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Victoria Beach Yacht Club

Weekend Racing

Victoria Beach Yacht Club is home to the most active catamaran racing fleet on Lake Winnipeg. Club races are held weekly from late June to early September. Races are situated in the large bay between Victoria Beach and Hillside Beach. This west facing bay is perfectly situated to take advantage of prevailing winds, while offering a safe sailing environment. Victoria Beach Yacht Club is affiliated with Sail Manitoba and uses the PHRF scoring system.

Racing generally begins mid-morning on Saturdays and Sundays. Racing Members are often seeking a crew members to assist. If you do not have a boat or any previous experience, we encourage you to come down and try racing as a crew member. If you are interested in weekend racing, please contact the club by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at least 24hrs in advance.

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Victoria Beach Yacht Club 2017 Sailing Instructions

1. RULES:
All rules will be governed by the current The Racing Rules of Sailing (2017-2020) of the I.S.A.F. as amended by the Sail Canada and the I.H.C.A. Rules, except any of those that are changed by these sailing instructions, and by these sailing instructions. If there is a rule conflict between the I.S.A.F. rules and the I.H.C.A. rules, the I.S.A.F. rules will take precedence. In the context of these Sailing Instructions, the Race Committee shall consist of the Starting Committee, Mark Set/Safety Boat personnel and the Race Chairman.
2. ENTRY:
All race participants must be paid members of the Victoria Beach Yacht Club and/or members of the Sail Manitoba. Non-members are welcome to participate if given prior permission by the Racing Chairperson or the Commodore. A waiver must be signed before racing.
3. NOTICES TO COMPETITORS / CHANGES TO RACING INSTRUCTIONS:
Notices to competitors will be posted on the “White Board” in the Yacht Club 30 minutes before the first warning signal.
4. SCHEDULE OF RACES AND RACE TIMES:

a) There shall be a maximum of 24 races in the Season Series. The Season Series is scheduled to end on the last Sunday before the Labour day weekend.
b) The schedule of races and competitors meeting times will be posted in the Yacht Club. The time of the first warning signal for the first race of the day shall be announced at the competitors meeting at 1000 hrs. The warning signal for subsequent races (if any) will be approximately 5 minutes following the finish of the preceding race.
c) Races shall be postponed if the wind conditions are below 5 knots, above 25 knots or at the discretion of the Race Committee. Races, which are postponed, may be sailed on another regularly scheduled racing day.
d) Helmsmen are required to sign in before each race day to facilitate the work of the race committee. Failure to do so may result in an unrecorded time.
e) The Red Eye(1st weekend in July), Sprague Cup(August long weekend) and the Wall Eye(September long weekend) regattas will be a 5 race series. A minimum of one completed race is required to constitute a weekend series. These three weekend series results will be calculated in the Season Series results.

5. STARTING SEQUENCE:

The starting sequence will be posted in the Yacht Club. The class not starting is required to keep clear of the starting line area when the Warning flag is raised for the preceding class Warning Signal.

6. FLEETS:

There shall be a minimum of 2 boats registered in their fleet to constitute a race and have a separate start. If there are not 2 boats, all boats of that class shall be given the series number of points in accordance with #15 of these Race instructions. The class flags for the mono-hull division will be solid “white” and the multi-hull class shall be solid “red”.

7. INDIVIDUAL RECALLS:

Individual recalls for pre starts shall be signaled by the Individual Recall flag, Code ‘X’, (white background with blue cross) and one horn blast for each boat over early (optional). The Code flag ‘X’ will remain up for a period of two minutes or until boat(s) restart.
8. RACES COURSES: The courses will be posted on the “White Board” in the Yacht Club at the skippers meeting.

8. RACES COURSES:

The courses will be posted on the “White Board” in the Yacht Club at the skippers meeting.

9. SHORTENED COURSE:

For mono-hulls, a shortened course shall be signaled by one horn and the shortened course flag, Code Flag ‘S’ (), and the class flag (white). For multi-hulls, a shortened course shall be signaled by one horn and the shortened course flag, Code Flag ‘S’ (), and the class flag (red). In the event of a shortened course all boats of the particular class shall round the most leeward mark and proceed through the finish line.

10. START/FINISH LINE:

The start/finish line will be between a combination of spherical marks or two staffs displaying one yellow flag and the other, a red flag.

11. TIME LIMITS:

The Race Committee, at its discretion, may do the following: - shorten a course if the first boat has not rounded the most leeward mark within 30 minutes of its class race start - not time any boat not finishing within 30 minutes of the first boat in its class - not time any boat not finishing within 1 hour of the start of its class.

12. PROTESTS/REQUEST TO REDRESS/ALTERNATIVE PENALTIES:

All protests shall be filed in writing within 30 minutes of the completion of the race by the last yacht in the last race of the day. Protests shall be written on forms available at the Yacht Club and given to the Race Chairman. The jury will hear protests in approximately the order of receipt as soon as possible. Protest committees shall consist of sailors who are not sailing in the same fleet as the protest is lodged. If the protest involves both fleets then the jury will have members from both fleets.

13. APPEALS:

Decisions of the protest committee are final. Appeals to the Sail Canada will not affect official race results.

14. SCORING:

The low point scoring system shall be used (Racing Rules of Sailing Appendix A Section A4) with 70% of the series counting. The number of boats in each class entered in the series may be deemed to be the number of boats registered as racing memberships in each class. Boats not racing on a particular day will be given the series number of points as of that race.

15. SAFETY REGULATIONS:

A boat that retires from a race prior to completion shall notify the Race Committee as soon as possible. All competitors shall wear P.F.D.’s or other approved adequate personal buoyancy. Wet suits and dry suits are not adequate personal buoyancy. A boat will be disqualified for infraction to the above.
Revised July 23, 2017

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