Conventional Sailboat Racing Around Buoys


conventional sailboat buoy course

The Course

Typical sailboat racing is to windward and leeward marks. Sometimes there are 2 marks, sometimes 3 or more. A starting line is usually formed between a buoy and race committee boat, or could be between 2 buoys, or a buoy and a fixed object such as the dock.

The course usually runs upwind so that you can have a beat to windward, tacking back and forth. This is an exciting part of the race, boats have to avoid each other and make progress to windward.

The down wind portion of the race is just as exciting. Someone can pull behind you and steal your wind, slowing you down so that they can pass you. Don't feel helpless though, because you can turn around and steal their wind, and pass them.



Starting The Race

You sail around on the leeward side of the starting line trying not to run into each other, and observing the right of way rules. There are many different flag and signal systems to start a race. My favorite is very simple and all you need is one guy with a whistle and stopwatch:
3 blasts of a horn or whistle at 5 minute warning
2 blasts at the 1 minute warning
1 long blast at the start

It is very important to have the 5 minute warning be exactly 5 minutes from the start horn, there are a number of tactics that require accurate timing for crossing the start line. One tactic is at the 1 minute warning, sail away from the starting line for 30 seconds, turn and sail for the start line at full speed. If you do it right, you can cross the line at top speed and have the advantage on the first lap. Another tactic is to just sit at the start line with no speed, and just before the start horn, haul in your sheets and take off.


Right Of Way Rules

Here is the freely available (and freely distributable) pamphlet that has a basic explanation of the right of way rules. Also here is a video presentation of the basic right of way rules at USSailing.org They might look complicated at first, but after you have raced a couple of times you will see that this set is easy to remember, and will keep you from running into each other.

Most important: puddle duckers do whatever it takes, so that nobody gets hurt. One of the really nice things about our small slow boats is that if you are going to collide with someone else, it is easy to reach over to push them off.


conventional sailboat buoy course

Beach Start

We often do a beach start, that is where we have one foot on sand that isn't underwater. When the whistle blows, we push off and start the race !

To figure who is at what end of the line, we draw popsicle sticks with numbers on them. Sometimes duckers will trade sticks to get a different spot. Like in one race, a ducker traded the 3rd from the front spot for the last place on the end. It turned out to be a choice spot, because a bunch of us got tangled up and he sailed around us. BUT... in the next race, it worked the other way around, everyone tried to sail out around the outside expecting another tangle, and the first couple people in line ended up rounding first.


conventional sailboat buoy course

Duck Buoys

Just to let everyone know how fun we are, we often use inflatable ducks as buoys. You can get them at Walmart, they are the U shaped inflatable toys that kids use in pools.


Series Points and Scoring for Sailboat Racing

Low Point System

Sailboats typically use a "low point" scoring system. The way it works is the first person in gets 1 point, the 2nd in gets 2, etc. Each race creates points, and the points are added up at the end of the series. The races of the series may be run in a single day, or over multiple days, or a mixed combination.


Example of A Series of Racing:

Score Name Hull Boat Name Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 Total
Started

3 4 6 4 0 3 2 3
Finished
3 2 2 4 0 3 2 3
 
1 Ken Abrahams
 2 Ugly Duckling
 1 1 3 dnf 1 0 dns 1 1 1 9
2 Shorty
 3 Bucket Ears
 2 2 1 3 0 dns 2 2 4 dns 16
3 David Sargent
 7 Ducky
 4 dns 5 dns 2 2 0 dns 3 3 dns 2 21
4 Doug Day
 1 D.U.B
 3 5 dns 3 dnf 4 0 dns 4 dns 3 dns 4 dns 26
5 James Banik
 6 un-named
 4 dns 3 dnf 3 dnf 5 dns 0 dns 4 dns 3 dns 4 dns 26
6 Mike Falasca Jr
 14 Dasher
 4 dns 5 dns 7 dns 5 dns 0 dns 4 dns 3 dns 3 28
 
Christina Wycoff
 10 un-named
 dns dns dns dns dns dns dns dns
Andy Jones
 11 un-named
 dns dns dns dns dns dns dns dns
 
Did Not Start (DNS) = number of start +1)
Did Not Finish (DNF) = number of finish +1)

Thow Out -- The race organizer may designate a number of throw outs. This is where at the end of a series of races, you throw out the worst (highest) score that each person received during the series. If there are to be throw outs, the organizer must announce that before the start of the race, and indicate the number of throw outs. Like if you are having a 15 race series, the organizer may designate 2 or 3 throw outs to cushion the effect of not being able to attend a couple of the races.

Tie Breaker -- If there is a series score tie between two or more boats, each boat's race scores shall be listed in order of best to worst, and at the first point(s) where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favor of the boat with the best score. No excluded scores shall be used. In the event that there is still a tie, the ducker with the lowest hull number shall be favored.

Protest Hearing -- If a protest arises, a protest hearing must be held immediately after the race, and the protest committee is made up of the other sailors who sailed in the race. The sailors will hear the protest and defense, and vote on the resolution.

Unable To Start -- For the duckers who did attend with class legal hulls, but were unable to start any of the races (possibly due to damage or something else), they are listed on the table, but without a score. This is because if non-starters were to receive a score, they would all tie.

Hull Measurements -- Measurement of a hull must be performed before that hull enters the series, and is a perfect time to check in duckers to the event so the race committee has a complete list of participants. Here is how to measure a pdracer hull. If a hull is found to be not class legal, as per rule 7 their results are not counted, are not counted as pertaining to the other scores, and are not listed on the table. Would be the same as the other boats which attend messabouts, the score card is just for class legal hulls at the event.

Exchange Homemade Trophies -- We have a tradition of exchanging homemade trophies. Even though some duckers may not have been able to participate in the race (for instance broke something), all duckers who showed up at the event participate in the trophy exchange. The trophy is a token of showing up that day, and the score is the competitive placement.


Variations Of Low Point Scoring System

There are two scoring systems described in the ISAF RRS rules. One in similar to ours, but scores both DNS and DNF the same as the number of boats entered in the series +1. The other one they prescribe has a maximum score of 7, even if many more participate in the race. This is to make it easier for a racer that has lower performance to move up higher in the rankings, quicker. Beyond them, other racing clubs have different variations of the low scoring system.

The scoring system we used was prescribed during the first racing season by Ken Abrahams. At the time, he was the president of the Lake Charles Yacht Club, which has a very active racing fleet and this is the scoring system they use. Because of the high number of boats that get damaged during a race, this scoring system is great for our class as it favors boats that start the race.

As indicated above, if a ducker crosses the start line and is unable to finish, they receive a score of the number of other duckers which finished, so when multiple duckers get knocked out of that race, the ones that started will have a better score than duckers who did not start.