Race Officering Team Racing

 Being a Race Officer for a Team Racing Event is different from Fleet Racing, a suggestion has been made that UKTRA should offer someguidance on the differences. These are my thoughts.

A major difference is the need to complete a number of races to get a result. 

This often results in racing being undertaken in very light conditions, One guideline is a Firefly should do a boatlength in 5 seconds. This is all very well but in these conditions the wind tends to come in bursts and from different directions, The trick is to watch the racing, take advice from Umpires and don't be afraid to abandon and resail a race if it is unfair. This may be fetching the first mark without a tack, or wind filling in from behind on the run. Sailors usually recognise that you are doing your best and umpires try to keep rule 42 propulsion undercontrol.

The course needs constant adjustment in shifty winds

The standard course should have two good beats and a square run, the reaches are less critical and can be used to achieve this. The course manager, if you have one, should be aware of the boats racing. Marks can be moved without notice (Standard SI 6.3), but should not change once a boat is on the leg. Often Umpires can move marks - but this varies according to events. Let the Umpires know if you are happy to have them make small adjustments.

A Square start line is less critical.

While the aim should be a square line, it is less critical than in fleet racing, as the team can adjust their tactics to account for line bias. With starts at three minute intervals there is only one minute to adjust the line without delaying racing. I hope your marklayer is skilled and the committee boat remain aware of the move so that they can postpone if necessary, and re-start quickly minimising the delay.

Watch the changeovers

Team racing is usually with provided boats. Teams change between them and the race officer and the start boat need to be aware of the situation. If a boat is late in for a changeover and the new team cannot get to the start line you may be looking at a resail. The same applies if repairs are needed to a boat. The corollary is when a team is not ready for a changeover. Here you need a clear record that it was their fault,  if you are to let the race go ahead without them. The Beachmaster and recorders are vital to this.

Mark 3 is often a problem

There can be some pretty intricate moves around Mark 3. If these meet boats manoevering for the start life gets very interesting (particularly for the umpires trying to watch the action and avoid running over boats lining up to start). A similar problem can occur when Mark 3 is on the beat, usually just above the start where boats coming away on port will find it. Timing can alleviate this problem but it is not reliable as team tactics can throw the expected timing off and it is these races where lots of thigs are happening.

When and how to go to Cut Downs

Good team racing entails manoeveures against other boats. You do not want boats going out of control in these circumstances, so the decision to go to cut downs (reduce sail area) needs to be made surprisingly early and will vary depending on the level of the event. Changing can delay the programme considerably. A good system with competitors briefed can assist. Close monitoring of the weather is useful as well. Actually having cut downs is useful. It is not unknown for events using borrowed boats to be lacking the necessary kit - check at the beginning of the event if you thing you will need them.

Thoughts on Rule 42

 The UKTRA Committee wanted some rule 42 guidance. Paul Robson suggested looking at the Umpire Manual, and I must admit that section 9.2 is pretty comprehensive. Have a look:-

https://media.sailing.org/sailing/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/31133103/Team-Racing-Umpire-Manual_May-2025.pdf

That said individual umpires will have different views as to how to interpret these guidelines. To some a rock is a rock, but a boat will rock if the crew move. Personally I need to be convinced that the rock was a deliberate action or that it acelerated the boat before I penalise. Sometimes this is easy, when another boat is nearby, but sometimes it is difficult eg the masthead is mooving less thn 2ft. 

Gybing is a classic difficult case. Often the boat is being sailed by the lee before the gybe and after the gybe the wind is at an angle that allows the boat to travel faster than it was going before the gybe. You need to watch for quite a few seconds to see if it was the gybe that accelerated the boat or was it the change of wind direction that is acelerating the boat. Multiple gybes are probably easier and when you get two boats responding to one another and making multiple gybes it often results in both getting penalised.

Sculling is an easy one to see and I feel often overlooked. Counting the number of turns needed becomes a problem, they should they complete the original penalty and then do an additional two turns.

VMG tacks or two roll tacks without coming down to closehauled between them. Again difficult as you need to be certain that the boat did not come down to a closehauled course. The set of the sails is irrelevant, but a closehauled course is relevant to the wind and in light conditions it can vary considerably. Certainty is the problem, and it is unlikely that both umpires saw the incident.

