Racing
South Cerney Sailing Club prides itself in providing high quality racing, from club racing through to class-based national events.
To debunk the myths: racing is just sailing in a specific direction as quickly as you can. You don't need to be an expert to take part. Practice makes perfect and it is a fantastic way to get you sailing the boat properly, often just by watching others around you.
The Racing Rules of Sailing are applied to all racing with any modifications posted in the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions for each event or series.
South Cerney Sailing Club also applies a lake-based handicap (the PY number) for each boat class, based on the potential performance of the class of boat on our lake. This help boats not designed for lake sailing to compete on equal terms with those that are ideal for lake sailing.
The club racing is typically one of three different formats, as described below:
Pursuit Racing
This race is a race of fixed duration, typically 90 minutes, with different boat classes starting at different times depending on their PY (handicap) number, with all Solos starting at one time, RS200s at another, and so on. All sailing the same course and ideally, if all boats are sailed to their optimum, they should finish side-by-side at the end of the race with the faster boats catching the slower ones. This rarely happens, but the end of the race does get more exciting when a faster boat is chasing you down and tactics start to come into play. The winner is the one who is in the lead when the hooter goes, marking the end of the race. Other boat positions on the course at the end time are determined by counting back down the line from the lead boat.
Note that a Pursuit race is also a fantastic way to get stared in racing as the start line is less congested and you can sail to your own ability.
Handicap Racing
In this form of racing all boats start at the same time on a line and finish across a line after a defined number of laps. The typical race length being 45 minutes depending on the series and lap time. After all boats have finished the Race Officer, with lots of help from our IT, calculates the race finish order based on a boats PY number. A good nerve is required to hold best position on the line for a flying start, then you can compete directly with other boats in close quarters. There are also usually other boats of your class in the race to pace yourself against, but the goal is not to let those faster boats get away.
Depending on the number of competitors this can be some full-on racing with lots of close combat especially in the early stages of the race. There is nothing wrong with getting involved even if you are sailing out the back, you will get quicker.
Class Racing
Much like a Handicap Race however different boat classes start at different times. At our club there are traditionally 3 starts. First the Flying 15s, 3 minutes later all the handicap boats (all boats excluding Flying 15s and Solos), 3 minutes later the Solos start. Each of these 3 races are separate from each other although the rules of the road on the water applies to all equally.
Whilst the start line can be less congested, the competition can be more intense, pitting sailors against each other in matching boats. This is a great race format for sharpening the tactics and learning from others.
Personal Handicap Racing
At South Cerney Sailing Club we also run several fun series. Typically based on Pursuit or Handicap racing, these often have an element of personal handicap as well as the boat's PY number. This levels the playing field, allowing a sailor new to racing to compete directly with a star racer. The Hotdogs series on Wednesday evening throughout the spring and summer is a classic version of this racing style. The Chilli Dogs series runs from January to spring, and this series has also sometimes used personal handicapping,
Go on - get out on the water and take part, you will get lots of help and support and some of the advice is worth noting.
Last updated 14:18 on 20 July 2024