Santa Barbara Yacht Club

2007 Wet Wednesday Series

Sailing Instructions

1. RULES

1.1       The regatta will be governed by the 2005- 2008 Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS), the prescriptions of US Sailing, the rules of the Southern California PHRF Fleet , the J-24, Melges 24, and J-105 Class Rules, the H Fleet Rules, the NOR, and by these Sailing Instructions (except as each of these modifies the former). 

1.2       J-24 Class Rules are modified so that GPS devices may be used.

1.3       The series will be restricted to advertising Category A.

2. ENTRIES AND FEES

2.1       Eligible boats may be entered for the series by completing a registration form with the Santa Barbara Yacht Club prior to the first race sailed by that boat in the series.  Entry is also available online through the SBYC Racing page.  Changes made in sail number or PHRF rating during the course of the series will require submission of a new registration form.  Exceptions are at the sole discretion of the race committee.

2.2       This series is open to all members of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club.  Members of other clubs belonging to US Sailing may race, as a guest of Santa Barbara Yacht Club, a maximum of three times during the regatta.  Non-members desiring to compete for the series will be subject a $100 entry fee for each Spring, Summer, and Fall portion of the Wet Wednesday Series, or $250 entry fee for all three portions.

2.3       All yachts entering a PHRF Fleet shall have a current PHRF rating certificate for their boat and submit a copy to remain on file at Santa Barbara Yacht Club.  Yachts sailing in one design classes shall be members in good standing with their respective fleets and in full compliance with its rules.

2.4       Any PHRF or One Design boat may also enter as an H Fleet competitor, but must inform the Race Committee at least one hour before the first warning of its election to do so. If a boat is entered in more than one fleet, a DNC will be scored for that boat in the fleet not raced. Series scores for dual class entries will remain independent and scored as if they were separate boats.

3. NOTICES TO COMPETITORS

Notices to competitors will be posted on the official notice board located on the lower deck chalkboard of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club the day they will take effect.  All notices made during the series will remain posted on the PHRF notice board in the SBYC main hallway next to the Sailing Instruction boxes.

4. CHANGES TO SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

Any change in the sailing instructions will be posted at least one hour prior to the warning signal for the first class to start on the day of the race.

5. SIGNALS MADE ASHORE

Signals made ashore will be displayed from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club yardarm on the upper deck of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club.

6. SCHEDULE OF RACES

6.1       Wet Wednesday Series will be sailed in 3 separate segments, designated Spring Summer and Fall.  The segments will each last 8 weeks with the following schedule:

2007 WW Spring: April 4th through May 23rd

2007 WW Summer: June 6th through July 25th

2007 WW Fall: August 8th through September 26th

6.2       Wet Wednesday races will be run on May 30th and August 1st , however they will not count towards Wet Wednesday Series Scoring.

6.3       Fun races will be run on March 21st, March 28th, October 4th, and October 11th, however these will not count towards the Wet Wednesday Series.  No throw out will be taken from this series.

7. CLASS FLAGS AND PLACARDS

Class flags and placards shall be as follows:

CLASS                        FLAG                                      PLACARD

H Fleet                         Yellow flag with white ‘H’         Black placard with white ‘H’

PHRF- A/Melges 24    Red flag with white ‘A’             Black placard with white ‘A’

J-105                           Black flag with white ‘S’           Black placard with white ‘S’

PHRF- B                     Blue flag with white ‘B’             Black placard with white ‘B’

J-24/                            Brown flag with white ‘J’          Black placard with white ‘J’

PHRF- C                     Green flag with white ‘C’          Black placard with white ‘C’

7.1       Class flags shall be used for the starting system in RRS 26.  Class Placards shall be used to signal the course for each class and for signaling classes to be shortened as referenced in Sailing Instruction 14. 

7.2       Classes shall be as follows:

            H Fleet             H Fleet Handicaps (As per H Fleet rules)

PHRF- A         PHRF ratings 83 and below

Melges 24        One design

J-105               One design

            PHRF- B         PHRF ratings 84 to 149

            J-24                 One design      

            PHRF-C          PHRF ratings 150 and above

8. SPINNAKERS

Spinnakers will be allowed for all classes.  Boats electing not to use spinnakers must state that election on the boat’s entry form for each segment.  If elected, the boat’s rating will be adjusted by adding appropriate offset to the boat’s spinnaker rating.  Once the selection of spinnaker or non-spinnaker rating has been made, it is effective for the entire segment.  The original rating before non-spinnaker adjustment will be used for class designation.  Non-spinnaker rating adjustments will not be given for H Fleet competitors.

9. RACING AREA

9.1       The racing area will be as designated on the current 2007 Santa Barbara Yacht Club course chart.

9.2       The areas defined by lines commencing at the nearest shores and connecting each contiguous City of Santa Barbara swim buoy are classified as obstructions.  Boats crossing these lines shall exit immediately and retire immediately.

10. THE COURSE

10.1     Courses will be taken from the current 2007 Santa Barbara Yacht Club course chart.  The course for each race will be posted from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club deck with the preparatory signal for each class.

10.2     When an ‘R’ placard follows the course number, the course shall be sailed in the reverse direction (all mark s in the reverse order passed on the opposite side as listed).

10.3     When a ‘T’ placard follows the course number, the course shall be sailed two times around.  The Start/finish line will be required at the beginning of the second lap.

10.4     The J/105 class shall leave Mark K to starboard on legs beginning from the start line or Mark X, and ending at Marks D or A.

