The 2008 Sailing Instructions are attached as a .pdf below.
See NOR section 1. The Sailing Instructions and Notice of Race continue to apply to a yacht until she has moored and completed her post-race inspections.
Between sunset and sunrise the following shall be substituted for RRS 17 (On The Same Tack; Proper Course).
When two yachts on the same tack are within three overall lengths of the longer yacht from each other, the yacht being overtaken shall maintain her proper course. The overtaking yacht shall keep clear, and neither yacht shall bear away toward, nor luff the other.
All times used for the race are in 24-hour format and, except for finishing, are Pacific Daylight Time (PDT, UTC minus 7 hours). For finishing, times are Hawaiian Standard Time (HST, UTC minus 10 hours). All distances are in nautical miles.
Yachts racing must stay clear of commercial or other vessels limited in their ability to maneuver.
A meeting for all skippers and navigators will be held at 3:30 PDT on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere, CA. Attendance at this meeting is mandatory and each skipper and navigator is responsible for receiving and understanding the material.
Notices to Competitors, including amendments to these Sailing Instructions, will be available at the skippers’ meeting. Additional notices made after that meeting will be broadcast on VHF channel 71 approximately 30 minutes before each start.
If supplied, all vessels are required to carry a Race Tracker. It shall be the responsibility of the Skipper to ensure that the transponder remains as installed or is installed according to supplied directions, and must make every effort to ensure it is functional for the entire race.
Except during an emergency, boats are restricted from receiving any data with respect to the performance or location of competitors other than that acquired by scheduled roll calls and transmissions from race committee. Access to the Race Tracking website by any
means, and the information contained therein is not available to competitors for the duration of the race. Use of the website or information contained on the website is considered outside information and use of said information is a violation of RRS 41.
The Starting Line will be a line extending from an orange panel on the race deck of the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco to spherical buoy “A”.
A second spherical buoy “B” may be in place as a limiting mark, and may or may not be on the starting line; no yacht may pass between this buoy and the shore.
At the discretion of the Race Committee, a temporary buoy may be placed outside Buoy A and deemed to replace Buoy A as part of the start line. In that event, the Race Committee shall announce the extended start line by radio to the racers in the affected division.
Timing for Elapsed Time and Record Time will be from the starting time. To qualify for Record Time, a yacht must make a proper start within one hour of her starting time.
On the day of her scheduled start, each yacht shall monitor VHF channel 71 from one hour before her start until one hour after. Late Amendments to the Sailing Instructions may be announced by the Committee, and attempts will be made to notify premature starters on VHF 71. Each starting yacht is invited to check in via VHF channel 71 with the Committee prior to her warning signal. A yacht that will be starting late shall comply with SI 2.9. The starting-line Committee intends to monitor VHF channel 71 from one hour before the first start until one hour after the last start or all starters pass under the Golden Gate Bridge.
All yachts shall display the Race Participation Flag (available at the skippers meeting) from the backstay while in the vicinity of the Starting Area and continue to display it until approximately 25 miles from the start (amends RRS 55 – US Sailing Prescription).
Yachts will start by class from Monday, July 14, 2008 through Saturday, July 19, 2008 according to their PCR ratings. Division assignments, start times, and any possible modification to the starting line will be announced no later than the skippers meeting.
The start sequence of RRS26 will be used, modified to further include a Pre-warning signal 5 minutes before each Warning signal. The Pre-warning signal consists of a yellow shape accompanied by one sound signal. The yellow shape will be removed 1 minute before the associated Warning. All signals will be displayed from the St. Francis Yacht Club race deck. Times shall be taken from the visual signals; the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded.
The lines between the closest associated shore to the following areas shall be considered as obstructions: Anita Rock and any buoy marking same; the vertical "H" piling off the Water Quality Control Plant just west of the St. Francis Yacht Club.
The South Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge must be left to the south, and the Mile Rock Light and any rocks visible at MLLW adjacent to either the Marin County or San Francisco shores must be left to shoreward.
If any part of a yacht or her equipment enters or crosses any of these obstructions, she shall be considered to have violated RRS 31 (Touching a Mark). The 360 degree turns penalty for correction in RRS 31.2 is replaced by SI 6.6. Correction of the course sailed as offered in RRS 28.1 is not allowed.
Postponement is signaled by the display of the Answering Pennant with two sounds.
