Joining The Race Control Team

Our expanded race calendar there’s plenty of opportunity to help support the club and Plymouth Sailing.

Race Control Team

The role of the Race Control Team is to organise the races as set out in the Sailing Instructions.

The team comprises:

• Race Officer – Overall responsibility for setting the courses and making decisions about race situations eg General recalls etc.
• Timing – aka clock watcher. This person is responsible for the timing of all the start sequences, race times for each boat and timeouts at the end of the race.
• Flag Signaling – This person prepares all the signal flags before the race. During the start sequence they hoist and lower the class and sequence flags. During the race this person assists the Timer in recording the race times for all racers.

Role of the Race Team

The objective is to provide the best racing for all the competitors. This means meeting a few key goals.

• Ensure the safety of all the competitors – This relates to weather conditions, shipping movements
• Set a fair course with a true beat and legs that suit the class of boats sailing
• Meet the standard sailing regulations and specific Sailing Instructions
• Manage the start sequence and any issues with boats over the line
• Record all the boat timings to provide handicap fleet results
• Manage safety issues with the safety boats on duty
• Control the race length as the conditions vary
• Finish all the boats completing the course

Race Control – What does it take

If you know your way around a sailing course and have organisational instincts you’ll be in clover as a Race Officer or race team member.

There’s a process to follow as set out in the new procedure manual and you’ll get a opportunity to set an interesting course and watch how the fleet find the best way around it.

Certification

Race Office roles  http://goo.gl/iL4MZ.
Check out the gunner opportunities. We have a hooter so chances to destroy your sailing nemesis is somewhat restricted.

RYA Club Race Officer Course http://goo.gl/hs03u

According to the RYA details the course is locally run using RYA materials but is not a formalised RYA qualification.

The course will last 1 day and give you all the skills you need to run our regular racing events. This will include liaising with safety boats and using the VHF radio.

To sign up for the Race Officer Course or to help out in the Race Team please fill out the form below.

[form 5 "Race Control Team"]