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britinusa
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Initially Posted - 11/06/2008 : 05:46:23

Not a racer, but wanting to get more involved with our local yacht club, I've volunteered for the RC boat for this Saturday's Gulfstream Sailing Regatta (Race)

Got hold of a copy of 'Join the Race Committee Team' and plowed my way through that. The PRO suggested I focus on pages 24-28, so I'm guessing they'll have me twinning up with someone on the Spotter/Recorder, Scorer, or Timer tasks. Hopefully it'll be with someone as I have absolutely no experience on RC stuff (did some laser racing while in the navy a lifetime ago!)

Any pointers?

Paul

Joint Decision. (Sold)
PO C250WB 2005 Sail # 841.

Moved up to C34 Eximius

Updated August 2015

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SailCO26
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 09:37:13

Paul:

RC is a great way to learn starts - more from a "what's happening" perspective, than "where do I want to be", since you'll likely be fairly busy. However, you'll understand what's going on and will learn to anticipate the RC and be ahead of the game.

After the start, it's a WHOLE NEW perspective on race strategies. You'll be amazed how many competitor mistakes you can pick out from the RC that are tough to spot from your boat on the course.

It can be a lot of fun, too! I really enjoy it when I can't race...

I've never read "Join the RC Team", but sounds interesting. Around here, this is usually what we're focusing on for RC (since you're assisting, I wont get into equipment lists, job descriptions, etc - that's up to your PRO, I'm just listing what to watch for):

Pre-race:
Wind direction - what's the course going to be? We typically run W/L for spin fleets and triangles for non-spin fleets. Where do we want the start line? How shifty are the winds, and what are the periods? This will determine how we set the pin/line. How many boats are starting will determine how long the line is (pin to boat).

Wind speed - is there enough to race, and how many laps? During Wed night beercans we shoot for 1hr races, during regattas either 2 or 3 lap races. What are the options for shortening course, if necessary?

SIs - review the SIs for the regatta, so anything thing oddball for this event is fresh in your head. Schedule, time limits, signals, etc. Is the S/F line restricted? Are there options for I-, Z-, or black-flag starts?

Check in - get the boats checked in. We require boats to sail past the stern of RC on S tack for check in. Makes it easier on the RC. We go back/forth on allowing VHF check-ins. Usually not for regattas, but allowed for Wed nights. We also usually fly a code L when RC is ready to take check ins to cut down on the "are you ready yet?" fly-bys...

Flags - get 'em out and lined up in order of use. AP, class, prep, general/individual recall are the biggies - but you want 'em all reasonably close at hand and readily identifiable.

Start:
Wind - still in the same mode? (It changes a lot here). Still enough to sail our course? Line square?

Flags - be snappy! The visual signal reigns supreme, NOT the horn! Dont limp the flag up or competitors are left with "was the signal when they started lifting the flag, or when it finally got to the top?" SNAP that puppy up so there's no doubt! Racers will appreciate it.

Line - watch for over-early boats. Have the individual (X) and general (1st Sub) recall flags ready - we use a single staff with a flag at each end.

Racing:
Wind - always keep an eye on the wind. Average direction change? Speed change? Do we need to change/move a mark or the line?

Racers - where are the competitors on the course? Will they finish in time limit? Will we have to shorten? Has the fleet lead boat rounded a mark? Did all the boats round? Are they finishing or is there another lap? This is the time to armchair skipper the fleet. Ask yourself why that person went L or those guys hit the corner. Great learning experience! See an infraction? Write it down, but it's not your job to protest a competitor.

Finish:
Line - should be set before the fleet lead boat rounds the final mark. Should be square to the final mark, and can be shorter than the start line.

Finishes - EVERY boat that correctly crosses the finish line gets a time. Let the protest committee/scorer/PRO determine any other outcomes. If a boat was OCS and did not re-start, give them a finish time anyway, but note the OCS. If the time limit has expired, I will still note finish times of boats that cross the line before the next race - it's the job of the scorer to DNF these boats, not RC.

Protests - note any protest flags or announcements from finishing boats.