The postponement’s end is signaled by removal of the Answering Pennant with one sound signal. One minute later, the starting sequence will resume with the hoisting of the new Pre-Warning signal and the start times will be shifted accordingly.
Premature starters will be signaled by the display of the Code Flag "X" with one sound signal. The Race Committee will also attempt to hail premature starters via VHF channel 71.
The Code Flag "X" will remain displayed until all premature starters have returned or until four minutes after the starting signal, whichever occurs first. Irrespective of any attempt by the Race Committee to notify premature starters, it remains the sole responsibility of each yacht to start correctly.
General recall is signaled by the display of the First Substitute with two sound signals. The First Substitute will remain displayed until one minute prior to the display of a new Pre-Warning Signal.
The class recalled shall have a new start time which is 15 minutes after the last class scheduled to start that day, with its start sequence commencing 5 minutes after the last scheduled class’ start. If multiple classes have been recalled, they shall start in multiple sequences at 15 minute intervals in the relative order of their original starting sequence.
A yacht unable to cross the starting line while the committee is on station must take her own time as she crosses the starting line and report it during the next official roll-call. If possible, the yacht shall check in with the starting-line committee via VHF or otherwise and inform it of her circumstances.
If a yacht is late for the start, and has either not cleared her mooring, or is not within one quarter mile of the starting line at the time of her Preparatory signal, she will not be considered to be racing for the purposes of RRS 42 (Propulsion) and 41 (Outside Help) until she has both cleared her mooring and is within one quarter mile of the starting line.
The course will be from the Starting Line to the Finish Line. The distance for the purpose of computing time allowances is 2070 nm.
Competitors may receive publicly available weather data during the race. Private weather data and routing is not allowed during the race and will be considered a violation of RRS 41 (Outside assistance). Prior to a yacht’s preparatory signal, there is no limitation on private weather forecasts.
“Publicly available” data includes:
l broadcasts or weather fax transmissions from NOAA, USCG, WWV, NMC, KVM70, or from the race communications vessel
l imagery from satellites, such as NOAA, APT satellites
l data retrieved from the Internet (e.g. grib files or similar from the web, from ftp sites, from email responders), provided that those data are intended for public use without charge, are routinely available throughout the year, and are publicly indexed (e.g. can be found via www.google.com).
Daily roll call will be conducted by the Communications Vessel (CV) at 0900 PDT. When the CV reaches Hawaii, KYC will take over all duties of the CV and roll call will start at 1100 PDT (0800 HST). The CV shall announce the transfer to KYC in advance if possible.
Each yacht racing shall participate in daily roll call between her start and her check-in at 100-mile before the finish. At roll call, each yacht shall provide her position as of 0900 PDT rounded to the nearest minute. Position reports shall be received by the CV via voice on SSB or VHF and should be in the format and order set out in the Communications Plan.
A yacht unable to make its participation report directly may relay her position by any practicable means to another station which may relay the report to the CV by voice on SSB or VHF. During the roll call, all yachts shall monitor VHF 16 for possible relays of position or emergency traffic. Willful disregard of a position relay request is grounds for disqualification.
The CV will attempt to contact yachts that were unable to make their scheduled check-ins, using SSB voice on the channels set forth in the Communications Plan. At 10:30 PDT (1230 if KYC), the roll call period shall close.
For each day that the CV does not receive a given yacht’s daily position report (directly or by relay) by voice on SSB or VHF before the close of the roll call period, one hour shall be added to the yacht’s finish time. If the CV receives a false position report the same adjustment will apply as a minimum penalty. These are mandatory and may be assessed without a hearing. This modifies RRS 63.1.
The Communications Officer (CV operator or KYC operator) shall determine whether a check-in has been received. "Received" means a voice transmission of sufficient broadcast clarity to understand the position. The Communications Officer may additionally raise an inquiry as to the accuracy of the report, and if he believes it to be false may direct the imposition of the penalty. A yacht challenging the findings of the Communications Officer shall have the burden of proof. If the reported position is different from the actual position, then the determination of the Communications Officer shall stand and the yacht shall be penalized as if failing to report.
A willful false position report is grounds for disqualification.
The Communications Plan will specify the channels, times, and proper format for daily roll call, as well as other information. It does not form part of these Sailing Instructions. Nothing in the Communications Plan shall supersede the Sailing Instructions.
Yachts shall honor any request by the CV or Communications Plan to keep a channel clear.
