Shoreham Sailing Club, Soldiers Point, 223 Harbour Way, Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex, BN43 5HZ

Shoreham Sailing Club is a registered charity (a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with a Charity Number 1186853 and companies house number is CE019936).

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  4. Choosing and setting courses

Choosing and setting courses

Please read in conjunction with the Club Sailing Instructions (SI)

Choice of course

The SI allow several different types of course. Each has advantages and disadvantages.

Triangular courses

  • Course A (“triangle/sausage”). Traditionally used for SSC “morning” racing, this provides a mix of all points of sailing. It cannot be used for “average laps” results, a problem for general handicap racing with a wide range of boats. To get boats finishing at roughly the same time, fast, medium and slow handicap boats sail 4, 3 and 2 laps respectively. However, using the same course for the second, general handicap race may result in widely different finishing times.
  • Course B has a separate inner triangle for slow handicap boats. If requested, please provide this if possible, to encourage more beginners / improvers to join in racing. (Alternatively, course C can be used, if the legs are not too long).
  • Course F is a variant with only triangles sailed. This allows average lap calculations, though the lack of running legs may lessen some tactical interest. (Note that there is an error in the SI diagram, though the wording is correct.)

Trapezoid or Quadrilateral course

  • Course C in the SI, this also tests all points of sailing. Having two wing marks makes it slightly more complex to set up, but it has the advantage of allowing average lap calculations. For example, the RO can finish every boat as it comes through the line, once the leader has sailed for (say) 40 minutes. Slower boats will automatically do fewer laps. The second race can be started on the same course, with minimal delay.

Windward-Leeward courses

  • There are two options here, the more common being Course E. As this is easiest to set up and allows average lap calculations, it has often been used on Wednesday evenings. From a racing point of view, the lack of reaches makes it arguably the least satisfactory option. If time and resources allow, consider alternatives F or C, but not at the cost of a delayed start.

Setting the course

For brevity, this section concentrates on Triangular courses, but much of it applies to others.

General

  • The course area must be well clear of the port shipping lane, and far enough offshore to avoid shallows, especially if is windy enough for possible capsizes.
  • Try to start on time! For club racing, a prompt start on an OK course is fine. It does not have to be perfect, so avoid postponements unless the wind changes dramatically.
  • The key requirements are to have a fair line and a good beat (with boats spending roughly equal time on each tack).

Laying the marks

Marks can be laid in any order, but the following method usually works well.

  • Stop in the middle of the course area and take a wind bearing over 2-3 minutes to get an average direction and a sense of shiftiness.
  • Proceed to the leeward mark position and drop it.
  • Check the wind direction and motor directly upwind – the beat should be approx ½ mile in medium conditions and up to ¾ mile in a good breeze.
  • Roughly in position, check the wind direction again. Ideally, the burgee should be pointing straight at the leeward mark. When satisfied, drop the windward mark.
  • Alternatively, stay near the leeward mark and have a RIB drop the windward mark.
  • Get a RIB to drop the wing (gybe) mark, in radio contact. In light(ish) winds, aim for 3 legs of about equal length, making 60° angles between legs. In stronger winds, bring the wing mark in to give broader reaches, e.g. 90° gybe angle. Boats should be able to fly spinnakers on at least one reach, ideally both, but having one reach broader than the other is OK within reason. The same applies to reaches on trapezoid courses.
  • Anchor about ¼ to ⅓ up the beat and slightly outside the line to the windward mark.

Start line

  • Use a RIB to drop the start mark, with line length dependent on no. of competitors.
  • The RIB should motor slowly into the wind at the chosen distance from the committee boat, streaming the mark at the full length of its line (i.e. holding onto the anchor), so that it will settle where it is dropped
  • Give the “drop” instruction when the angle of the line is correct. It should be either square to the wind or have a slight port end bias (buoy end favoured). Avoid starboard bias, as starters will barge in at the committee boat end and obscure the line.
  • If the line is not at a good angle, you can try to adjust it by taking anchor line in or out on the committee boat. Otherwise get the mark picked up and try again.
  • Start sequence, flag signals etc are then all as set out in the SI.
  • If the start line is long, consider shortening the gate immediately after the start, so as to ease identification of boats as they finish each lap.

Recording boats and times

  • Before the start, make a note of all boats sailing in the start area. All should count as “starters”, and this will also help with later identification.
  • Unless using “average laps”, make sure you know how many laps each class of boat should be sailing. Be clear as to who is calling out boats / times and who is recording.
  • As boats cross the line for the first time, record them in order: this will make subsequent recording much easier (if you can get times, so much the better)
  • Record times on every subsequent lap, even if boats are not yet finishing: this provides a “fail safe” if you run into problems later on (e.g wind disappears).