Various videos are available at:- https://www.youtube.com/@probso/videos

Light Weather

 It's not unusual for Team Racing to be conducted in very light weather (as was the case last Saturday). 

In these conditions the skill differences can result in massive differences in positions, skilled teams will overtake the race infront, poor sailors can be left battleing up the first beat while everyone else has finished. It can be painful to watch. 

I'm sure that one of the problems is that teams do not go out and practise when the water is mirror flat, but it can pay dividends. The other thing that stands out is the way the less skilled sailors will try and force their opinion onto the wind/boat. They will hold a sail out to catch the wind even if it is backing (or filling with wind on the wrong side). The boat will be heeled into the wind, gravity will hold the boom out, but the sail will be filled, or shaped on the wrong side. The boat can be moving backwards and nothing will change!

So what are the secrets? No 1 is you have to accept that in these conditions the draft (a very light wind) can come from any diretion. The sails will move to the slightest draft, so you have to concentrate on them and set them for that wind at that moment. Success is when the algae in the water begins to move in the desired direction. If you produce a ripple - then you are really motoring!

It's not easy - but it isn't rocket science.

Umpires don't eat

Lunches that require a knife and fork. It is hard enough to drive an umpire boat without having to balance the food container and hold a piece of cutlery, let alone two.

Besides by the time such hot fiod gets out to us it is generally cold. 

It's the reason crisps are not popular. One hand to hold the bag, another to eat, who is driving the boat?

Chocolate bars etc can be unwrapped quickly and eaten at leisure, and the colder they are the better they taste.

Apologies to the caterers, its not your fault that it can take a long time to deliver your beautifully prepared food. For the treasurer, it's often a lot cheaper if you prepare rolls, or even purchase sandwiches at a supermarket, and the Umpires will be just as happy.

It's so simple!

THE SHROUDS NEED TO BE TAPED!

At Reading we had at least three shrouds come adrift where the rigging link or the shackle came undone. It shouldn't happen! A simple piece of electrical tape can prevent it. So the CHUMP sends out the instruction to the changeover boat - ensure the shrouds are taped. OK ome the reply.

And yet on the second day I am still coming across boats without tape covering the rigging plate or the shackle attaching the shroud to the boat. A piece of electrical tape costing less than 1p can save a mast costing (according to Google) between £997 and £1215.

And when it comes off. PLEASE tack the boat, so that the strain is taken on the other working shroud. You would think that would be obvious but we still see university students sitting there with the mast adopting a banana shape to leeward and them pointing at this useless piece of wire dangling from the windward side of the mast. 

What I forgot.

 Gave a chat at the NSSA SH Team Racing and wish I had remembered to mention that Rule 15 often comes into play on the run when the boat going left down the run or just on the left gybes onto starboard.

They gain right of way but Rule 15 requires them to initially give the other boat room to Keep Clear. The other boat generally being on port has to gybe in order to keep clear. Here comes the problem for the Umpires "Room" is " while manoeuvering promptly in a seamanlike way" 

Should conditions be light is it seamanlike to not allow the boom to swing out and hit the other boat after the gybe? If the wind is strong then the boom has to come out or a dinghy risks capsizing, a keelboat may risk a broach. But when does the wind get light enough that we expect a sailor to hold the boom?

New Rules

 2025 saw the introduction of the latest set of rules which will last to 2028.

A couple of changes to note:-

Rule 17 has had a sentence deleted at the end so that the overlap is now judged from when a boat goes through head to wind and is on the same tack as the other. In practice this means that it is very difficult to judge if an overlap was established so the default is that it was not. Luckily sailors are not in the habit of protesting when the leeward boat infringes 17 on a beat, but I suspect it will become more common as the situation gets better known.

Rule 20 now says that a boat may hail using specific words "room to tack" However, even if she does not use these words the hailed boat must respond 20.2. No effective change in my opinion but greater emphasis on this rule. Question of whether a hail which does not use the correct words breaks the rule is still open.

Rule 14 has new clauses making it more effective but in dinghy team racing the culture seems to be to avoid using it unless it is blatant and there still has to be damage for the right of way boat to be penalised 43.1(b)

D2.2(b) is the big one for Team Racers. The Umpires will now penalise the boat that broke a rule following a protest - it doesn't matter if the wrong boat spins, that no longer closes the incident. So team racers need to be careful about when they protest.