race to start.

Always use " 1st Warning signal times"  to communicate with sailors.

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• At the appropriate time (but not before), make the decision whether the race will start at the advertised time, be postponed, or abandoned for the day, and advise the competitors.

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• The Postponement and Abandonment signals are all available on the LEDs with the Starting APP.. However course changes and other signals are not yet implimented on the LED sytem.
   

• Once the marks are set and the race has started ask the mark boats to report the bearings of the marks and or the GPS locations.

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• Consider the current wind and sea state and any anticipated improvement or deterioration and the number of competitors, their experience, type of boat, the location, size, and configuration of the course, number of rescue craft, with appropriate crews, on the water and start box resources available to monitor competitors, as pad of the risk assessment and decision- making process.

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• In strong conditions and where there is still a possibility of racing, look to minimise the risk by attention to the items listed above to the point where it is a reasonable decision to proceed.  It may be necessary to abandon racing for one fleet but continue for others. The Junior fleets should have priority for resource support.

• After racing, collect and check  the sailor sign-off sheets are complete, obtain and enter the results into Sailwave and process any protests that may have been lodged.

• Observe if ALL the buoys have been retrieved before giving permission for the last rescue boat to be retrieved. Provide or arrange assistance with putting the rescue boats away.

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• At the end of the day, ensure all boats have been stored and boat sheds secured and Hand-held  Radios are on-charge. 

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If unsure of any aspect, do not hesitate to seek advice from other experienced sailors. For further information contact the Vice Commodore.

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