Starting the race.

To start the race you cross an imaginary line between two buoys and head for the first buoy (buoys on the course are also called marks) on the course.

You know when to start as, suddenly, everyone else has crossed the starting line and is heading for the first mark, OR you can watch the flags being hoisted and listen to the hoots being made by the race team, here's what they mean:
  • at 5 minutes to the start the hooter sounds and an all yellow flag is flown
  • at 4 minutes to the start the hooter sounds and the blue peter is flown
  • at 1 minute to the start the hooter sounds and the blue peter is lowered. (Get ready for the next blast of the hooter!)
  • it's the start, the hooter sounds and the yellow flag is taken down - GO!
You then need to go round the buoys (marks) in the right order and pass them on the correct side of your boat (buoys marked Port should go past the left side of your boat and buoys marked Starboard the right hand side).
Repeat this until the race ends.

Don't bump into other boats

There are rules so that we know when we have to change course so we don't hit other boats. Here's a really simplified guide to the main ones.

NB, even if you have right of way and the other boat keeps coming please do something to avoid a collision!
  1. If you have the boom on the left hand side of your boat anyone with their boom on the ride hand side of theirs needs to keep clear of you.

  2. If your boom is on the same side as another boat's (you're on the same tack) and any part of the boats are alongside each other (overlapped), the boat closer to the wind (the windward boat) needs to keep clear of the other.

    3. Which is the windward boat?
    If you're sitting in your boat opposite your sail and looking towards your sail - if you can see the boat that's alongside you are closer to the wind (you're the windward boat).

  3. When boats are on the same tack and not overlapped the boat behind keeps clear of the boat in front.

  4. While you're tacking or gybing you need to keep clear of other boats.

Taking penalties

You need to do this if your boat touches a mark or you break a rule:
  1. If you touch a mark sail away from it and other boats and complete a “one-turn” (360°) penalty

    2. You sail in circle including a tack and a gybe and then continue with the race.

  2. If you break another rule make sure you're clear of other boats and complete a “two-turns” (720°) penalty

    3. You sail in two circles including 2 tacks and 2 gybes and then continue with the race.
That's enough about the rules to get you started, you can ask more experienced members about them and they will be happy to help.

This is the RYA's guide to the rules - you can find other guidebooks if you search for them.

You can also read the complete official rules if you want to.

In most of our races everyone starts together, and sails the same course set around a sequence of buoys. Races usually last around 45 minutes, when they've finished the results are calculated using a handicap system to take account of the fact that some classes of boat are faster than others. It might be that the boat that finishes first isn't the one that wins the race. The final corrected results are published on the results page of the RSC website.

We sometimes run pursuit races, where the slowest boats start first followed by the faster boats which try to catch and overtake them before the finish, which is, again, usually 45 minutes after the start.

           Follow @rickysailing    RSC is an onBoard Club