Sailing Instructions 2023 – 24

 

 

All PBYC Events are conducted under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972.

 

PBYC’s Racing Policy emphasises the need for members and crew to compete in a friendly, safe and sportsmanlike manner.

• Members are reminded of the relaxed, family nature of our club and are encouraged to give less experienced or newer members every opportunity to enjoy racing with the PBYC in an environment that is enjoyable and non-threatening to themselves and their yachts.
• All PBYC races are conducted under the International Collision Regulations and as clarified by PBYC Sailing Instructions.
• Members are expected and encouraged to learn, know, abide and sail by the Racing Rules of Sailing
• It is expected that when a member breaks a rule they will take the penalty as prescribed by the Sailing Directions or retire.

A 360 (1 turn)  for touching a mark and a 720 (2 turns) for any rule (Part 2) infringement.

• Intimidation of other participants is discouraged and experienced racing members are encouraged to give way to less experienced members in potentially dangerous situations.

 

All yachts participating in any race must have:

• a fully financial PBYC member on board or, if a visiting yacht, have a boat owning member of that Club aboard and also paid a Series entry for the visiting yacht.
• a current safety certificate from either PBYC or a AS affiliated yacht club
• have provided to PBYC a copy of their current insurance certificate.
• A valid Race Entry /Membership Renewal Form for the Season (PBYC Yachts).

 

The PBYC member is responsible for the conduct of the yacht and its crew. 

• The skipper of a yacht is solely responsible for deciding whether or not to start and whether or not to continue to participate in any club event.
• The safety of a yacht and her crew is the sole and inescapable responsibility of the owner, or his/her representative.

 

 

ABANDONED RACE:   In accordance with our Risk Management Policy, if the wind is consistently over 25 knots and a strong breeze forecast, or there is no wind, the race may be abandoned.

Yachts will be notified by radio on VHF Channel 73.

 

BOAT IDENTIFICATION:   Each boat must have a unique Identification Number.

This will normally be a Sail Number and shall be entered on the yacht’s Race Entry Form.

It is also required that Club Members fly their PBYC Burgee from the backstay

 

CREW

In the interests of safety for all, a minimum of two crew are required.

Any boat that sails single handed will be scored as DNC.

 

EXTRAS - refers to spinnakers, gennikers, bloopers, assymetrics or other “fore-sails” that are not attached to the forestay.

They can be used in a number of Sunday races, but they are not permitted in the Twilight Series. The race program will highlight extras as YES – they can be used or NO – they may not be used.

 

HANDICAP: Each boat will be allocated a handicap using the Performance Handicapping System (PHS).  Each boats handicap may be varied after each race

Boats with a valid ORC Rating will also be allocated results on that basis.

MEANS OF PROPULSION: When racing a yacht shall be propelled solely by the wind in her sails and the action of waves on the hull.

This means you must NOT being using your motor for propulsion from 5 minutes before the Start until after Finishing.

Any yacht using their motor for propulsion during a race must immediately retire.

Remember racing begins at the Warning Signal, 5 minutes before the Race Start

 

NAVIGATIONAL LIGHTS – must be activated when sailing after sunset or when visibility is restricted

PENALTIES

• If the starter has judged that one or more yachts have broken the start, two short sound signals will be given after the starting signal, or a call on VHF Channel 73.

It is the responsibility of skippers to decide if they have infringed and, if so, either return and start again or accept a time penalty.

• Touching a rounding mark incurs a single turn penalty.
• For all other infringements during a race a two turn penalty is sufficient to exonerate the infringing yacht.
• A 10 min penalty (in Sunday events) or a 5 min penalty (in Twilight events) will be applied by the Race Committee where an infringement is clear and no voluntary penalty has been taken, especially where the safety of other yachts has been put at risk.
  • During Twilight events in two divisions, yachts in the faster division MUST keep clear of the starting area in the 5-minute period before the start of the other division OR RISK A PENALTY.

