Chipstead Sailing Club

Sailing Instructions

January 2026

The notation’[DP]‘ in these Sailing Instructions (SI) means that the penalty for a breach of that rule may, at the discretion of the protest committee, be less than disqualification.

As a club we promote respectful and courteous behaviour to everyone, but in particular towards race duty teams. Breaches of this can incur scoring penalties, DSQ, or if necessary the club disciplinary procedures.

1 Rules

1.1 All races will be governed by:-

The World Sailing Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS)
The prescriptions of the Royal Yachting Association
The relevant Notice of Race (NoR)
These Sailing Instructions, including relevant Appendices to these SIs.
The Rules of the relevant Class Associations
The Rules and Byelaws of Chipstead Sailing Club (www.chipsteadsc.org.uk)
The Arbitration and Advisory hearings of the RYA Rules Disputes procedure will be available.
Additional Appendices as defined in the NoR.
These SIs change the following RRS :- 60.1, 27, 90.2.c, 40.2 and Preamble to part 4, 26, 32, and appendix A2 and A5

2 Safety equipment

2.1 Adequate personal flotation devices must be worn at all times when afloat and on the pontoons, except briefly while changing or adjusting clothing or personal equipment. This changes RRS 40.2 and Preamble to Part 4. [DP]

2.2 Wetsuits or drysuits must be worn between 25th December and 31st March inclusive.

3 Notices to Competitors

3.1 Notices to competitors will be posted on the Official Club Notice Board in the clubhouse. Event specific notices may be posted on or near the course board near the club main entrance.

3.2 A course board will be situated near the club main entrance.

3.3 The Race Committee may give verbal instructions and verbal changes to these SIs at a sailors briefing. This changes RRS 27 and 90.2.c.

3.4 In club handicap and pursuit races the handicap (PY) will be determined by the Sailing Committee and published on the club noticeboard in March each year.

4 Changes to Sailing Instructions

Any changes to the SIs will be posted on the Club Notice Board no later than 30 minutes, before the start of the applicable race, except changes to the schedule of racing will be posted no later than 20:00 the day before.

5 Schedule of Races

Dates and times of racing including quorums and number of races that shall be scored in a series shall be defined in the NoR, or Chipstead Sailing Club Sailing Programme, or Race Programme on CSC website. (www.chipsteadsc.org.uk).

5.2 The maximum number of races for each day will be defined in the NoR, or Chipstead Sailing Club Sailing Programme, or Race Programme on CSC website. (www.chipsteadsc.org.uk), or on the day of racing.

6 Signals

6.1 Signals made ashore will be displayed from one of the starting box masts.

6.2 Class flags will be indicated on the Notice Board in the clubhouse, or on the course board.

6.3 A class is defined to be all boats that start on the same class flag, even if it is a mixed handicap race.

6.4 Signals that apply to only some classes may be flown alongside those class flags.

7 Racing Area

7.1 Chipstead Lake with the following exclusion zones [DP]:-

(a) 10m radius from any angler.
(b) 10m round the shore of the island west of the large club jetties.
(c) 10m radius centred on the three buoys at the area of shallow water situated at the western end of the lake

8 Marks and Courses

8.1 The course and the number of laps will be displayed on the course board. The course may be indicated on the front of the race box, or on the starboard side of a committee boat.

8.2 Unless otherwise specified Marks will be orange buoys, marked with a black letter, A-K.

9 Start

9.1 The starting line shall be either a or b;

a) Club line; The transit of a line through a black and white post and the mast at the race box
b) A line between a mark and a mast or staff on a committee boat or a mast or staff on the shore.

9.2 The starting times (or the warning signal time of the starting sequence) of races will be shown on the course board and in no circumstances will they be earlier than advertised. For pursuit races the start time of each class of boat will be shown (calculated by reversing the formula for corrected times in appendix A1).

9.3 A boat starting more than 10 minutes after her start time will be scored DNS.

9.4 Club races shall start using a 10, 5, Go Start sequence. This changes RRS 26.

9.5 Other events and series, including Open Meetings, Mongrels Bowl and Top Dog

Races shall use a 5,4,1 Start sequence.

9.6 Boats whose warning signal has not been made shall make every endeavour to keep clear of the starting area during the starting sequence of preceding boats.

9.7 For club races after a general recall that classes next start shall be moved to the end

of the current starting sequences.

10 Shortening

10.1 The following reasons for shortening the course are added to RRS 32.1:

a) The Race Committee may shorten the course for a class so that the expected finishing time for the leading boat of that class is approximately as described in the race programme.

b) After the leading boat has started its final lap, it may become apparent to the Race Committee that some boats are unlikely to finish within 30 minutes of the leading boat. In which case, the Race Committee shall consider shortening the course before such boats start their final lap.

10.2 RRS 32.2 is modified as follows:
If the race committee signals a shortened course (displays flag S with two sounds), the finishing line shall be:

(a) Club line as described in 9.1(a) (with flag S displayed on the mast of the race box), or

(b) At a rounding mark, between the mark and a mast or staff on a committee boat displaying the flag S. This is not appropriate for handicap races unless the finishing line is the same as the starting line.

10.3 The shortened course shall be signalled before the leading boat, or any boats to which 10.1b) applies, cross the finishing line.

10.4 Once the shorten course flag is displayed, boats crossing the finish line will be finished, unless a different class flag is also displayed (as in 6.4).

11 Finish

11.1 The finishing line will be the same as the start line defined in 9.1, or if the race is shortened as defined in 10.2.

