back to contents

1.1 To enter an event, submit a completed registration form and pay the appropriate fee (See Race Schedule and Fees).

1.2 Weekend regattas: Boats that have not paid the Season Race Fee shall register and pay the entry fee between 0930 and 1030 on the first day of the regatta in the CYC Shilshole Clubhouse.

1.3 Frostbite and Thursday Evening Series: Registration forms and fees must be received at the CYC office at least three days prior to the first race entered.

Races will be governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing (‘RRS’), the prescriptions of US SAILING, the rules adopted by local one-design fleets, and these sailing instructions.

Notices will be posted inside the door of the CYC Shilshole Clubhouse or on the window next to the door. Any change in the sailing instructions will be posted at least 90 minutes before the first race in which it will take effect.

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 rule 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.

Signals made ashore will be displayed from the race committee boat moored alongside the CYC Clubhouse or "V" Dock. When flag "AP", the postponement signal, is lowered after having been displayed ashore, all contestants shall promptly sail to the starting area.

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 wet-suit or dry-suit in addition to a life jacket.

6.2 Boats shall not cross the tow line of a commercial vessel, and boats should not sail a course that causes a commercial vessel to change course or speed.

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 try to notify the race committee.

6.5 Boats should give way to large vessels in the marina channel.

7.1 Weekend Regattas: 1200 on Saturday; 1100 on Sunday.

7.2 Frostbite Series: 1200.

7.3 Thursday Evening Series: 1800.

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.

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 buoy. The first letter displayed is the starting buoy, the last is the finishing buoy, and those in between are the rounding marks. A special Slalom Course and its readerboard placard are shown below the mark descriptions on the page facing the inside the back cover of this book.

9.2 Mark descriptions and locations are inside the back cover of this book.

9.3 Start between the starting buoy 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 buoy. (Exception: For the special Slalom Course, pass marks as shown in the diagram of that course.) Finish between the finishing buoy and the orange flag on the race committee boat. When a number, such as "2" or "3", follows the designation of a course, 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 at leeward mark: If Flag "G" is displayed between the preparatory and the starting signals for a class, there will be a gate (two marks) instead of a single leeward 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 Warning: The race committee may use its engine to hold position, and it may do so even when apparently anchored.

If the warning signal has been made and, thereafter, Flag "AP", the postponement signal, is displayed for less than 15 minutes, the preparatory signal will be made one minute after "AP" is lowered.

11.1 Weekend Regattas and Thursday Evening Series: Races will be started in accordance with RRS rule 26.1, System 2. However, the interval between starting signals will be three minutes [This changes RRS rule 26.1.].

11.2 Frostbite Series. Races will be started in accordance with the Sound-Signal Starting System found in Appendix T of the racing rules.

12.1 Individual recalls will be signaled in accordance with RRS rule 29.2. The race committee will also try to hail the sail numbers of all recalled boats that it can identify.

12.2 General recall will be signaled by the display of the "First Substitute" flag and two horn signals. The preparatory signal for the recalled class will be made one minute after "First Substitute" Flag is lowered.

12.3 When a class is restarting as a result of a general recall, any boat on the course side of the starting line during the last minute before the her starting signal shall sail to the pre-start side of the line around either end before starting. During the last minute before such a start, the race committee may hail the sail numbers of boats that are over the line.

13.1 The winning boat in each class must average at least two knots over the course. In order to establish the time limit, the race committee will estimate the course length (based on the straight-line distances between marks). If one boat in a class finishes within the time limit, then the time limit is extended by thirty minutes for all other boats in her class. This changes RRS rule 35.

13.2 Frostbite Series: No race will be started after 1630.

Protests shall be delivered to the race committee chairman no later than one hour after the race committee boat docks. The schedule of protest hearings will be posted inside the door of the CYC Clubhouse no later than one hour and thirty minutes after the race committee boat docks.

15.1 Boats score points as follows: 1 for first place, 2 for second, 3 for third, etc. Boats that do not finish or are disqualified score points equal to the number of boats that competed in that race plus one. Boats that do not start score points equal to the number of boats that competed in that race plus two.

15.2 For Weekend Regattas and Frostbite Series: A boat's series score is the sum of her points in all the races, except that, if five races are completed, her poorest score will be discarded when determining her series score, and if ten races are completed, her two poorest scores will be discarded.

15.3 For Thursday Evening Series: A boat's evening score is the sum of her points in all of that evening's races. The boat with the lowest evening score places first for that evening, the next lowest places second, etc. In each Thursday evening series, a boat's series score is the sum of her evening places, except that if races are completed on four evenings, her poorest evening place will be discarded when determining her series score.

15.4 Ties in series or evening scores will be resolved in favor of the boat most often defeating the others tied. If this does not resolve a tie, it will be resolved in favor of the boat with the most first places, then second places, etc. If the tie is still unresolved, it will be resolved in favor of the boat with the lowest score in the last race in which the tied boats all started.

CYC plaques will be awarded at the annual awards party to the top finishers in each class in each Thursday Evening Series, Frostbite Series and Weekend Regatta.

Unless notified to the contrary, competitors must make their own arrangements for boat storage.