 

PROHIBITED WATER: The area of water between registered moorings (including Police and NSW Maritime moorings) and the adjacent shoreline shall be considered as PROHIBITED WATER.

Boats racing shall not enter this area and must allow room for other boats to keep clear.

 

SUNDAY START TIMES: 1.00 pm. (October to March); 12.00 pm. (April to September).

Division 2 will start at the nominated start time  and Division 1 5 minutes later.

The start boat will be using a clock set exactly to Eastern Standard or Eastern Daylight time.

 

 

EVENT START: Before their start time, competitors should be in the vicinity of the Start Line and no longer propelled by their motor more than 5 minutes before their Start Time.

 

Time signals will be given over the radio on VHF Ch 73 and may be accompanied by a sound signal.

Any yacht that has not crossed the start line within 15 minutes after the start signal will be scored as DNC (Did Not Compete).

 

Elapsed Times will be recorded from the published Start Time as confirmed by the Start signal until the yacht has finished.

 

RACE COMMITTEE:

The Race Committee makes decisions on behalf of the Club that affecting racing matters and consists of The Commodore, the Handicapper plus appointed officials.

STARTERS AND RECALLS: Starting on time is the SOLE responsibility of the skipper. Boats crossing the start line before their start time may be recalled.

Attention to the early start may be brought to the skipper’s attention by a sound signal.

The starter may also inform the boat via a call on VHF Ch 73 of their early start.

The boats will sail around the end of the start line and start the race again.

Boats restarting must keep clear of other boats that are starting correctly.

Boats starting early and not restarting will incur a 10-minute penalty.

 

 

ADDITIONAL START INFORMATION

When additional information* is to be communicated to all boats before the start of a it will be broadcast on the radio using VHF Channel 73

* Eg. If a mark of the course is missing.

 

POSTPONED RACE:

Based on our Risk Management Policy this will happen for races outside Pittwater if the wind is forecast to exceed 25 knots offshore or seas exceed 3 meters. For inshore races a wind forecast exceeding 30 knots will cause the race to be abandoned or postponed.

Yachts will be notified by radio on VHF Channel 73 or beforehand via SMS.

 

RACE FINISH: Normally the Finish Line will be the Start Line approached from the last mark.   The start/ finish line for racing is specified in the Season Racing Program.

Boats must keep well clear of the Finish Line after finishing so as to not interfere with other competing yachts.

 

SHORTENED COURSE: In the case of a shortened course, the Finish Line will be between a mark on the current course  (passed from the direction of the last mark) and a designated land mark on the shore nearby.

 

This information will be relayed to the fleet from the starter via VHF Ch 73.

 

RADIO: The Starter may use VHF Channel 73 to send messages

 

RETIREMENTS: Once having started, each boat MUST report to the Starter before leaving the course, either by VHF Ch 73 or a confirmed SMS or phone call.

 

TIME LIMIT:

5.00PM. (October to March)               4.00PM. (April to September), for Sunday Racing.

19:45 for Twilight Racing or Nautical Twilight (whichever is earlier).

 

SCORING: Race results will not be recorded for any boat that does not have:

- a current year’s membership or paid a Series Entry fee for the series (i.e. Visiting Yachts)

- A current Safety Check of the correct category for the event (Cat 5 or 7).

- A valid insurance policy for $10 million Public Liability and Racing Cover.

 

Each finishing boat receives points equal to its race position (one point for 1st, 2 for 2nd, etc).

The boat with the lowest aggregate score wins.

 

Unless 3 or more boats compete in a race then the points for that race will NOT be included in that Series.

 

In the event of a series score tie, the tie will be broken by listing each boats scores in order from best to worst and at the first point where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favour of the boat with the best score. .

 

 

TLE (time limit expired): A boat still racing when her time limit expires shall be scored points equal to the number of boats finishing within the time limit, plus 30% of the number of starters, rounded to the nearest whole number, but no more points than the number of starters. Such boats will be scored TLE.

 

DNF (did not finish): A boat that withdraws before her time limit expires shall be scored points, one more than the number of boats starting in the race. Such boats will be scored TLE.

