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2007 HSH
Yachts Race To The Border
SAILING
INSTRUCTIONS June
2nd. 2007 |
1. GENERAL
The HSH Yachts Race to The Border Regatta is open
only to yachts that agree to abide by these Sailing Instructions. The race is under the management of Galveston
Bay Cruising Association Race Committee and such Committee shall have full
powers to interpret the rules and conditions governing this race, to provide
for any deficiencies in these conditions, to decide protest and eligibility,
and to correct any inequities that might later become apparent. The Race Committee may change the Sailing
Instructions by notice, in writing if practical, and otherwise by voice or
radio contact, not later than the preparatory signal of any class.
2. RULES
The Regatta will be governed by The Racing
Rules of Sailing (RRS) 2004-2008 including US SAILING Prescriptions, the
current Offshore Racing Council (ORC) Special Regulations for Category 3,
Monohulls with Life Raft or Category 3 Multihulls without Life Raft, the
International Rules for Prevention of Collision at Sea (COLREGS), PHRF of
Galveston Bay rules, the Notice of Race and these Sailing Instructions.
2.1 No luffing is allowed
between sunset and sunrise. This does
not prohibit a leeward yacht from maintaining her proper course; a weather
yacht shall keep clear. This instruction
is intended to prohibit luffing at night.
2.2 OWNER’S
AND SKIPPER’S RESPONSIBILITIES
The safety of a yacht and her crew is the inescapable
responsibility of the owner and/or her skipper, who must ensure that the yacht
is fully found, thoroughly seaworthy, and manned by an experienced crew. The
entrant and the skipper are responsible to be fully knowledgeable of the
requirements and skills of offshore sailing, and the skipper is responsible to
decide whether to start or to continue the race.
The skipper is responsible to ensure that all
necessary equipment for safe offshore cruising is carried.
All boats MUST obey all maritime RULES OF THE ROAD
when encountering other vessels. This is
especially important when dealing with ship and other commercial traffic.
3. ENTRIES
Eligible boats have completed registration with
the organizing authority as described by the Entry Form.
4. RACE AREA, COURSE LENGTH
The race area will be the waters of the
5. STARTING LINE
All boats starting at
The Starting Line will be in Bolivar’s Road, between an orange flag or tetrahedron on the South Jetty and Marker # 11. Boats should keep away from the ship channel.
6. STARTING SIGNALS
Starting signals will be made in accordance with Racing Rules,
Part 3- Conduct of a Race, with classes starting at ten (10) minute intervals
in the order of classes as detailed below in 6.1. Class assignments are
detailed in the Addendum to these Sailing Instructions. The signal for a
start postponement shall be the hoisting of code flag "AP"
accompanied by a sound signal sounded twice in rapid succession and if
practical, the Race Committee will notify boats by VHF radio channel 67. The
Race Committee can notify boats via Channel 67 of "over early"
starts. Boats so identified are required to complete 2 circles as stated
in rule 6.2. The Race Committee can notify boats of a general recall of a
class, and that class must restart 5 minutes after the last starting
class. Boats are reminded that the Racing Rules require that all classes
be under sail alone, without engine, no later than five minutes before a class
start. Boats within a motoring class must sail for at least thirty minutes
after the start before starting the engine. The Race Committee will remain
on station for thirty minutes after the last start if radio notification is
received of a delayed boat proceeding in the Houston Ship Channel. Boats
starting after this time shall contact and receive verbal permission for
starting after the thirty-minute time limit. This will allow for a boat with
problems on the way to
6.1 Starting Sequence. Starts will take place in the order of the
scheduling chart below. Further, pursuant
to Rule 26, there will also be one long sound (horn) when the preparatory flag
is lowered one minute before each start.
In the event of a general recall, all yachts in that start will have
their Warning Signal five (5) minutes after the last scheduled start. If there is more than one general recall, the
starts will be in the order of the recalls.
As a courtesy only, the Race Committee may give a ten (10) second
countdown on VHF Channel 67 to the raising of each signal flag. Were it becomes
necessary for the race committee to postpone a start to allow safe passage of a
ship, the race committee will sound two short blasts on the horn and raise the
postponement flag; as a courtesy, it will try to notify boats by VHF channel
67.
|
Warning Gun Class Flag UP |
Preparatory Gun |
Prep Flag DOWN
|
Starting Gun
Class
Flag DOWN
|
Class Flag
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Fleet/Class
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Blue
|
ORC
Class |
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Yellow
|
PHRF spinnaker |
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PHRF
Non-spinnaker |
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Dark Blue |
Multihulls |
6.2 After
each start,
the Race Committee may attempt as a courtesy only to notify "over
early" individual yachts on Channel 67 VHF. A yacht that is called over early by not more
than one of her boat lengths may (after clearing the starting line) exonerate
herself by completing two 360-degree turns in the same direction, in
succession, without fouling any other yachts sailing. The turns must be started within 10 minutes
of her start, make note of a yacht observing turns. Yachts more than one boat
length over the line must restart in accordance with the rules.
