These General Sailing Instructions shall be applied together with the Specific Event Sailing Instructions for the Lake Washington Racing Program.
REGISTRATION
Early registration aids in the efficient planning of quality regattas. Please help us create good events by registering before the stated deadlines. To enter an event, submit a completed registration form and pay the appropriate fee by 1600 at least four business days before the first race entered. (E.g., by 1600 Tuesday for a Saturday Regatta) Registration forms can be hand delivered to the CYC Shilshole Clubhouse or submitted via mail, fax (206) 789-5896, or through the web site at www.cycseattle.org.
Registrations received after this deadline will be assessed a $25.00 late fee.
RULES
Races will be governed by the 2009 - 2012 Racing Rules of Sailing ('RRS'), the prescriptions of US SAILING, the rules adopted by local one-design fleets (when applicable), the rules of PHRF Northwest (when applicable), these sailing instructions, and the Specific Event Sailing Instructions for each event. In case of conflict between these sailing instructions and the Specific Event Sailing Instructions for an event, the Specific Event Sailing Instructions will govern.
NOTICES TO COMPETITORS
3.1 Notices will be posted in a bulletin board case located on the North fence across from the hoist in the lower parking lot directly East of the BluWater Bistro hereafter referred to as the "Leschi Notice Board". Notices and class breaks may be posted at www.cycseattle.org, but this will not constitute an official notice location.
3.2 Any change in the sailing instructions will be posted at least 90 minutes before the first warning of the race in which it will take effect. Code flag "L" may be flown from the Race Tower or the race committee boat at its moorage.
3.3 The Race Committee may post on the Leschi Notice Board a list of any boats scored OCS, DNS, ZFP, BFD, or DNF at the earliest opportunity after returning to dock and before the stated protest time limit.
RESPONSIBILITY
4.1 The skipper of each boat is responsible for any unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of his or her crew. If action is taken under RRS 69, Allegations of Gross Misconduct, it may result in a competitor being excluded from further participation in the CYC racing program.
4.2 Occasionally, sailboat racing has resulted in injury or loss of life. All competitors in CYC events participate at their own risk. It shall be the responsibility of the skipper to inform the crew of the risks of sailboat racing, to make sure they understand and accept those risks, to decide whether the crew is competent and adequate for the event, and to decide whether to start or continue in a race.
4.3 All boats/boat owners shall have liability insurance currently in effect, covering yacht racing activities, property damage, personal injury and death in an amount appropriate for the type of boat being sailed. (Minimum coverage of $300,000 per occurrence is recommended for keelboats.)
4.4 When a boat is notified that she has been selected for an inspection of required safety equipment, she shall report for and submit to the inspection.
SIGNALS MADE ASHORE
Signals made ashore will be displayed from the Race Tower or the Race Committee Boat at its moorage. When flag "AP," Postponement Signal, is lowered after having been displayed ashore, all contestants shall proceed promptly to the starting area.
SAFETY
6.1 Competitors in centerboard boats shall wear a life jacket or flotation garment other than a wet suit or dry suit at all times when racing. Between November 1 and April 1, competitors in centerboard boats shall wear a wetsuit or drysuit in addition to a life jacket.
6.2 Unless racing in a one-design class, keelboats (including those with retractable keels) shall comply with the PIYA Category III equipment requirements. A PIYA form listing these requirements is available at www.ussailing.net/piya. A boat that breaks sailing instruction 6.2, could receive a warning, be disqualified or not accepted in future competition, depending on the severity of her offense. This changes RRS 64.1(a).
6.3 Competitors needing help should signal by waving an open hand. A wave of a closed fist will be interpreted to mean help is not needed.
6.4 A boat that leaves the racing area before finishing or before the last race of a day should notify the Race Committee in person or via VHF channel 72.
6.5 Navigation lights, if standard equipment for the boat, shall be lit between sunset and sunrise and in times of restricted visibility per COLREGS Rule 20.
CHANGES IN RATING
A change in a PHRF rating takes effect on the day it is recorded by the local handicapper. If a change in a boat’s rating occurs during a series, then, for that series only, the boat shall continue to sail in the fleet in which she was sailing before her rating was changed, and she will be eligible for awards in that fleet. After the date the rating change takes effect, the boat’s corrected time will be calculated using her new rating.
STARTING ORDER AND CLASS FLAGS
Classes will start in the order in which class placards are displayed, reading from left to right and from the top line to the bottom line on the Race Committee Boat readerboard. When a plus sign ("+") is displayed between two class placards, those two classes will start together at the same time. The starting order for subsequent races may be different than the starting order for the first race.