· Yachts withdrawing from the race after starting shall notify the Communications Vessel, or a member of the race committee at Kaneohe Yacht Club.
· Yachts with protests may log them during roll call as provided in these instructions.
· If the engine is used for propulsion, the details shall be entered in the log and reported to the Committee via radio at the next roll call or promptly after finishing, whichever occurs first.
· The Communications Vessel will be conducting an informal conversational period commencing at 1700 PDT each day on a stated channel and ending as declared by the CV or, if not declared, at 1730 PDT. This is known as "Children's Hour." Communications made on that channel during Children's Hour are considered to be fleet-wide communications available to all racers and do not constitute "outside help." To the extent inconsistent, RRS 41 is so amended. Racers are cautioned that not all statements made during this period may be accurate.
The Finish Line is an extension of a line from the Aeronautical Beacon on top of Puu Hawaiiloa through the light atop Pyramid Rock (shown on Chart 19359). A temporary buoy, located 1.2 nm from Pyramid Rock, limits the south end of the finish line and must be left to port. The finish line extends 0.5 nm past the buoy, and yachts crossing the finish line beyond this point may not be scored as having finished. The temporary buoy will be yellow, and may be equipped with a strobe light at night. The buoy may or may not lie exactly on the finish line. If the buoy is missing, a committee boat may be on station to mark the port end of the line; failing this, yachts should cross the finish line at, or within 0.5 nm north of, the designated position of the buoy. Note that although escort and committee boats may be in the vicinity of the finish, official finish time is taken by race committee representatives sighting the line from shore. (See paragraph 4.5) The estimated midpoint of the line is at 21° 29.1N, 157° 46.4W. This position is for information only and has no official status.
The "Danger Zone" shown on chart 19357, extending north from Mokapu Point and including Mokumanu Island, is restricted and no vessel may enter or transit this area. Any vessel doing so is subject to the penalty defined by SI 6.6 in addition to any civil penalties and potential adverse effects of artillery. In addition, correction of the course as offered in RRS 28.1 is not allowed. For reference, the NW corner of the Danger Zone is taken as 21° 29.0N, 157° 44.0W.
When 25 miles from the finish each yacht shall display her Race Participation flag until she is finished and moored (amends RRS 55 – US Sailing Prescription).
As she approaches the finish, each yacht shall contact "KYC Base" (SSB) or "Pacific Cup Finish" (VHF) with her position and ETA (Hawaiian Standard Time) as follows:
100 miles from the finish......................... SSB Channel 4A 4146 kHz
25 miles from the finish........................... SSB
Channel 4A 4146 kHz
5 miles from the finish................................................................. VHF
71
At the finish.................................................................................... VHF
71
After the finish................................................. VHF
68 for escort vessel
Following each contact, each yacht shall continue to monitor the appropriate SSB or VHF channel for further communications if necessary.
When 25 miles from the finish each yacht shall advise the finish committee whether she wishes to enter Kaneohe Bay via the Sampan channel or main channel.
Each yacht shall attempt to make contact with the finish-line committee as she approaches the finish. A yacht finishing at night shall illuminate her sail numbers as necessary to assist the Committee in recording her finish.
A finishing yacht shall sound a horn, record her own estimate of her finish time, and subsequent to her arrival ashore, confirm her official finish time with the Race Committee.
Any communications from an official representative of the finish line race committee, including any navigational advisories, will not be considered outside assistance for the purposes of RRS 41.
The time limit for being scored for the race is 1500 HST, Friday Aug 1, 2008. Yachts which finish after that time should record their own times as they cross the finish line and report this to the Race Committee. Such yachts will be listed in the standings as “FNS” (Finished Not Scored) and are not eligible for division or overall trophies.
A "follow-me" boat representing the Pacific Cup Yacht Club will be available to escort any yacht desiring assistance through either channel to the Yacht Club mooring and berthing area. After finishing, each yacht shall contact the escort boat on VHF channel 68, even if assistance is not desired. Whether or not assistance is offered or accepted, the safe pilotage of each vessel remains solely her skipper's responsibility.
Yachts equipped with outboard motors per NOR 1.7 shall deploy them before entering the KYC mooring area, or if the winds in the entrance channel become too light to sail effectively, or at the request of the escort vessel.
The State of Hawaii requires all yachts entering the State to comply with Hawaii agricultural requirements. Information will be available at the Skipper's Meeting.
