2009 ENSIGN FLEET No. 35 SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

 

1            RULES

1.1         The series will be governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing 2009-2012.

1.2         The following prescriptions of will apply:

a)       The owner/skipper must be a full member in good standing of the Marquette Yacht Club (MYC).

b)       The owner/skipper must be a member in good standing of the National Ensign Class Association.

c)       The owner/skipper must be a member in good standing of the Marquette Ensign Fleet #35

1.3         All obligations and requirements of the Marquette Ensign Fleet #35 Membership Agreement will apply.

1.5         Ensign Class Rules (ECR) apply.  Rule 12.A of the ECR is changed as follows:

a)       Outboard motors may remain attached to the bracket during racing.  The prohibition against propulsion other than sail power within the final 4 minutes of the start sequence shall continue, but it shall be a defense to a protest under this rule that the boat protested has not gained any advantage by the violation.

 

2            NOTICES TO COMPETITORS

              Notices to competitors will be posted on the official notice board(s) located at the Marquette Yacht Club.

 

3            CHANGES TO SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

              Any change to the sailing instructions will be posted on the official notice board(s) located at the Marquette Yacht Club before 1700 ESDST on the day it will take effect.

 

4            SIGNALS MADE ASHORE

4.1         Signals made ashore will be displayed at the Marquette Yacht Club flagpole.

4.2         When flag ‘AP’ is displayed ashore, ‘1 minute’ is replaced with ‘not less than 15 minutes’ in the race signal AP.

 

5            SCHEDULE OF RACES

5.1         Dates of racing:  Are every Wednesday night with the following detail:

                                               5/27/09                               Practice Race

                                                               6/03/09                               First day of racing: Early Series

                                                               6/17/09                               Skip – Region V Ensign Regatta

                                                               7/29/09                               First day of racing: Late Series

                                                               8/11/09                               Skip – Celebrity Race (Nationals)

                                                               9/16/09                               Last day of racing

 

5.2         Number of races:  

             a)  Additional races may be sailed and scored at the Race Committee’s discretion.

5.3         The scheduled time of the warning signal for the first race each day is 1755.

5.4         When there has been a long postponement or when more than one race (or sequence of races) will be held on the same day, the warning signal for the first race and each succeeding race will be made as soon as practicable.  To alert boats that a race or sequence of races will begin soon, an orange flag will be displayed for at least four minutes before a warning signal is displayed.  The Orange flag will be accompanied by one short horn.

5.5         No warning signal will be made after 2000 ESDST.

 

6            CLASS FLAGS

              Class flag will be the Ensign Class burgee.

             

7            RACING AREA

              The racing area is greater Marquette Bay          

 

8            THE COURSES

8.1         The diagrams in Attachment A1 illustrate the courses including the approximate angles between legs, the order in which marks are to be passed, and the side on which each mark is to be left.  The course length will be determined by the Race Committee.

8.2         No later than the warning signal, the race committee signal boat will display: the course, the number of laps, the approximate compass bearing to the first mark, and, if it is known, the distance to the first mark.

8.3         The Race Committee may use an offset mark at its discretion.  If an offset mark is used the letter “O” will be added to the course name, for example, W-L-O.

 

9            MARKS

9.1         Marks 1, 2, 3 and the offset mark will be either an orange tetrahedron or a yellow cylinder unless notified otherwise from the race committee.

 

11          THE START

11.1       Races shall be started by using the following signals.

 

Signal                            Minutes before starting     Flag and Sound

Standby                        Aprx. 6                                 Series of short horns

Warning                       5                                            One long horn, Ensign Class Flag Raised

Preparatory                  4                                            One long horn, “P” Flag raised

One-Minute                 1                                            One long horn, “P” Flag lowered

Starting                         0                                            One long horn, Ensign Class Flag lowered

This changes rule 26. Times shall be taken from the visual signals; the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded.          

11.2       The starting line will be between a staff displaying an RC Flag on the committee boat on the starboard end of line and the port-end starting mark.                         

