Issued by the PEYC Sailing Secretary in March 2009 to replace all previous issues.

Section 1: General

1.1 Rules

Racing at PEYC will be governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS), the prescriptions of the RYA and the rules of the appropriate classes, except as any are changed by these sailing instructions. The Exoneration Penalty, RYA Arbitration and Advisory Hearing of the RYA Rules Disputes Procedures will be available. See official notice board for details.

1.2 Entries

(a) A Race Entry Form duly signed (& with any applicable visitor race fees), must be submitted to the PEYC Membership Secretary, PEYC Sailing Committee or the Race Officer. By entering, the owner or representative undertakes to abide by the Racing Rules of Sailing & these Sailing Instructions and acknowledges that they have third party insurance liability coverage of at least £2,000,000.

(b) For all PEYC races, other than open events, boats must be entered & crewed by Full, Family or Junior members of the Club or members of an Affiliated Club granted sailing rights by the Committee, with the exception that nonmembers may crew in up to five races before being required to join the Club.

(c) Competitors must register on the correct race entry sheet, at the Race Management table in the PEYC Clubhouse,
for each race starting at Port Edgar in which they intend to compete.

1.3 Construction & Equipment Standards

(a) Dinghy sailors must wear personal buoyancy while racing. This amends RRS40

(b) Yacht sailors must wear a correctly fitted lifejacket or personal buoyancy aid, complying with the relevant EN standard, if International Code (IC) flag ‘Y’ is displayed before the class warning signal, indicating that RRS40 is in operation. At other times the RYA recommends that ‘you wear a lifejacket or buoyancy aid unless you are sure you don’t need to’.

(c) Yachts must comply with the current Forth Yacht Clubs Association (FYCA) Construction & Equipment Regulations (available at the club or on the FYCA web site at: www.fyca.org.uk) and may be subject to inspection as directed by the PEYC Sailing Committee.

• Category 4 applies to the Bosun’s Locker and Queen Margaret Trophy races (FYCA Forth Inshore Group races), the Inchkeith & Kincardine Trophy Races (Timegate races) and to the Andrew Thomson Trophy (Return race from the Anstruther Muster).

   

• Category 4R applies to all other PEYC yacht races.

(d) Yachts must be equipped with an engine capable of manoeuvring them out of the shipping channels in most
weather conditions. Individual exemption from this may be granted on application to the Sailing Committee. Yachts must be equipped with a marine band radio, with channels 16, 37 and 71, that should be switched on and monitoring channel 37 while racing.

1.4 Results System & Handicaps

Race result calculations will be based on the Portsmouth Yardstick handicap system. All 2009 PEYC series racing & sternchases will use the PEYC Rolling Handicap System detailed on page 11. All 2009 PEYC trophy races, except sternchases, will use standard allocated PY numbers. Standard PY numbers for dinghies will be the RYA YR2/09 published number, or if unavailable a PEYC Trial Number. Standard PY numbers for yachts will be the current FYCA 2009 allocated handicap, or if unavailable the RYA YR2/09 number, or if unavailable a PEYC Trial Number.

1.5 Notices to Competitors

Notices to competitors will be posted on the official notice board outside the PEYC Clubhouse.

1.6 Changes in Sailing Instructions

(a) Any change to the sailing instructions will be posted a minimum of one hour before the scheduled start to which it applies and will be indicated by displaying International Code Flag L at the PEYC Clubhouse flagpole and at the start. Any major change to the schedule of races will be posted a minimum of five days before it takes effect. Flag L is displayed only when a change is first posted; thereafter it is the competitors’ responsibility to check for previously posted changes.

(b) When there is insufficient time for procedure 1.6(a), AP postponement flag with Flag L indicates that it is the competitor’s responsibility to come within hailing distance of the Race Officer or listen on Channel M1 (37) to receive changes to the Sailing Instructions verbally. The Race Officer will terminate the postponement once satisfied that all competitors have had sufficient opportunity to be informed.

1.8 Schedule of Races

The schedule of races, classes to race, start times, course types, and time limits & extensions, are given in the PEYC 2009 Sailing Calendar on pages 53-58. E Breakwater starts are shown as ‘B:’ before the course type and Committee Boat starts as ‘C:’

1.9 Class Flags

(a) Yacht Classes

(b) Dinghy Classes

1.10 Racing Area

(a) The Racing Area is on the River Forth Estuary adjacent to Port Edgar, as shown on the chart on Page 33. Trophy Race courses extend from Kincardine to Anstruther. Boats must keep out of the Rosyth (150m minimum distance) & Crombie Protected Areas as shown on Admiralty Charts No 736/7. Boats must keep a minimum distance of 30m from the Hound Point & Braefoot Tanker Terminals & any tanker berthed there.

(b) Ships have right of way in the shipping channels, as per the Forth Ports byelaws, and boats racing must not obstruct them. Particular attention must be paid to the restricted channel through the Forth Bridges where ships change course by 40 degrees. Boats reported for obstruction by Forth Ports shall be subject to protest without time limit. This amends SI 1.16.

(c) As a last resort to avoid obstructing ships, a boat may use her engine, or any other means of propulsion, without
retiring but must report such use to the Race Officer immediately after finishing. A Protest Committee will review
the details and may impose a penalty if advantage is deemed to have been gained. This amends RRS 42 Propulsion.

1.11 Marks

Course marks are as described on Page 34.

1.12 Propulsion after Preparatory Signal

A boat arriving late for the start may remain under engine, paddles or other means of propulsion after her Preparatory Signal providing that, after ceasing such propulsion & before crossing the Start Line in the direction of the first mark, she completes a two-turn penalty on the pre-start side of the starting line or its extensions, keeping clear of all other boats during this manoeuvre.

1.13 Average Lap Time Races

(a) The average lap time for each boat shall be calculated by dividing the elapsed time at the finish by the number of laps completed by that boat. The handicap of the boat will then be applied in the normal manner to this average to obtain a corrected time.

(b) Should a boat have a higher corrected time than one of her competitors with the same or a lesser handicap number, and that boat has completed a greater number of rounds, then the result of that boat may be calculated on the same number of rounds completed by her competitors with the same or a lesser handicap, with the additional round or rounds being discarded. The decision to do this will be that of the Race Officer, which will be final.

1.14 Alternative Penalties

A multihull which breaks a rule of RRS Part 2 whilst racing may take a one-turn penalty, at the time of the incident. This alters RRS 44.2.

1.15 Time Limits & Extensions

RRS35 shall not apply. The time limit for each race is shown in the PEYC 2009 Sailing Calendar. Finish times will be valid for all boats finishing within the time limit. When the first yacht finishes within the time limit, finish times will be valid for those boats which finish within the time limit plus the extension period.

1.16 Protests & Redress Requests

Protests shall be in writing and must be lodged with the Race Officer or a Sailing Committee member within 60 minutes of the last boat finishing in the class concerned. Boats are requested to inform the Race Officer of their intention to protest as they finish.