Bringing Racing to the Upper Bay

Procedures with a Racing Committee Boat

It may be necessary that a racing boat will also serve as the Race Committee Boat. After the last class starts, the Racing Committee Boat will pull anchor and “self-start” 15 minutes after the last class. If particular Race Committee Boat difficulties occur, a different time differential may be posted, however, the 15-minute differential is encouraged. If the Racing Committee Boat cannot achieve the 15-minute delayed START, then the Racing Committee Boat shall START at a following 5-minute interval. This time shall be recorded as soon as possible.
All boats will monitor channel 68 so the Racing Committee Boat can continue to make necessary decisions, such as shortening course.

Finish Line with a Racing Committee Boat

When the Race Committee Boat is racing and no committee boat is on station at the finish to record times, then the FIRST BOAT crossing the FINISH LINE will record it’s finish time in HOURS-MINUTES-SECONDS. The FIRST BOAT to finish will them move to a position to monitor the FINISH LINE and set anchor, if practical. NOTE: the anchored boat does NOT make up the FINISH LINE. From this position the FIRST BOAT to finish will record each boat’s finishing time using the same watch to record all boats in HOURS-MINUTES-SECONDS. Use GPS time if available. A horn should be sounded as each boat crosses the FINISH LINE. Results should be provided to the Race Committee as soon as possible. Times shall be taken for all fleets by the FIRST BOAT to finish.

Shorten Course with a Racing Committee Boat

If the lead boat in her class determines, arithmetically, that she cannot finish from her present position within the time limit based on an average speed of 7 knots, (at 7 knots, a boat will cover one nautical mile in 8 minutes 34 seconds), this information must be communicated to the Racing Committee Boat for a decision. Should for any reason the lead boat fail to raise the Racing Committee Boat, the next contact should be with the Racing Committee Chairman, the Vice Commodore, Commodore, or Race Committee Member for a decision.
Should the Racing Committee Boat make a decision to shorten course, then the Racing Committee Boat shall make a VHF announcement to all boats that the race course is being shorten and clearly announce which Mark will be the new FINISH. Note, the new FINISH MARK must be a mark of the course, a new mark CANNOT be added to the course once the race has started. NOTE: The Racing Committee Boat decision is FINAL. The Racing Committee Boat is NOT responsible for those boats that did not copy any VHF announcement.