11.2 The finishing line for handicap races shall be the same line as the starting line.

11.3 All boats will finish the next time they cross the finishing line after any boat in their class has finished. Boats in the same race can complete differing numbers of laps.

11.4 Boats that have finished shall sail clear of the finishing line without delay.

11.5 For pursuit races, all boats are finished on the sound signal that indicates the end of the race

12 Time Limits

12.1 For non-handicap racing, the Race Committee may award finish places on the water

12.2 The finishing position of boats which have not finished within 30 minutes of the leading boat of the relevant class finishing will be calculated on their position at the end of their previous completed lap, subject to the provisions in 14.1 and 14.2.

12.3 If no boat finishes within 2 hours of the starting signal of the relevant class, the race will either be deemed void or results will be calculated on the positions at the end of the previously completed lap.

12.4 Boats which have not completed one lap within the time limits defined in 12.2 or 12.3 will be deemed to have retired.

13 Retiring from a Race

13.1 A boat retiring from a race shall inform the Race Committee promptly.

14 Scoring

14.1 For handicap racing, Average Lap Times as described in Appendix A shall be used to provide a corrected time to determine the finishing order.

14.2 Boats in non-handicap races completing fewer laps will be scored behind those completing more laps.

14.3 The scoring system will be the RRS appendix A low points scoring, except that for Club series the “declared entry” for a race will equal the number of boats that came to the starting area;

Result	Position
RTD (Retirement)	Declared entry +1
OCS (On course side)	Declared entry +1
DNF (Did not finish)	Declared entry +1
DNS (Did not cross start line)	Declared entry +1
DSQ (Disqualified)	Declared entry +2
DNC (Did not launch)	No score

For any series the number of races to qualify as stated in the race programme will be the number of races scored. This changes RRS appendix A2 and A5

14.4 Ties in all series will be broken initially using RRS appendix A 8.1. If a tie remain unbroken then all previously excluded scores from the series shall also be included to break the tie. If a tie still remains then RRS appendix A 8.2 shall apply.

14.5 Classes may award a third place to a helm competing at an Open Meeting in that Class at another Club. Similarly, if a Class Points race is non quorate, a Class may award a third place to a helm entering a handicap race in the same half day of the race programme. The sailing secretary may award third places in this way for handicap series. The maximum number of third places awarded to any helm for either reason is limited to three occasions in a season. If a Class Points race is not quorate, helms competing at an Open Meeting at another club at that time may not claim a third place. These awarded third places will count towards the required number of races to qualify for a Series.

15 Protests

15.1 Protest time limit is 30 minutes after the last boat in the boats class has finished. In the case of ‘back to back’ races the protest time limit is 30 minutes after the last finisher in her class in the final race of the ‘back to back’ sequence of races.

16 Safety Statement

16.1 RRS 3 states:

The responsibility for a boat’s decision to participate in a race or to continue to race is hers alone

By participating in this event each competitor agrees and acknowledges that sailing is a potentially dangerous activity with inherent risks. These risks include strong winds and rough waters, sudden changes in weather, failure of equipment, boat handling errors, poor seamanship by other boats, loss of balance on an unstable platform and fatigue resulting in increased risk of injury. Inherent in the sport of sailing is the risk of permanent, catastrophic injury or death by drowning, trauma, hypothermia or other causes.

16.2 The organising authority will not accept any liability for material damage or personal injury or death sustained in conjunction with or prior to, during, or after the event or race series.

16.3 The provision of patrol boats does not relieve a boat of her responsibilities as set out in 16.1

17 Insurance.

17.1 It is a condition of entry that each participating boat shall be insured with valid third party liability insurance with a level of cover adequate to cover all third-party claims and at least £3,000,000.

Appendix A: Average Lap Times

A.1 In a handicap race, for each boat corrected time is calculated as:

Corrected time = (elapsed time x most laps x 1000) / (PY x actual laps)

Where:

elapsed time is the recorded finish time for any particular boat;
actual laps is the actual number of laps sailed by that boat;
PY is the handicap for that boat; and
most laps is the number of laps sailed by the boat which sailed furthest.

A.2 If any boat ends with a corrected time less than a boat which completed more laps but has the same or higher PY, then the final position of the boat which completed fewer laps will be adjusted to be behind the boat that did more laps. Other relative positions will remain in the same order as in A.1.

Appendix B: Eligibility to race

B.1 Only mono hull non-foiling boats without trapezes are allowed to race, subject to a maximum length of 16 foot.

B.2 Boats eligible to race in Open meetings will be set out in the Notice of Race and subject to the relevant class rules.

B.3 For Open Meetings entry will be by completing an entry form and paying the appropriate fee. For Club Races eligible boats shall be entered by completing an entry on the Race Management computer or by paper sign on as appropriate.

B.4 In a club race series spanning more than one day a helm may count races sailed in more than one boat. In a Club handicap race series of more than one day results in different classes of boat (including both single and double handed) as well as results for different choices of rig may be aggregated. In a Club points series results in different choices of rig may be aggregated as permitted by the class.

B.5 In a one day series any change in boat or rig is only permitted where a boat or rig is damaged beyond immediate repair and such change is restricted to the same Class of boat and the same choice of rig.

B.6 Boats sailed on the lake must be either registered with the Membership Secretary or have entered an Open meeting being run on that day.

B.7 Measurement certificates, proof of insurance and valid buoyancy certificates shall be made available, at reasonable notice, for inspection by any club official.

Appendix C: Double handed boats

C.1 Helm and Crew must remain in their designated positions for the full period of the race, the exception being to adjust rigging or equipment or in an emergency. Both persons to resume their correct positions as quickly as possible