NOTICE OF RACE & Sailing Instructions
Jolyon Byerley Christmas Series 2024 (formerly known as The HighTide Series)
The Race will be known as “The BUDGET MARINE Jolyon Byerley Series” and will consist of five races.
The Series will be completed if two or more races are completed.
The Organizing Authority will be the Antigua Yacht Club.
The Sponsor will be Budget Marine Ltd.
The Rules will be the current Racing Rules of Sailing.
The Series will be held Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th December 2024, with three races planned for Saturday, two on Sunday. On both days the races will start not before 1000. Subsequent races will start after the last boat has finished the previous race.
Time Limits – for races will be 30 mins. after the first boat in class finishes.
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 Organizers – and skippers will be informed of their class at the Skippers Briefing and/or no later than the first warning signal on Friday 13th December.
Entry Fees – EC$200 for the series for each boat.
Note: Entries before noon on Monday 9th December, will qualify for a 20% 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 – points equal to TWO more than the score of the last boat to finish in that race
Race 5 – Ditto above except
Finishing – points equal to two times finishing place – i.e. double points
DNF, DSQ, DNC – as above, doubled
Note – RRS Appendix A allows for one race to be discarded. – however, race #5 CANNOT be discarded
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.
Additional fun prizes may be awarded. Categories/Sponsors required!
RATINGS: For classes A and B current 2024 CSA ratings will be used. If a boat has an outdated rating, it ‘may’ be accepted after updating by the organizers. Ratings prior to 2018 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 organizers have the right to change the rating after day 1 or after day 2 to compensate – but not retrospectively.
Courses – will be laid within the Rendezvous Bay – Hercules Pt. area. The start/finish area will be inside Falmouth Harbour, close to the entrance.
Course plans and diagrams will be emailed and displayed at AYC no later than Wednesday 11th 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.
Fun / Cruiser Class will start first – Warning signal is a PINK Flag
Class B will start second – Warning signal is a YELLOW Flag
Class A will start last – Warning signal is a GREEN Flag
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.
The Skippers’ Briefing will be at AYC Upper Deck on Friday 13th December at 6.00 pm. Final class allocations will be given at this time. Any last minute changes to anything in this document will be promulgated in the Saturday Racing WhatsApp group.
For those unable to attend all information will be available by email to Tom Paterson fleetcaptainayctom@gmail.com and on the water on VHF 12 up to the first 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 the Skippers Briefing or by email to fleetcaptainayctom@gmail.com before this time if not attending. The rating will then reflect the sail wardrobe selected.
No changes in sail wardrobe may then be made for all 5 races.
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.
Protests will be heard at the AYC as soon as possible by an ad-hoc committee which may comprise of Race Officials and/or other competitors not directly involved in the specific protest.
NOTE: This is a friendly club regatta – aggressive sailing is discouraged.
Social –
Saturday 14th December, 1600 – Results and Presentation of the Days prizes at the Events Centre and Deck
Sunday 15th December, 1600 – Prize Giving
Course – View and Download
Register – Here