Would you like to be a race officer

Last weekend, I was the race officer for the first time at Datchet for the 10 Rater National Championships. In my favour, there were only 15 boats so we could run a single fleet all weekend and the wind cooperated enabling us to hold a course in one location as the wind flicked from side to side. I had a great team who made my life easy and it rewarding to see an event run smoothly. In all we completed 28 races in winds between 5 and 15 mph.

Before the event I thought it might be a good idea to write a how to guide on being a PRO. It is not totally extensive but provides enough information to do the job effectively. Once the text is tidied up and cross checked I will put something on the MYA web site.

If you would like to learn more about being a race officer, please let me know and I will do all I can to help you get started.

How to be a race officer

Being a race officer is not something to shy away from.  Every day you race, you observe what the RO does and maybe you are one of the few who offers the RO helpful advice when things go wrong.  Across the MYA community we lack race officers and would like volunteers to step in and take on this rewarding role.  You do not have to be a top skipper, just one who is organised, prepared to do a bit of homework and has an idea how to set a course.  Start by running a racing session at your club and see how you get on.  The information below is for a PRO running a significant event, but the principles apply to club racing where the PRO is often working alone.  On the MYA web site there is an all-encompassing checklist for running large events which provides all the detail.

Prior to the day, agree the team their roles and run briefly through the day.  Do not assume they know all the rules and actions required so some guidance may be needed.

Roles

PRO – Overall responsibility

ARO – provide support and advice.  Act as start line judge

Reception – Check Measurement certificate and PSN

Start/ finish – Two people with pen and paper and ideally phone or recorder to check for any mistakes later

Boat man - Mark laying and rescue

Scorer on computer - provide print out at lunchtime and end of day)

PRO activity

In the run up to the event keep an eye on the forecast.  On apps like Windy, you can zoom into the selected lake to give you an idea of where the course might be laid out.

When you arrive at the club, check if the wind is behaving according to the forecast.  Meet the overall organiser and check they have the notice board, course board with pens, fleet board if necessary as well as the starting equipment.  All should be located near the start area.  Arm yourself with a whistle for sound signals.

Brief the race team and go through their roles an hour before racing starts. 

Setting the course

As soon as you can get out in the boat and set the course or ideally be in radio contact with the boatman from the shore.  Ideally you want to set a windward/leeward course with a windward mark and a spreader and an in to out gate at the leeward end.  The start line should be just to windward of the leeward gate and the finish line ¾ of the way up the beat.   When you set the start line try to put an element of port bias on it. Take care when laying the leeward gat to make sure there is no advantage rounding one mark or the other and keep them relatively close, no more than 10 boat lengths..  The finish line needs to be laid so it is perpendicular to the course from the leeward mark and only needs to be 5-10 boat length’s long.

The course should be 2 laps, Start, Windward mark (Port P), spreader mark P, leeward Gate, Windward mark, spreader mark, leeward gate and finish line.  If the course is set the right length a race should last 10-12 minutes.  If the course is short because of the geography of the lake you can set three laps, but be very alert to counting the laps as it is easy to forget.

Once the course is set, write it upon the course board and check all is set up on the shore ready for racing and blow the whistle for the competitors briefing.

The Race Briefing

1.     A friendly word of welcome

2.     An introduction to key officials

3.     An identification of main shore locations (Race Office, Protest Room, Loo’s etc.)

4.     Location of the Official Notice Board and Course Board and event clock)

5.     Identify the various sound signals to be used, including warning for start sequence, general recall and heat finish.  There will be no flags other than postponement.

6.     Any postponement will be for a specified time.

7.     Launch and control area

8.     Explain the course initially but for the avoidance of doubt, if there is any discrepancy between what the PRO say and the course board, the course board will take priority.

9.     2 min time sequence will start 5 minutes after the last boat finishes or after any postponement.

10.  General recalls.  Blow 2 whistles and reset timer immediately

11.  You have options for using start line penalties.  One way is after 1st recall, 1min rule round the ends applies. After 2nd recall U flag and then Black flag.  It all depends on how the fleet behave.

12.  Explain the race start and end of day timings and if there will be breaks for tea and lunch. 

13.  Food arrangements

14.  Social arrangements  eg Barbeque at 7 ish

15.  Prize giving

16.  Specific rules of the host Club.

17.  First aide rep -  ?????

18.  Please advise member of race team if you retire

With the briefing out of the way you can prepare for the start of racing.

Decide how you are going to manage general recalls.  No of free starts, when to introduce I, U and Black flags. 

Re-Confirm roles with ARO, count the number of boats on the water and if a heat, assign a pair to check the number of each boat to ensure they are in the correct heat and start up the timer.  Whoever is sighting the line, should use a Perspex board with a line which can be aligned with the course side of the start marks.

Once the fleet is away, Record time of start and or set a timer so you can monitor the length of the race.  Note the time of the first boat if it is a slow race to make sure all finish in 5 minutes.  See below if they do not.

Finishing guidelines.  For the race team this is the part that requires total concentration.  Mistakes here can have serious implications on the scoring of an event and can results in protest.  The finish team must check the course board for each race so they know when to expect the first boat to finish.  There maybe times when the first boats forget they are finishing.  It is the competitors responsibility to finish on the correct lap.

At the finish line, the line judge(s) prepare to call the sail numbers, this time sighting across the course side of the finishing marks. Finish line teams should use a tape recorder as a useful back- up as it is sometimes difficult for the recorder to write results as quickly as they are called. The recorders should note the finishing time of the first boat to cross the line.

Be aware that boats often infringe the rules near the finish and will need to make an exonerating penalty turn(s). Do not attempt to decide which time the boat crosses the line is its correct finishing place. The correct approach is to call a boat’s sail number each time it crosses the line. The last time the competitor crosses the line should be taken as his correct finishing position and, if there is doubt, the RO will have to advise. Any prior recorded finishing position for that boat should be crossed out on the finishing sheet, to indicate that they crossed the line twice.

If there are 4 or less boats still racing five minutes after the finishing time of the first boat those boats are recorded as ‘did not finish’, DNF. At that time, the line judge (ideally in conjunction with the RO) should estimate and record the finishing order for those boats remaining on the water. Once this has been completed, then these boats should be advised that they can take their boats off the water.

If there are more than 4 boats on the water still racing five minutes after the finishing time of the first boat, record the finishing places of boats until there are only 4 still racing. At that time, again estimate the finishing order of those 4 boats still on the water.

Note: It is important that the finish line judges can undertake their role without distraction. The recording of the finishing positions accurately is important, and it may be that this needs to be reinforced to the skippers during the event that the line judge and recorders should not be spoken to during the finishing process.

As soon as all the boats have finished, start a timer to schedule the next race.  Allow enough time for boats to retune, change rigs etc. and if a small fleet go round and check everyone is ready prior to starting the next race.  Confirm the finishing positions and that there are no protests, hand the score sheet to the scorer for loading onto the computer.  At a club event this might be done at lunchtime or the end of the day.

Set up for the next race, count the boats and restart.

At the end of the day, tot up the scores identify the winners and hand out the prizes.

Of course there maybe hiccups and cock ups but these are all part and parcel of Radio sailing.  The main aim is to make it fair, fun and enjoyable for all.