6.3 Only
Boats with
the appropriate class flag color for the current start are permitted in
the starting area. All other boats
should keep clear.
7. COURSE
From starting line go east and
turn south leaving marker # 5A at the end of the south jetty to starboard.
The following markers should be left to starboard:
Aransas Pass Sea Buoy RW
"AP" Mo (A)
8. FINISH LINE
The
finish line in South Padre Island is a straight line inside the jetties
extending from the
9. FINISHING PROCEDURES
Yachts
are required to report to the Race Committee 2 miles before reaching the sea
buoy on the
10. PROTESTS AND PENALTIES
Protests must be given verbally
to the Race Committee as soon as possible after finishing and must be filed in
writing within six hours after the finish of the protesting yacht. A foul at
the start shall be subject to a minimum penalty of thirty minutes added to the
corrected time of the infringing yacht. At the discretion of the Race Committee,
other infractions of the rules may result in the assessment of time penalties
rather than disqualification. The Race Committee will be located at the
Sheraton Hotel in
11. WITHDRAWING PROCEDURES
The Race Committee places high priority on accounting for every
boat that starts this regatta. Boats
that cannot be accounted for after reasonable delays in arrival in South Padre
could be subject to search and rescue efforts.
For this reason it is imperative that any boat withdrawing from the race
makes its best and most persistent efforts to notify other parties of such
withdrawal at the earliest opportunity.
Withdrawing boats should first make an effort to contact other nearby
boats to communicate the withdrawal. Any
boat receiving information of a withdrawal should immediately report such
information to the Race Committee upon arrival in South Padre. In addition, it is mandatory that any
withdrawing boat, phone the Race Management at the first opportunity to report
the withdrawal. The phone number is
713-459-3110 or call the Sheraton Hotel in South Padre at 956-761-6551. Finally, any
withdrawing boat should also report such withdrawal to the Skipper's emergency
contact as indicated on the Emergency Contact List. Proper reporting of a withdrawal should
include; boat name, boat sail number and skipper's name.
Boats withdrawing from the Regatta and not reporting such
withdrawal may be barred from future participation in events sponsored by the
Galveston Bay Cruising Association.
12. DOCKING FEES AND
DEPARTURE
Your docking fee has been paid with your registration. All boats
should depart
13. ABANDONMENT/TIME LIMIT
The Regatta will be Concluded as of 1200 hours, Central Daylight
Savings Time (
14. RADIO COMMUNICATIONS
The Regatta working channel will be VHF channel 67. This channel will be used at the start, for
working communication to nearby boats offshore and for the finish. Recommendations
for in route communication procedures are included in an Addendum to these
Sailing Instructions.
15. RACING WITH SPINNAKER AND WITHOUT SPINNAKER FLEETS
Any self-righting keelboat with a cabin, sleeping
accommodations, cooking facilities, and head.
Eligibility will be at the discretion of the Race Committee. All boats should have a current Galveston Bay
PHRF certificate or an ORC Club certificate.
RESTRICTIONS, WHICH APPLY TO THE PHRF WITHOUT
SPINNAKER FLEET:
WHISKER POLES
A. Maximum pole length is 102% of “J”
dimension. A telescoping pole may be
used, but it must be used at the proper length. Telescoping poles should be banded at maximum
length to avoid protest.
B. Pole lifts and down hauls may be used.
C. Only one whisker pole may be used at a time.
D. A permanent club-footed jib or staysail boom,
as long as it is less than “J” length, is not considered a whisker pole.
HEADSAILS AND
STAYSAILS
A. Spinnakers, Cruising Spinnakers, Flashers,
Bloopers, Gennakers, etc., are not allowed.
B. Yachts may not use headsails, foresails, or
oversized jibs, greater than the largest jib rated on entry.
C. Drifters or Reacher type sails are allowed as
long as they are smaller than the largest measured headsail and attached to the
forestay.
D. Two headsails may not be carried at
the same time, except that while changing headsails, the replacing sail may be
set and trimmed before the replaced sail is lowered.
E. Staysails are not allowed except
on yachts that are provided with a permanent inner forestay to
which the staysail is hanked on.
16.
AUTOPILOTS
The
use of autopilots is prohibited while racing, except for the Motor class
or single/double handed class as stated by their class rules.
