Hightide Christmas Series 2016
The Race will be known as “The BUDGET MARINE HIGHTIDE SERIES” and will consist of five races as shown
The Series will be completed if two or more races are completed.
The Organising Authority will be the Antigua Yacht Club.
The Sponsor will be Budget Marine Ltd.
The Rules – will be the ISAF RRS version 2013 – 2016
The Race Schedule will be –
Race 1 Sunday 18/12 – start 1 pm approx.60 – 90 min. race
Race 2 Sunday 18/12 – start after completion of Race 1 approx. 60 min. race
Race 3 Thursday 22/12 – start 3 pm approx. 60 -90 min. race
Race 4 Monday 26/12 – start 12 noon approx. 60 – 90 min. race
Race 5 Monday 26/12 BOXING DAY Race – start 2.00 pm. approx.. approx.. 90 – 120 min. race
Time Limits – for races 1 – 4 will be 30 mins. after the first boat in class finishes. There will be no time limit for race 5. However the committee boat will leave station approx.. 30 mins. before sunset.
Boats not finishing within the time limit will be scored DNF
Classes – There will be ONE (Class A) or TWO (Class B) classes for the CSA rated boats depending on the number of entries. If insufficient entries all CSA boats will be combined into Class A only
There will be a FUN – non rated – class for Cruisers, Classic Yachts and Workboats, and for those yachts who either have no rating or who wish to race less seriously. These yachts will be given an appropriate AYC rating. Obvious performance yachts will not be allowed to enter this class.
Classes will be allocated by the Organisers – and skippers will be informed of their class at the Skippers Briefing and/or no later than the first warning signal for the whole series.
Entry Fees – Boats up to 50ft @ EC$160 for the series or EC$60 for Boxing Day (Race 5) only.
Boats over 50ft @ EC$200 for the series or EC$75 for Boxing Day (Race 5) only.
Note: Entries before 5pm Wednesday 14th December, will qualify for a 25% discount.
Scoring – Will be RRS Appendix A, Scoring LOW POINT System – amended as follows:-
Races 1-4
Finishing – points equal to finishing place in that race
DNF – points equal to ONE more than the score of the last boat to finish in that race
DSQ – points equal to TWO more than the score of the last boat to finish in that race
DNC – ditto DSQ
Race 5 – Ditto above except
Finishing – points equal to two times finishing place – ie. double points
DNF, DSQ, DNC – ditto above
Note – RRS Appendix A allows for one race to be discarded. – however race #5 CANNOT be discarded
Boats scoring in the Boxing Day race only will NOT interfere with points scored for the series boats
Prizes – “Hightide” prizes for the overall series -Sponsored by Budget Marine Ltd. – will be awarded to the series winning boats 1st. 2nd. 3rd. in each class.
Additional daily prizes (bottles of rum) – Sponsored by AYC – will be presented for the class winners of each days racing.
The Boxing Day Barrel Trophy – awarded by Sandy Mair / AYC – will be awarded to the overall winner of
Race #5 – this may or may not be a boat entered for the full series.
Additional fun prizes may be awarded. Categories/Sponsors required!
RATINGS: For classes A and B current 2016 CSA ratings will be used. If a boat has an outdated rating it ‘may’ be accepted after updating by the organisers. Ratings prior to 2013 are unlikely to be accepted – these boats may then race in the fun class. However performance boats will not be accepted into this class.
Boats in the non CSA classes will be given an appropriate AYC club rating to properly assess their true performance. If there are any obvious errors in allocated ratings then the organisers have the right to change the rating after day 1 or after day 2 to compensate – but not retrospectively.
A daily Race Progressive handicap system may also be used on an experimental basis.
Courses – will be laid within the Rendezvous Bay – Hercules Pt. area. The starting finishing area will be at entrance to Falmouth Harbour near Bishops Reef mark. Course plans and diagrams will be emailed and displayed at AYC no later than Wednesday 14th December and confirmed at the Skippers Briefing. Actual course to be sailed for any race will be notified by the committee boat / race officer by flag, hail or radio.
Start and Finish line will be the same.
Starting Procedure – Will be in accordance with RRS 26 (5 : 4 : 1 : Go)
The First WARNING (5 mins.) signal for the day will be at 5 mins. prior to the advertised time of START
An ATTENTION sound signal ‘may’ be given 1 minute beforehand (ie.at 6 mins. before FIRST start)
Fun / Cruiser Class will start first – Warning signal is a RED Flag
Class B will start second – Warning signal is a YELLOW Flag
Class A will start last – Warning signal is a GREEN Flag
The PREPARATORY (4 mins.) signal for each class will be indicated by the raising of flag P (or a solid BLUE Flag) which is dropped at 1 minute prior to the start. The Class Warning and P Flags are lowered at the start.
A sound signal ‘may’ also be given to draw attention to the flags.
Note – depending on the number of entries, two or more classes may be combined for starting. This would be indicated by VHF radio and by flying the appropriate class flags together at the Warning signal.
Other Signals and Procedures – Postponement, Shorten Course, etc. shall be in accordance with RRS.
Skippers’ Briefing will be at Club Sushi on Sunday 18th December at 11.00 am. Final class allocations will be given at this time.
For those unable to attend all information will be available by email to cricketant112@gmail.com and on the water on VHF 12 up to the warning signal for the first race.
Radio – will use channel 12 which all yachts will be expected to monitor. Failure to hear any verbal instructions, properly put out, will not be grounds for protest or redress.
Sail Wardrobe – must be declared at time of entry or at latest before the first warning signal for race No. 1 ie. 12.55 pm. on Sunday 18/12. The rating will then reflect the sail wardrobe selected.
No changes (upwards) in sail wardrobe may then be made except that for RACE 5 ONLY any yacht may elect to ADD (not subtract) additional downwind sails / sail configurations to their rating.
Race No.5 – Boxing Day Race- will be an open race to any yacht. These yachts will score against all other boats in class / fleet for that race but will NOT affect the scores of boats entered for the whole series.
The Boxing Day Barrel Trophy will be awarded to the yacht in any class which beats its second place competitor by the biggest percentage margin.
Protests –
Must be submitted in writing to the Race Officer within 90 minutes of the leading boat’s finish or 60 minutes of the protesting boat’s finish – whichever is the sooner.
For day 1 and day 3 the protest submission time for both races will apply to the finishing times (above) for the SECOND race of that day
Protests will be heard at the AYC as soon as possible.
NOTE: This is a friendly club regatta – aggressive sailing and protests are discouraged.
Social –
18th December- Results and Presentation of the Days prizes at the Events Centre and Deck
22d December- Results and Presentation of the Days prizes at the Events Centre and Deck
26th December- Results and the Series Presentation at the Events Centre and Deck / Club Sushi Bar. This will be a Grand Gala affair and is open to all competitors and friends who are strongly encouraged to attend.
Dockage – The AYC dock will be available to yachts on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
Signed
Sandy Mair
AYC Fleet Captain