NOTICE OF RACE

Organisation and Rules

The organising Authority is the Sea View Yacht Club (SVYC).  The current ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) with RYA Prescriptions, this Notice of Race, the Sailing Instructions and Mermaid Class Rules govern the Championship.  In the event of conflict the Sailing Instructions will govern.

Conditions of Entry

1. A boat is entirely responsible for her own safety, whether afloat or ashore, and nothing, whether in the Notice of Race or Sailing Instructions or anywhere else reduces this responsibility.
2. It is for the boat to decide whether she is fit to sail in the conditions in which she finds herself.  By going to sea the boat confirms that she is fit for those conditions and her crew is competent to sail and compete in them.
3. The boat is required to hold adequate insurance and in particular to hold insurance against third-party claims in the sum of at least £2m.
4. Nothing done by the organisers can reduce the responsibility of the boat nor will it make the organisers responsible for any loss, damage, death or personal injury; however it may have occurred, as a result of helping to run the race and the event, and include the Organising Authority, the Race Committee, the Race Officer, patrol boats and beachmasters.
5. All sailors must wear appropriate clothing, personal flotation aids and footwear when racing.
6. Sailing takes place in an environment that is potentially dangerous. It is the responsibility of all sailors to act at all times with the safety of all other sailors foremost in their minds.
7. Any injury must be reported to the Club Secretary as soon as possible. This includes bangs to the head or cuts.
8. In the event that the Race Officer has to abandon the race, competitors arte to return to the mooring immediately unless otherwise instructed by the Race Officer or the safety boats.

Entry Form

A Regatta Medical Form is to be completed by each competitor and this will be available at the Club during the briefing. The Entry Form must be completed and delivered to the Secretary, SVYC before racing. At the end of each race any damage to the boat must be reported to the Race Officer.

Eligibility

Helmsmen and crew must be Freemen of the livery company they are representing. A sailor may be co-opted by a Company that has a problem filling a place and may sail at the discretion of the Race Officer but that co-opted sailor must neither be a helmsman nor a tactician of the boat in which they are sailing. The same helmsman should not sail both Mermaid races unless it has been agreed by the race officer.

Racing Area, Sailing Instructions and Courses

Racing will be held off Seaview in accordance with the Sailing Instructions which will be available at or before the briefing together with a copy of the Fixed Racing Marks Chart and Tidal Predictions.

Cruiser racers will require a chart of the Eastern Solent in addition to the SVYC fixed racing marks chart. They will be issued with a list of fixed marks in the eastern Solent together and their coordinates.

Scoring

The Low Point Scoring System will be used in accordance with RRS Appendix A.  The Championship will consist of four Races for Mermaids and one race for the Cruisers: all races to count.