COURSES
9.1 Each course will be signaled by a row of letters following the placards of the classes that are to sail that course. Each letter designates a mark. The first letter displayed is the starting mark, the last is the finishing mark, and those in between are the rounding marks.
9.2 Mark descriptions and locations are printed inside the front cover of this Racebook. NOTE: The leeward marks may be either to windward and/or leeward of the committee boat.
9.3 Start between the starting mark and the orange flag on the race committee boat. Pass each rounding mark in the order displayed and on the same side as the starting mark. Finish between the finishing mark and the orange flag on the race committee boat. When a number, such as "2" or "3", follows the course letters, it signals a multiple-lap course. Sail the course as many times as is indicated by that number, crossing the finishing line at the completion of each lap.
9.4 Gate mark: If flag "G" is displayed at the preparatory and the starting signals for a class, there will be a gate (two marks) instead of a single mark for that class, and boats shall pass between the two gate marks and then round either the port gate mark to port or the starboard gate mark to starboard.
9.5 Individual classes may be abandoned or shortened by displaying their class flag along with the appropriate race signal flag.
9.6 Warning: The race committee may use its engine to hold position, and it may do so even when apparently anchored.
9.7 IMPORTANT RESTRICTION: After completing the first leg of the course, a boat shall not cross the line between mark F and the committee boat or the line between mark "G" and the orange flag on the race committee boat unless she is:
(a) finishing,
(b) completing a lap of a multiple-lap course (as indicated by a number following a designated course), or
(c) rounding the mark end of the starting or finishing line when such a rounding is required by the course for her class.
A boat that fails to observe this restriction may exonerate herself by making a Two-Turns penalty. This changes RRS rule 28.1. The finishing line and the line between mark "G" and the orange flag on the race committee boat are obstructions for boats that are subject to this restriction. A boat that fails to exonerate herself may be scored DNF without a hearing. This changes RRS 63.1 and appendix A5.
THE START
Races will be started by using RRS rule 26 except a blue shape will replace flag P. The Race Committee may give a hail to the next class whose warning signal is about to be made.
INDIVIDUAL RECALLS
The race committee may attempt to hail the sail numbers of recalled boats. Failure to do so, the timing of the hails, the order of the hails, the failure to hear the hail, or any other issues associated with the hail will not constitute grounds for redress. This modifies RRS 62.1(a).
PROTESTS
12.1 Weekend regattas: Protests shall be delivered to the Protest Committee no later than one hour after the Race Committee boat docks. The schedule of protest hearings will be posted on the Leschi Notice Board shortly after the protest time limit. Posting of the protest schedule is considered notice given as required by RRS 63.2 and satisfies the notice requirement of RRS 61.1(b). Hearings will proceed whether or not all boats are represented. Protesting parties may be offered the opportunity to participate in voluntary protest mediation.
12.2 All other events and series (i.e not weekend regattas): Protests shall be sent to the CYC office by mail with a U.S. Postal Service postmark date no later than the first weekday following the race in which the incident occurred or hand delivered, faxed or emailed before the end of office hours on that day. (CYC Office Staff may note the time of sending and receipt on participant’s protest form.) This changes RRS 61.3. Parties to a hearing will be notified of the date, location and time of their hearing.
12.3 A protested boat may elect to acknowledge breaking a rule and to accept the appropriate penalty. In such a case she should notify the Protest Committee Chairman to that effect and the hearing may be waived. This changes RRS 63.1.
SCORING
13.1 The Low Point scoring system of RRS Appendix A will apply. Boats that are OCS, did not finish, retire, or are disqualified will score points equal to the number of boats that finish in their class in that race plus one. Boats that do not start will score points equal to the number of boats that finish in their class in that race plus two. This changes RRS Appendix A4.2 and A9.
13.2 PHRF corrected times will be calculated using the time-on-time method.
13.3 A boat's series score is the sum of her points in all the races. However, for the Evening Series if four to six races are completed, one score will be discarded, if seven to nine races, two will be discarded, and if ten or more races, three will be discarded. For Weekend Regattas there will be no discarded scores unless the Specific Sailing Instructions provide for throw-outs. This changes RRS Appendix A2.
13.4 One completed race will constitute a series.
AWARDS
Corinthian Awards will be presented for all events as indicated in the Specific Sailing Instructions. The results of each event will be posted on the CYC web site.