Dinghy Classes A variety of dinghies are sailed at Haversham Sailing Club. If you are thinking of racing, have a chat with club members. Best time to do this is on a Sunday when many different types of boats will be about.
Race SeriesandTrophy Events These take place every weekend throughout the year and Wednesday evenings in the Summer. Other than 'pursuit' events and the short race sequence (details below) that will take place on the Spring and Summer Bank Holidays, each race takes about one hour.
Get a good idea of what's going on by looking at the Results web page
For the Winter and Mid Winter Series there are General Handicap races at 10.00, 11.30 with the afternoon 13.30 race being a Fleet race.
Winter Series (Sundays) There will be two back-to-back 45 minute races, starting at 11h30. The first will be a General Handicap race, but the second, starting at around 12h30 (depending on weather conditions), will be fleet racing: Gold, Silver and Bronze.
Competitors who want to sail only in the second race will need to be on the water and ready for action as the first (11h30) race is ending – but please keep clear of the finish line! To ease start line congestion and encourage those new to racing, there will be a SEPARATE START for the Bronze fleet, 5 minutes after the Gold/Silver start. So, just as in the summer races, the Gold/Silver start signal will be the 5 minute signal for the Bronze fleet.Newcomers can always just get out on the water and follow along behind the others to see how it all works for the first race or two.Individual standings in the fleets are results-driven.
Evening races – Wednesdays starting March 31st April till October These are intended to initiate people into racing. If you have thought of trying your hand, but were put off by the idea of getting in the way of the 'experts', then please don’t worry, these sessions are for you. Come along and give racing a try. The Dennis Cooke trophy for the Bronze (beginners) fleet and the Civil Service Sailing Club trophy for the Silver fleet are up for grabs so there is plenty to sail for if you are new to racing. Race times are usually 18h30 April and September and 19h00 in May and August.
COVID: All being well, the Spring Evening series begins on Wednesday 31st March at 6.30pm. In May the start time will be 19h00pm. There will be a safety boat crewed by the helm only and the toilet in the clubhouse will be available
Spring Series (Sundays) Racing will start with the Spring series on Sunday 4th April at 10.00am with two back to back general handicap races. After lunch there will be two back to back fleet races starting at 1.00pm.
Summer and Autumn Sunday Series (Sundays) General Handicap races at 10.00 and 11.30 with a single start for each race. The 10.00 and 11.30 races will count towards separate series In addition, the 11.30 race will count towards the Hot Lady Series which will be a combination of results from the Spring (11am race) and Summer and Autumn 11.30 races. The ladies results will be taken from the overall results and will not be sailed separately The 13.30 and 15.00 races will be fleet racing for the Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets and will also count towards separate Series The Bronze Fleet will have a start separate from the Gold and Silver fleets if there are four or more boats in the Bronze Fleet
Bank Holiday Races (Mondays)
Easter Monday The In Memorium Trophy will be up for grabs on Easter Monday, 5th April, with 4 x 20 minute races, back to back from 11.00am. One discard is allowed. An additional prize for the winner is the Commodore’s bottle of Rum that couldn’t be competed for on Boxing Day last year because of the Covid-19 restrictions.
Other (Spring/Summer) There will be three 20 minute races sailed back to back – when the previous race has finished the shortened course flag will be lowered and the start sequence for the next race will begin. The start sequence will be 3 minutes, 1 minute, start. All races will be counted for the final result. The races will commence at 12.00 and the rest of the day will be for social sailing
Summer Solstice The Summer Solstice day will now be on Saturday 26th June and if all goes according to plan we will have a full programme of events as well as camping/barbeque etc.
RYA Portsmouth Yardstick – link. The PNs can be found in the first link on the right hand side of their page.
Club racing handicaps may differ from PN’s, and can be found by following this – March 2021
Racing fleets – find out which one you are in –April 2021
Newcomers – and those with no race record are automatically placed in the Bronze fleet.
If your name doesn't appear or you feel you are on the wrong list please contact the Rear Commodore at racing@havershamsc.org
Racing Rules of Sailing
Are revised and published every four years by World Sailing, the international authority for the sport.
The latest World Sailing Racing Rules of Sailing 2021 - 2024 can be seen here
The RYA Racing link (disputes, advise etc) can be found here.
CHANGES TO THE RACING RULES OF SAILING AND HSC SAILING INSTRUCTIONS 2021
The new RRS for 2021 - 2024 came into force on the 1st January this year. Most of the changes are to consolidate and clarify the previous rules but there are two that may have more impact on racing at Haversham and they are:
Definitions – It is clarified that a boat crosses the start and finish line when any part of her hull crosses rather than hull crew or equipment as was the case previously.
Rule 41 Outside Help – The right to protest if it is felt that a boat gains advantage from being helped is removed on safety grounds.
Here is a link to a useful uTube video explaining the changes https://youtu.be/rY_PCJBsztk or for more detail of the changes see the RYA website.
HSC Sailing Instructions have also been updated to take into account rule changes and to clarify and assist competitors and race officials at Haversham in particular:
11.6 – The start sequence for the new short races on Bank Holiday Mondays is explained.
11.13 – The starting area for the purposes of scoring Did Not Start (DNS) as opposed to Did Not Come (DNC) - DNS attracts less points than DNC (see 16.3) – has been defined as well as the requirement on the competitor to mark on the signing on sheet that this has happened.
13.3 – The Race Officer has discretion to finish slower boats without displaying the shortened course flag so that faster boats can continue for another lap. The Q (yellow) flag will be displayed but there will be no sound signal.
17.6 – In certain conditions Lasers can sail with their rudders half way up i.e. when the wind is less than 10 knots and there is floating weed.
