Page 29 - Yachter Autumn 2020

winner. Although, in theory the boats could all arrive at the finish at the same time, in practice they are well spread out throughout the race. The work of calculating start times can be done at home before the race so all we have to do at the finish is to record what order the boats come in. The competitors know how they have done straight away.
To add more interest, we decided to adjust handicaps after each race to account for their performance in that race. To keep winning you need to up your game each time!
For our normal racing we use flags, sound signals andVHF radio announcements to
control the race. For these races we would dispense with the flag signals and make more radio announcements to ease the burden on the committee boat team. Stephen Parry set about devising a set of courses for different wind speeds and directions, using mostly the fixed marks in Southampton Water, to help reduce the burden on the committee boats on the day of the race. As an additional risk reduction measure racing would be without spinnakers, which can be difficult to handle when double handed, especially with less experienced crew.
To avoid clashes with other clubs we scheduled the races on Thursday nights, which were in our original plans for our Twilight and Summer Series. We had literally no idea how many boats would join in and when. How many could persuade household members out? How many boats were still out of the water with maintenance work unfinished and a long queue to re- launch? We started by surveying our regular racers. The response was excellent – it was clear that most were very keen to get back racing as soon as the guidelines would allow,
but it was also clear that several had these problems. Once we were allowed out on our boats again, enough were able to get going quickly to make racing viable, so we took the plunge and started on 4th June with 16 boats in the line-up. The weather was kind to us and the after-race feedback about the format we had chosen was extremely positive. We arranged a Zoom meeting each week to take direct feedback from the racers and provide a forum to discuss any changes we might want to make.
Word has quickly got out and as of the beginning of July we had 37 boats entered with typically around 20 coming out each week – a few less when it is raining! Several have joined our racing for the first time. We extended the schedule of races to the middle of August, after which sunset starts to get in the way. All the proceeds will be donated
by the club to the RNLI, who have been significantly impacted by the repercussions of the pandemic.
Words and photos: Dave Martin, Captain of Racing
RACING REPORTS 29