 

12          CHANGE OF THE NEXT LEG OF THE COURSE

12.1       To change the next leg of the course, the race committee will move the original mark (or the finishing line) to a new position and signal the change with 5 long blasts, and display flag ‘C’ if practical.

12.3       A shortened course may be signalled by Code Flag “S” and two short horns from the Race Committee.  The finishing line shall be at a rounding mark, between the mark and a staff displaying flag S.

 

13          THE FINISH

13.1       The finishing line will be between the staff flying the RC flag on the race committee boat and the windward mark for an upwind finish, and between the staff flying the RC flag on the Race Committee boat and the leeward mark for a downwind finish. 

13.2       In the event that the Race Committee boat cannot remain on station at the finish line, they may substitute the RC flag on the staff of the Race Committee boat with a buoy or flag.  In this event, boats finishing shall attempt to record the names of the finishing boat ahead, and behind, as well as their approximate finish time.

             

14          PENALTY SYSTEM

14.1       Penalties are as outlined in the Racing Rules of Sailing: 2009-2012.

 

15          TIME LIMITS

15.1       Time limits are as follows, the first boat in the first race must:   

              Class            Round Mark 1 by:                Finish by:

              Ensign          1900                                      2100

                                                                                or

                                                                                30 minutes prior to local sunset

                                                                                (whichever is earlier)

              The location for the determination and definition of local sunset is Latitude 46.53N, Longitude 87.38W.  Local sunset times will be posted on the notice board at the Marquette Yacht Club.

              For additional races, the first boat must round the first mark within one hour after the start of that race and must finish by 2100 or 30 minutes prior to local sunset, whichever is earlier.

 

15.2       Boats failing to finish within (1) one hour after the first boat sails the course and finishes or after local sunset, whichever is earlier, will be scored Did Not Finish (DNF).  This changes rules 35 and A4.

 

16          PROTESTS AND REQUESTS FOR REDRESS

16.1       Protest forms are available at the MYC. Protests shall be delivered there within the protest time limit.                

16.3       Hearings will be held as soon as practical at the MYC.

16.8       Decisions of the protest committee will be final as provided in rule 70.4.

 

17          SCORING
17.1       Points will be awarded using the low point system as described by Appendix A4 except as follows:

a)  A boat not starting, or disqualified, shall be awarded points equal to one more than the total number of starters in the race.

b)  Boats starting but failing to finish within the time limit will be scored as DNF. DNF's will be scored points equal to one-half the number of yachts not finishing, rounded to the next highest number, plus the number of yachts that finished. [i.e. if there are 15 boats in the race and only 6 finish; the score for each DNF would be (9/2) = 4.5, rounds to 5, add 6 (the number of finishers) = 11.  Each DNF gets 11

c)  Scoring shall be cumulative for each series and an overall.  One throw-out shall be allowed for each four races sailed.

d)  In case of a tie, the tie breaking method as published in the current racing rules of sailing as distributed by the Governing Body of sailing for the United States, shall be used to break the tie.

18          SAFETY REGULATIONS

18.2       A boat that retires from a race shall attempt to notify the race committee as soon as possible with a hail or radio-call.

18.3       Races will not be started in winds above 20 knots sustained or with gusts above 25 knots.  The Race Committee has the final decision regarding weather conditions requiring cancellation or abandonment of a race in progress.  Races will be abandoned when there is visible lightning in the immediate vicinity.  If there is a National Weather Service Warning indicating the chance for severe weather affecting the immediate area the race may be postponed or cancelled.  Each skipper has the ultimate responsibility for the safety of his or her vessel and crew and the decision of whether or not to compete in a given race.

 

25          RADIO COMMUNICATION

A boat shall neither make radio transmissions while racing nor receive radio communications not available to all boats.  This restriction also applies to mobile telephones.  If the race committee chooses to communicate via radio, transmissions will be made on channel 69.

 

ATTACHMENT A1

2009 Course Diagrams