 

DNS (did not start) or DNC (Did Not Compete): A boat that did not start or compete shall be scored points, one more than the number of boats entered in the series.

 

No points will be awarded for an abandoned race and the series and the scoring for the series will be reduced by the number of abandoned races.

The number of discards for the Series shall be similarly reduced.

 

 

NEW MEMBERS: A boat that enters the series after the start of the series will be recorded a DNC for the races that preceded the entry of the boat.

 

SAFETY: The races are conducted with the approval of NSW Maritime Authority and it is imperative that all contestants ensure that they comply with at least the minimum standard of safety equipment. The regulations that apply are the NSW Maritime Authority, Regulations for ‘Enclosed Waters’.

 

SAFETY CHECK: All boats must register a safety check certificate with PBYC as part of their application to sail. All boats should have a current SAFETY CHECK Certificate lodged with PBYC to be eligible to compete.

This will be a minimum of Category 7 for Twilight Racing and Category 5 for any races outside Pittwater.

 

WEB SITE: The PBYC web site address is:- www.pbyc.com.au

Information, handicaps and courses and are available on the web site.

 

WEEKEND RACING (Sunday)

Sunday races are held once or twice a month.  There are different courses for most races, providing variety and different levels of challenge in both the enclosed waters of Pittwater and into Broken Bay.

Please note that with most Sunday races there is no official “start” boat.

Rather the race is run on an honour system where one boat in the fleet will make the four start signals (5 minute, 4 minute, 1 minute and Start by VHF Channel 73) and all boats racing, including the starting boat, will cross the Start Line on the start signal.

For this season, the primary start boat will be “Addiction” and the secondary start boat will be “Element”, with the tertiary start boat being “Wahoo”.

Division 2 yachts will start on the published Start Time while Division 1 yachts will start 5 minutes later. This will allow some separation between smaller & larger yachts at the start.

The Start/Finish line for all Sunday Races shall be in Careel Bay between the Stokes Point Mark and the Yellow Mark (#050) located ~ 300 meters East of SP.

 

RACE TRACKING:
Each yacht shall record their own track during all PBYC races to confirm they have followed the correct course (in the absence of fixed marks offshore) and to provide for an opportunity to record shortened course finish times.

PBYC requires each competitor to use raceQS for this purpose.

It is a free application that operates on both Android and IPhones..

SETUP  PROCEDURE –

After downloading the app from your App Store (RaceQs)  please register, as registering allows you to keep all races recorded for future reference.

Once registered, open the app then…..

1)    Change LIVE STREAMING to ON

2)    Click BOAT and enter your boat name & any details.

3)    Go to SETTINGS (bottom of the page) and Select AUTO SHUTOFF.

• Set Battery to whatever level you like.
• Set Speed to 20 knots and Recording time to 5 hours.
• (This will shut the app down automatically when you drive home and your car gets to 20 knots or time limit exceeds 5 hours if you have not already Stopped Tracking yourself)

Prior to race day, open the app and go to PRESET START and turn Scheduled Launch ON.         Enter the race start date and time to be 10 minutes before your start time.
This can be done the day before the race or earlier, so the app will automatically start tracking, and automatically stop tracking if you have followed the SETUP instructions above.
This will also allow you to accurately record your actual finish time.

Immediately prior to race start, make sure the app is turned on.
Do this way before you start so you can focus on racing not the app.

After you have finished , tap on “stop tracking” then “Save & Upload”.

This will ensure your track data is uploaded to the Cloud and thus accessible to the handicapper for time recording.

If you have any questions on using raceQS, please call Rob Slack on 0414232429.

 

 

Competing boats will time their own finish, based on the scheduled time of the start as confirmed by the Start signal, and forward that elapsed time to the Commodore as soon as practicable, after finishing the race.  (Please time to the nearest second eg 15:26:15 where 15 is the hour (3pm), 26 the minutes and 15 seconds)

 

If you retire from a race, you are requested to return and inform the start boat of your retirement via VHF Ch 73 or a SMS/Phone call .