WHEW! It's a lot of work, and there's always something going on. As often as we see RCs slacking off and pounding cocktails (some do...), your job isnt done until you're back on the dock and the results have been turned over to the scorer.

Not that we dont have a hydraulic sammich or two, mind you!
Have a GREAT time! Our season is unfortunately over, and this has got me already looking fwd to spring...

Jim

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britinusa
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 20:51:55

Thanks Jim, your article helps put some things in perspective.

Great explainations!

Paul

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britinusa
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Response Posted - 11/09/2008 : 10:22:45

That was a winner!
I would be in the Race Committee again in a heartbeat! What a blast!

We had 4 classes of races, PHRF which I now know stands for Performance Handicap Race Fleet, ARC 1(?) and ARC2(?) and Gunk Hole which seems to mean anyone that's not a racer but wants to play!

It was a great day to be on the ocean, calm waters, but only a light wind (less than 10 all day!)

The folks on the RC boat were easy to get along with but I had not realized the stress that could creep into things. Fortunately we were all amicable.
The initial start was delayed by lack of wind by about 20 mins, and then the first class had a tough time getting over the start line so we cancelled that start and postponed. Now in a holding pattern, boats passed by the RC boat multiple times offering a variety of advice from 'Be Patient, it'll come up' to 'Let's just get out there and race' and everything in between.

The cancelled start at least gave me a better understanding of the flag process, that was my task: Sat on a 51' morgan on a seat atop the Dinghy arch with solar panels. I had a great view of what was happening.

One of the marks broke it's line and diassappeard only to be found later several miles from it's correct position.

Anyone not into racing should definitely consider getting on the Race committee, it promoted an entirely difffernt viewpoint for me.

After discussing the situation with Peggy, (she was on call all day and had to be within 30 mins of the hostpital, so could not participate) even she thought that we might actually get out there and join the race fleet!

There were many models of boat out there, everything from 24' morgans to 50' monster racers. A Catalina 320, S2, Benetaue, and some I didn't recogonize.(let alone know how to spell

)

We would not have been the smallest in the fleet and from seeing them perform, we would not have been the last to finish . . opps, I'm I setting myself up here!

All in all a great day and a pity that Pegs couldn't join in. Next time!

Nice chance to get together with the club members at the after race party, Peggy was able to join me as her call time had completed.

Paul

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SailCO26
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Response Posted - 11/11/2008 : 08:40:00

Sounds like you had a great time! I alway enjoy RC, almost as much as racing. Always learn something, too. :)

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by britinusa
 The initial start was delayed by lack of wind by about 20 mins, and then the first class had a tough time getting over the start line so we cancelled that start and postponed. Now in a holding pattern, boats passed by the RC boat multiple times offering a variety of advice from 'Be Patient, it'll come up' to 'Let's just get out there and race' and everything in between.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I know a lot of people that get impatient to race, even in conditions that are zero-gusting-half. However, the majority of racers I know (myself included) dont consider drifters to be much of a test of sailing, rather pure luck. So if conditions are such that you can't even sail across the line, Abandon is always a good option. Now if those guys saying "get out and race" are sailing by and not drifting by, then unless you think/know the wind wont hold then it's probably time to race. After a while, you'll get to know the fleet and know who's judgement to trust and who to tell to pound sand.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">After discussing the situation with Peggy, (she was on call all day and had to be within 30 mins of the hostpital, so could not participate) even she thought that we might actually get out there and join the race fleet!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Excellent! Every YC around here encourages beginning racers ("the more the merrier"), and have some sort of "cruiser"-oriented fleet. You'll learn to SAIL much faster racing than you will cruising, not that there's anything wrong with cruising (I *try* to do that, too - but anytime there's a boat w/in 100yds and going in the same general direction, well.....)

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">We would not have been the smallest in the fleet and from seeing them perform, we would not have been the last to finish . . opps, I'm I setting myself up here!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Never let a DFL get to you. If EVERY race is a DFL then you need to figure out what the issue is (could be a lot of things), but the occasional ones are just learning experiences (I have a bunch of those...)

Glad you enjoyed it, hope you do it again - but even more hope you decide to get into racing. :)
Jim

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