Race Committee 🏁
This document outlines scoring responsibilities. Please read this carefully! Ask if you have any questions!
Race committee
Race committee (RC) is staffed by volunteers on a weekly basis (sign-up sheet). RC's responsibilities include:
deciding and communicating if racing will happen by 10am of race day. Frigid weather and high winds are reasons racing might be canceled.
deciding the size of sail for the day's racing by 12 noon
staffing the RC boat and running the day's races (including starts, calling penalties, logging finishes, and calculating division migrations)
Divisions
MFA runs two divisions, the top-ranked racers in A Fleet, and the other racers in B Fleet.
After each day of racing, the top B Fleet racer is bumped up to A Fleet, and the bottom A Fleet racer falls down to B Fleet.
Party planning
The Sunday Social, held after racing around 3:30pm, is organized and provided for by volunteers on a weekly basis. Responsibilities include providing food and drinks, setup, and cleanup.
Weather & cancelation guidelines
The decision to sail is the responsibility of the Race Committee.
Our hard guideline for a no-sail day is under 28°F or sustained over 20 knots. Higher gusts are noted and considered when its on the edge.
Cancelations for obviously unsailable conditions should happen no later than 9:30 am on race day, and ideally should happen the night before. This helps accommodate sailors and chase boat operators who have a long travel time to get to Beach Point.
Sometimes conditions are on the edge. As many are eager to sail, sometimes the decision is made on the dock at noon. Individual sailors are encouraged to decide for themselves if they feel comfortable given the predicted conditions to go out or not. Its important to know your limits as well and not rely on the RC so as not to endanger yourselves or others.
There is always behind-the-scenes discussions between a variety of locals, experienced fleet sailors, and those running Race Committee. Common sense should always prevails, as windless and cold can be more dangerous than windy and cold. As experience builds over the season, there is a tendency to push the wind envelope more than earlier in the season.
We are here to support and don't be shy about asking questions or picking up the phone. The day-of or even at the dock calls are the hardest, but safety and common sense always must prevail.
Preparations
Bring a copy of the division assignments
Bring at least 2 copies of the scoring forms
Morning of race day
Record race day details
record the weather conditions
record sailor's name and sail number
mark any guest sailors
record RC chair and co-chair for the day (must serve on the committee boat)
After racing
Scan and email the forms to info@mamaroneckfrostbite.org, as soon as you can.
Division assignments
Check that they're updated
Check the number of racers. It may be necessary to balance out or combine the fleets for the day.
Use either "Regular Racing" or "Regatta" assignments based on the type of racing for the day.
Racers in "Regatta Choice" may choose either A or B fleet for the day prior to racing.
If racing on Saturday, RC MUST calculate which sailors get promoted/demoted for Sunday. Notes should be made on the division assignment sheet and left near the helm of the committee boat.
Use the division assignments as left by Saturday's RC. If unavailable, Sunday's RC should use the assignments in the attached form.
Marking DNS/DNF/RAF/DSQ
Make sure to clearly mark all DNS/DNF/RAF/DSQ, etc., and score them appropriately (1 more than the total number of boats that day for the given fleet).
NOTE: The boat that retired gets one more than the total number of boats. This moves all boats that finished later up one place. For example, if 5th place boat retires, boats that finished 6 and up are each moved up one point.
A & B sailing together
Score all boats racing together on the same "Race Finishing Positions" and "Daily Scores" forms (even if A & B fleet are combined).
Once the Daily Scores form is complete, determine the relative place in each division: rank all sailors per fleet according to their combined fleet score to determine their place in their fleet.
A B sailor with a better combined score than an A sailor does not affect the racer's division.
Guest racing
Guests are treated the same as member sailors regarding their race finishing position.
Guests are treated the same as members when summarizing their Daily Score.
Guests are not counted when determining the number of boats that get promoted/demoted from a fleet, nor are they counted when determining season standings. Please make sure they are marked properly on the scoring sheets.
Scoring forms
During the race: use "Race Finishing Positions" to record the course and sail numbers as they finish.
After the race: use "Daily Scores" to tabulate the total scores for the day.
Starts are handled by the automatic starting system. If broken, RC must give the fleet sufficient warning that you are about to start a sequence, and then count down to beginning of the sequence (5..4..3..2..1..TWO MINUTES).
How to calculate division
If a division has less than 5 members, no one will be moved from that division. Otherwise:
Take the number of members that finished in A division. Multiply by 0.2 and round to the nearest whole number. Let's call that number α. The bottom α members in A move down.
Take the number of members that finished in B division. Multiply by 0.2 and round to the nearest whole number. Let's call that number β. The top β members in B move up.
Guests are excluded from all division calculations.
Additional (non-scoring) notes
Finishing is when any part of a boat first touches and clears the finish line without incident. Crossing is not required. Any penalties must be complete prior to crossing the line to finish.
Ties only exist when the RC is certain that both boats have finished at exactly the same time. When it is "too close to call," RC must do its best to determine who won.
Protests RC cannot adjust scores on their own. For a protest, broken rule, or cause for redress, RC should record all finishes, record the involved boats, and convene a Protest Committee.
Thanks, good luck, and have fun!
PS If anything in this document conflicts with the Notice of Race or the Sailing Instructions, those documents take precedence. This document should only be viewed as a guide.
Race Committee scoring form (MFA).pdf