Racing January 2017

We have a great racing program planned for 2017. Lots of racing. Lots of hot dogs and hamburgers!  As in the past, all club members are welcome to attend the regatta parties at the Mayor’s Cup, Governor’s Cup and ECSC regattas.  Your $10 ticket gets you food, beverage, music and dancing.  I am new to booking entertainment for these events, so if you know of a good band or DJ, send an email to the racing contact and I’ll take it from there.

Race Ready Meeting #1

Mark your calendar for Wednesday January 25, 2017. That will be our first “Race Ready” meeting for all those who are interested racing this year. The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30. We will have pizza and sodas for those who attend. The location isn’t set yet, but we will send out an email blast to the newsletter distribution list in a week or so once we get the room locked down.

We have 4 topics on the agenda for the meeting:

1. Registration and PHRF discussion
2. Race Committee sign up
3. 2017 Racing Calendar
4. Review of the ECSC RC Handbook

North U Tactics and Rule Seminar at ISC

On Saturday January 28, 2017, Indianapolis Sailing Club will host the North U Rules and Tactics Seminar.  Check in is at 8:30.  The seminar runs from 9:00 to 4:30.  Andrew Kerr will be the instructor.  The cost is $95, which includes a copy of Dave Perry’s North U Racing Rules and Tactics workbook.  This is a good seminar if you are a little rusty on the rules or want to sharpen your racing tactics.  Click HERE for a link to the seminar flyer.

PHRF Ratings

We have several races that are scored based on PHRF rating, so it is very important that we have an updated PHRF rating for all racers. This applies to virtually all of the Wednesday and Sunday series racing. In order to be scored properly, make sure we have an updated PHRF registration form on file for your boat. If we don’t have an up-to-date form, we will assign you the base rating for your boat with no adjustments. This is the absolute worst rating you can receive.

For your convenience, you have 3 ways to review and/or register your boat’s PHRF rating:

1. You will receive a race registration form in your membership packet. If your boat has a PHRF form on file, you will be able to verify the information on the form. If you receive a blank form and are racing, simply fill it out and mail it back with your dues payment.
2. Come to any of the Race Ready meetings and fill out the form at the meeting.
3. Get a blank form at the RC Shed and leave it in the marked folder.

We are changing some of the PHRF adjustments this year to lessen the penalty to cruiser boats on windward/leeward courses. Come to the first Race Ready meeting to find out more.

Race Committee Signup

Volunteering for Race Committee is part of every racer’s responsibility. If everyone serves just one time per series, we will have a smooth sailing season. The Sign-up Genius web site has been updated with all of the sailing events for the 2017 season. Congratulations to Bob McCoun for being first to sign up for RC duty. There are 12 racing days in the Wednesday Spring series and 2 slots, so we need just 24 skippers to sign up. There are only 10 Sunday Spring races, so we only need 20 skippers to sign up. If everyone takes a slot, we can get them all filled. If you want to get your choice of days, sign up early. Note that on March 31, if we have any open slots for the two Spring Series, I will have to start assigning people who have not yet signed up. Sign up for RC duty by clicking here.

2017 Racing Calendar

We are making a couple of changes to the sailing calendar. Our goal is to reward participation, yet recognize individual champions.

• Wednesday Night series start time will change.
• Fleet Champions will not be part of the Sunday series.
• We are adding a Club Championship 1-day regatta to crown the best skipper and the fleet champions.
• The Boat of the Year selection is being changed slightly.

Come to the first Race Ready meeting to find out more about the changes. All 2017 races have been added to the web site calendar.

Race Committee education

On March 11, 2017 ECSC and ISC are sponsoring a one-day Club Race Officer seminar at the ISC clubhouse. This is a great one-day event that will give you a great foundation on how to run a proper sailboat race. The seminar will cover all aspects of running a race from setting up the course, to starting and finishing boats, to changing and shortening the course. The cost is only $45 and that includes continental breakfast and lunch. It’s a great way to get into sailing mode for the upcoming season. Go to the US Sailing web site to register.

Scroll down to the ECSC seminar and register online.

I am updating the Race Committee Handbook to provide more “on the water” guidance and reference to those running races. This will also be covered at the Race Ready #1 meeting.

Geoff Endris,

Racing Chair