17. CREW
LIST
A written crew list is required. GBCA will accept a written crew list at the GBCA office prior to
18. SCORING
The Race Committee will score the race using the performance
handicapping racing formula, time on time,
for each yacht, as determined by the Race Committee.
The Course length is 240
nautical miles.
PHRF Scoring Method
- The
- The official distance for scoring will be
240nm.
- Time on time scoring will be used to convert
actual elapsed time for each boat to corrected time.
- Per the US Sailing recommendation the Time
Correction Factor (TCF) will be simply multiplied by the elapsed time to get a
corrected time.
- TCF is defined as follows: TCF
= A/(B+PHRF)
Where: A is an arbitrary coefficient not
having any effect on corrected finish order
B
is a coefficient that is a measure of how "fast" the race was overall
and indirectly accounts for average wind strength and sailing angle.
PHRF
is the rating for a particular boat.
- The B coefficient will be calculated after
the race according to the following formula:
B =
((3600 - (VMG avg) (PHRF avg))/ VMG avg
Where: VMG avg is the average speed over
the course for all of the boats in a given class
PHRF avg is the average PHRF rating for all
of the boats in a given class
Please note that this
scoring method is totally defined prior to the race and leaves no room for
subjective determination of average wind conditions, etc. after the race is
completed.
Once you have the B factor, plug
it in the next formula.
A
TCF = ------------------
B + PHRF
The denominator, B + PHRF, is the number
of seconds it takes to sail a nautical mile in the expected conditions. Another
way to look at it is that the denominator divided into 3600 is the average
rhumb line boat speed in knots. Here are some commonly used B factors:
|
B Factor |
When used |
|
480 |
Heavy air or all off the wind |
|
550 |
"Average" conditions |
|
650 |
Very light air or all windward work |
There are no hard and fast rules for
selecting the B coefficient. Basically, the lower you select it, the more
favorable it will be to the slower boats.
The numerator, A, is merely a coefficient
that makes a “nice” looking TCF. Select it so that the TCF for the middle of
the fleet is about 1.000. The A coefficient has absolutely no effect on the
corrected finish order. Changing it will only affect the various margins. Thus
if your middle handicap is about 100 and your conditions are average, then the
TCF formula would look like the following:
650
TCF =
------------------
550 + PHRF
To get the corrected time, simply multiply
the elapsed time by the TCF.
TOT scoring is not a cure-all for all the
inequities of handicapping. TOT scoring will not turn a fleet upside down. It
usually does not affect the top boats. It usually moves the boats in the middle
around a little. If the handicap spread in a class is large, it will tend to
tighten things up a bit.
ADDENDUM
TO SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
1.
Regatta Classes/Scratch List
2.
Motor/Autopilot Class Rules
3.
* Engine Log
4.
Communication Procedures
5.
* Declaration of Completion
6.
** Emergency Contact List
7.
Estimated Time of Arrival
Form
8.
Schedule of Events
9.
Finish Line photo
10.
11.
*
12.
Hotel
information and survey
* THIS
ITEMS MUST BE TURNED IN AFTER THE RACE
**
EMERGENCY CONTACT LIST MUST BE TURNED IN BEFORE THE RACE
ADENDUM
NO. 1
REGATTA
CLASSES/SCRATCH LIST
|
Fleet |
Class |
Boat Name |
Sail |
Skipper Name |
Boat Type |
PHRF |
|
PHRF
SPIN |
PHRF A |
Blue |
48004 |
Chuck Buckner |
1D48 |
-30 |
|
PHRF
SPIN |
PHRF A |
Diablesse |
41243 |
Greg Gladden |
Beneteau First 42 |
72 |
|
PHRF
SPIN |
PHRF A |
Material Girl |
109 |
Tom Youens |
Beneteau 473 |
84 |
|
PHRF
SPIN |
PHRF A
SINGLE/DOUBLE |
Star Chaser |
18086 |
Kevin Box/Dexter Reed |
C & C 40 II |
93 |
|
PHRF
SPIN |
PHRF A |
Voyager |
25 |
Frank B. Easby-Smith |
Beneteau 461 |
96 |
|
PHRF
SPIN |
PHRF A |
Blue Northern |
27 |
Bob Brindley |
Beneteau 440 |
123 |
|
PHRF
SPIN |
PHRF A |
Ruthless |
40 |
Donald Anderson |
Catalina 470 |
138 |
|
PHRF
SPIN |
PHRF A |
Island Time |
273 |
Johnny Jones |
Catalina 36 |
141 |
|
PHRF
SPIN |
PHRF A |
Pangloss |
104 |
William Beatty |
Passport 40 |
150 |
|
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PHRF
NS |
PHRF
NS A |
Cache |
334 |
Robert Giles |
Beneteau 50 |