If this is not possible then please phone a Club Official ASAP

 

 

TWILIGHT RACING (Friday)

Throughout the daylight-saving period, races are held each second Friday evening, as shown in the yearly racing calendar. Please note there is a break in the program over the Christmas holiday period.

For the 2022-23 Season it is a requirement to use RaceQs to record your track/times to enable a fair system for Shortening the Course in the event of light winds.

 DIVISIONAL TWILIGHT RACES

This is a traditional race with a mobile start boat and a formal start process along with a season point score and an annual season trophy.

Our twilight races are conducted in two divisions and the Race Committee will allocate you to the appropriate division upon payment of your racing fee.  Your handicap will be established after a few races with handicaps adjusted, based on performance after each race, to ensure that everyone has a chance of gaining a place in subsequent races.

The starting line for all Divisional Twilight Races is as per the program being between the Stokes Point Rounding Mark and the Yellow Maritime Buoy 300 m to the East.

An “exclusion zone” of 50 meters around the SP Mark applies to avoid conflict with other yacht clubs when they are using SP as a rounding mark.

Twilight races are run on an honour system where one boat in the fleet will be designated as the start boat and will make the four start signals (5 minute, 4 minute, 1 minute and Start via VHF Channel 73) and all boats racing, including the starting boat, will cross the designated Start Line on the start signal.

For this season, the primary start boat will be “Addiction” and the secondary start boat will be “Element”, with the tertiary start boat being “Wahoo”.

Please monitor VHF Channel 73 to check for any course changes.

Flag Types that may be flown from the Start Boat:

Course flags:               Start proceeding to the north – GREEN

Start proceeding to the south – RED

Yellow flag:                 Change in course or starting instructions

Yellow & black flag:    Boat(s) breaking the start

 

The Start sequence shall be as per Rule 26 with a 5 minute warning, 4 minute Preparatory, 1 minute signal and a Start signal

Division 1:       Bigger yachts, generally over 10 metres – Start at 18:05

Division 2:       Smaller yachts and larger cruising yachts – Start at 18:00

STARTING

Starting yachts are required to start in accordance with the program.

You do not have any rights to push in between a starting yacht that is close hauled and the start mark if you are the windward yacht as you must keep clear.

Buoy room does not apply at the start mark surrounded by navigable water.

This is commonly called “barging” and is the cause of many heated discussions and quite often can result in damage, sometimes serious, when the leeward yacht cannot bear away due to other yachts to leeward. It is much better to approach the start line already close hauled so all yachts are effectively on parallel courses.

The best approach is “IF IN DOUBT, DON’T” as we all want to avoid a collision.

Crossing the line too early – If you cross the starting line early you should hear two clear blasts of the horn to indicate an early crossing or a call on VHF Channel 73. You must then Return to re-start or accept a Time Penalty

Shorten Course – round the mark as normal and cross the line in the process.

In the event that the starter decides to shorten the course (usually due to a lack of wind), the nominated start boat will provide revised instructions via VHF Channel 73.

A revised finish line may be the original Start line or may be at any of the rounding marks and a land mark on the nearby shore.  The new finish line shall be crossed from the direction of the last mark and will normally be passed on the same side as if it was a rounding mark.

You do not have to sail around the new finish mark.

Competing boats will time their own finish, based on the time of the start signal, and forward that elapsed time to the Commodore by SMS as soon as practicable, after finishing the race.  (Please time to the nearest second eg 15:26:15 where 15 is the hour (3pm), 26 the minutes and 15 seconds)

If you retire from a race, you are requested to return and inform the start boat of your retirement via VHF Ch 73 or a SMS/Phone call . If this is not possible then please phone a Club Official ASAP

After each twilight race, you are encouraged to come back to Club Palm Beach for dinner, drinks and race results and prizes.  All race results are uploaded on the club’s website (www.pbyc.com.au) as soon as possible.