11. MARKS

11.1     Marks may be yellow, white or orange cylinders except for ‘BB’ which is the red/white navigational bell buoy.  This is near the entrance of Santa Barbara Harbor . Any permanent mark may be substituted with a temporary or inflatable mark without prior notice. All mark s are situated in the general vicinity of the GPS coordinates shown on the SBYC course chart, but subject to deviation due to tide, current, or wind.

11.2     In the event of a missing mark , boats shall return to the starting line as soon as possible for a restart.

12. THE START

12.1     The start shall be in accordance with RRS 26.  The warning signal for each class shall be made 5 minutes before the starting signal.  The start line shall be between mark s ‘F’ and ‘G’, as shown on the course chart.

12.2     H Fleet shall have a warning at 1710 hours with a start at 1715. 

12.3     The PHRF A Fleet warning shall be at 1725 hours with the starting signal at 1730 hours.  The starting order shall be as listed in Sailing Instruction 7.1 at 5 minute increments.  Boats whose preparatory signal has not been given shall keep clear of the starting area and of all boats whose preparatory signal has been given.

12.4     For the Melges 24 fleet, the Gate shall take the place of Marks F and G for starting only.  This applies to the start of a race only, including reverse courses.

13. GENERAL RECALLS

After a general recall is signaled, the warning for the first recalled class shall be made following the start of the last regularly scheduled start (except for a first general recall of the H Fleet which will be re-started at 17:20 hours).  The ‘First Substitute’ flag shall remain flying for 4 minutes and will be lowered with the Preparatory flag of the following class’s start.  A general recall in the previous class shall not affect the start times of following classes.  For Melges 24 and J/24 classes, a general recall shall apply to both classes starts.

14. CHANGE OF COURSE AFTER THE START

14.1     The race committee may shorten a course.  A change of course will be signaled   

from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club deck before the leading boat has finished the  shortened leg.

 14.2    The shortened course shall be signaled by displaying code flag ‘S’ with two sound signals and displaying the class placard(s) for the class or classes to be shortened. 

14.3     The finish line for the shortened course shall be at the next required mark or gate.  For legs to Mark X, the shortened course will be finished between ‘X’ mark and the flagpole.  For legs to the start finish line at the beginning of a second lap, the finish shall be between Marks F and G.   

14.4     In the event of an abandoned race, the race committee may notify competitors on  

VHF Channel 71 following the raising of code flag ‘N’.

15. THE FINISH

The finish shall be between mark s ‘F’ and ‘G’, as shown on the course chart.

16. PENALTY SYSTEM

RRS Rule 44.2 is modified such that a boat may exonerate an infringement of a Part 2 Rule by completing one penalty turn, including one tack and one gybe. 

17. TIME LIMIT

The first boat in each class must finish by sunset or the race will be abandoned for that class.  The time of sunset will be taken from weather.com and may be posted at the discretion of the race committee.

18. PROTESTS

18.1     Protests shall be written on forms located in the Santa Barbara Yacht Club main hallway and must be delivered to the Race Committee within one hour of the last boat in its class’ finish time.

18.2     Protests involving an infringement of a rule of Part 2 of the Racing Rules of Sailing will be subject to non-binding arbitration in accordance with Santa Barbara Yacht Club Protest Arbitration Guidelines.

18.3     The arbitration committee will hear protests in the approximate order of receipt as soon as practical.

19. SCORING

19.1     The low-point scoring system of Appendix A will apply for each segment.  One race result may be discarded in each. 

19.2     Trophies for the top finishers in each segment (Spring, Summer and Fall) of the Wet Wednesday Series will be awarded trophies at the annual trophy dinner.    

19.3     For the Wet Wednesday Class perpetual trophies, a competitor’s series score is the sum of the finish position (1,2,3, etc.) of its best two segments (Spring, Summer and Fall).  In the event of a tie, a competitor’s finish position in the previously uncounted series will be used to break the tie.  If there is still a tie between two or more boats, each boat’s Wet Wednesday race scores in all races shall be listed in order of best to worst, and at the first point where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favor of the boat with the better score.  No excluded scores shall be used.  This modifies RRS Appendix A.  Boats failing to compete in a segment shall receive a finish position one greater than the largest number of boats competing in that fleet in a segment of that season.

19.4     Race Committee duty will be scored as a first place if the race for R/C boat’s class is completed, except, if the R/C boat races, the boat’s score for that race will be utilized.  Race committee duty will count only once during the series.

19.5     Boats that register for a segment but fail to compete shall be excluded from that segment’s scoring. 

19.6     Segment scores shall be final at their completion.  Additional entries after the end of a segment shall not affect the number of boats scored in that segment. 

20. RADIO COMMUNICAITON

The Race Committee shall monitor VHF Channel 71 but will not answer questions from boats considered to be Racing.

21. PRIZES

21.1     Individual trophies will be awarded to the class winners for each race.  The

nUmber of trophies will be awarded depending on participation.  Three or fewer boats in a class will receive one trophy; four to five boats will receive two trophies; six to seven boats will receive three trophies; eight to nine boats receive four trophies and ten or more boats receive five trophies.

21.2     Season trophies will be awarded in accordance with the Deeds of Gift and Sailing Instruction 18.3.

22. DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY

Participants in this event compete entirely at their own risk. See Rule 4, Decision to Race.  The organizing authority will not accept any liability for material damage or personal injury or death sustained in conjunction with or prior to, during, or after the regatta.