A yacht may be inspected at any time and is responsible for her own compliance with the equipment requirements of this race. If a yacht has any deficiencies during the original, pre-race inspection, such deficiencies shall have been corrected and the corrections properly documented through either a second inspection or, in the case of minor deficiencies, written notice to the Inspections Committee.
Inspection at the finish is almost a certainty for the first several yachts in each division. An Inspector may board the yacht while on the way to the Kaneohe Yacht Club mooring after her finish to commence the inspection. Yachts should keep their safety gear in place and available for such inspection until any inspection is completed and the yacht is moored at KYC.
A yacht not in compliance with any part of the equipment requirements may be protested by a competitor, the race committee, or an inspector.
If the protest committee finds that a yacht has violated the equipment requirements, it shall impose a penalty. PCYC may refuse the entry of such a yacht in future races. In imposing a penalty, the protest committee may, in lieu of disqualification impose a lesser penalty. The penalty may include time, loss of place, DSQ, or other penalties as provided by the RRS. The protest committee shall be guided by the following standards.
1. A severe omission (missing liferaft, storm sails, anchors, jacklines, running lights) shall be cause for DSQ.
2. A less severe violation whereby the yacht did not obtain any racing advantage should be penalized at one hour per violation. Where the omission is minor, does not involve any material savings in weight, bulk, or cost, not willful, and was not likely to compromise the safety of the yacht, the protest committee may apply a minimum penalty of 15 minutes per violation.
3. An uncorrected inspection deficiency shall be penalized at least six hours per deficiency with the loss of at least one place. Where the yacht has falsely certified that the deficiency has been corrected, the penalty minimum shall be loss of at least three places, and the yacht shall be ineligible to receive any trophy or prize.
Scoring will be within each class and also overall, based on elapsed time, minus time-on-distance time allowances computed from PCR ratings as published. For the purposes of awarding trophies (NOR 11) the terms “elapsed time” and “corrected time” are to include any added penalties. The decision of the Race Committee shall be final in all scoring.
In case of a tie in Elapsed or Corrected Times, the tie shall stand. Equal awards will be granted.
Unless otherwise noted, only monohulls are eligible for the trophies listed below.
Protests and the assessment of penalties for infringement of any of the rules will be governed by RRS Part 5 with the additional provisions of this section.
A yacht that wishes to protest another yacht for infringement of any rule shall follow the procedures of RRS 61, with the following additional provisions:
The race committee must be notified of the intent to protest, including the name of the protested yacht, during the first Daily Roll Call following the incident, and again during the protesting yacht’s check in prior to the finish.
A protest flag need not be displayed continuously until the finish, provided that it is initially displayed for at least one hour, and that it is displayed again from at least 5 miles from the finish until finished (amends RRS 61.1).
The time limit for filing of the written protest shall be three hours after the protesting yacht's finish.
A protested yacht may acknowledge infringement of a rule of RRS Part 2 and accept an alternative penalty of one hour. If she chooses to do so, she must notify the race committee at the next Daily Roll Call and again immediately after she finishes the race. This amends only the voluntary penalty portion of RRS 44.1, replacing the Two-Turns Penalty.
The Race Committee will assess time penalties added to elapsed time in lieu of disqualification for the following violations. Penalties will be assessed without a hearing modifying RRS 63.1 and A5.
· Touching a Starting Mark without exoneration per RRS 31: Two hours
· Not returning after a premature start: Two hours
· Not returning after general recall: Two hours plus the delayed starting time
· Entering a restricted area: Two hours if the yacht survives. (See SI 2.5, 4.3)
· Failure to report during Roll Call: One hour per day of failure
Protest hearings will be held at Kaneohe Yacht Club at 1500 HST on Thursday July 31st, 2008, or at some other time and date agreed to by the parties concerned and posted on the bulletin board at Kaneohe Yacht Club.
· The penalty for intentionally giving a false position report shall be not less than one hour for each incident.
· The penalty for the willful disregard of any timely position-report relay-request by a yacht will be her mandatory disqualification.
· Infringement of a rule of RRS Part 2: Two hours,
o Except for one hour as an alternative penalty for acknowledgment of an infringement pursuant to SI 6.5
o Except where said violation results in injury or serious damage or gives an advantage to the guilty party, then the Protest Committee may instead assess a time or percentage penalty in lieu of disqualification per RRS 64.1
· Penalties for Safety Equipment violations: see SI 4.9