The committee is very keen to encourage more members to act as Officer of the Day (OOD). The task is not difficult and members are urged to work in the race box with an experienced person to gain the necessary experience. Sailing Secretary Andy Turner explains the ropes
Any member of a sailing club can do a good job of being Officer of the Day (OOD), provided they do a little homework and they are organised and systematic. Initially, they should read the sailing instructions well and make sure they understand them. On the day of the race they should arrive at the club an hour-and-a-half before the start of the first race, meet with other race personnel and safety boat crews and make sure they all know each other’s names.
    As OOD you have two principal functions: to ensure competitors have a well-run race with good courses; to make sure that races are run safely and within the rules. Whilst it is the responsibility of each individual sailor to decide whether he/she is competent to sail in the conditions prevailing at the time the race officer should ensure that:
• there is adequate safety boat cover, given the sailing conditions and that safety boat crews are dressed to go into the water if necessary (buoyancy aid, wet/dry suit; sailing boots);
• safety cover is increased to at least two safety boats if the water is cold (any month with an “r” in it) or there are a lot of inexperienced sailors on the water, or the wind is force four or above;
• visibility is adequate. From the race box you should be able to see all the marks of the course.

Deploying the support boats
    Discuss the event with support boat crews. In windy weather especially, one boat should be near the gybe mark and the other towards the windward mark. Check radio contact with the start box and other support boats before they go afloat and once they are on the water (channel 7) Remember safety boats should focus on boats at the back of the fleet, not the more competent sailors at the front. As the race goes on, boats get spread out and sailors get tired.

Setting a course
    The first leg of the course must be sailed directly into the wind. If the wind is easterly or south-westerly at Ardleigh you can start the races from the race box. If the wind is in any other direction you should start the races from the committee boat (rig the mast and tie on the flags you will need: a class flag for each fleet (five minute preparatory signal); flag P (four-minute signal); flag X (boat over the line at the start); flag First Substitute (general recall at the start); flag Answering Pennant (postponement signal); orange flag—“this is the committee boat”.

Setting the start line
    This imaginary line MUST be at right angles to the wind direction so that a boat can start at either end without disadvantage. An unfair (or biased) start line causes big pile ups of boats at one end, collisions and general recalls. Use a burgee to get the wind direction and move the yellow transit starting pole (or buoy at the other end of a committee boat line) so that the line is at right angles to the wind direction.
    Try to make the first beat as long as possible so that the fleet is spread at the first mark. Using an inflatable buoy as the first mark is a good idea as it can be moved if the wind shifts during the race (as long as no boat is on that leg of the course at the time). Make the second leg of the course a reach if possible, otherwise the leading boats will be sailing on a run back through the slower boats. If you can set two beats on the course there are better overtaking opportunities for sailors.

Starting a race
    Prepare all flags and practise the start sequence before the race begins. Deploy your team: one person pulls flags up and down, another keeps the time; another sounds the horn and looks along the start line for boats over the line (and writes down the boat numbers of premature starters).
Start sequence
Five minutes:                class flag up
Four minutes:                flag P up
One minute:                flag P down
Zero minutes                class flag down

If there are premature starters, flag X should be raised at zero minutes. If you are running a sequence of starts (usually winter only), the subsequent class flag should be raised at zero minutes.
    If you make a mess of the start sequence (for example: you miss a gun/signal flag because of a distraction or the wind shifts significantly, do not be afraid to abort the start by raising the red-and-white striped answering pennant and sounding two guns at any time during the start sequence. Get your team sorted again and when ready sound one gun and lower the answering pennant. EXACTLY a minute later begin another start sequence with the five-minute preparatory signal.
    At the start if a boat is over the line you should make another sound signal and raise flag X. Keep it flying until the boat over the line returns and starts correctly. If it does not return the boat is disqualified and does not receive a finishing gun. Take flag X down after four minutes if you are running a sequence of starts.

If several boats are over the line you should raise flag X and sound a second gun as above and make EVERY effort to identify which boats are over the line. Do not sound a third gun and raise flag first substitute for a general recall unless you really have to. Restarting a race after a general recall is the same as after a postponement—when ready to start again pull down the first substitute flag (one sound signal) and EXACTLY a minute later sound the five-minute signal and the start sequence is under way.

Lap recording and race timing
    As the boats pass the race box for the first time record in order the class and sail number of each boat. Record the position in the fleet of each boat as it passes the race box on each subsequent lap.
    I like to use a watch that counts back from five minutes to zero for the start and then counts up after the start. With such watches you can just read off the time taken (elapsed time) as each boat crosses the finishing line. Remember in handicap racing you will need to time every boat as it crosses the finishing line.

Finishing
    It is good practice to finish boats at the end of a beat and this is usually done for open meetings at Ardleigh. For other races the comfort of the OOD prevails and races are finished at the start box. Move the yellow pole so that the finishing line is at right angles to the wind direction if possible.
    If there is a wide disparity of boats in the fleet you can arrange for the slower boats to sail a different number of laps than faster ones. However every boat MUST sail a whole number of laps and the start and finishing lines must be the same for all boats. If most of the boats do four whole laps and an Oppie does three you add a third of the time taken by the Oppie on to its elapsed time and take that as how long the Oppie would have taken to do four laps. Only do this if you are experienced as there are pitfalls.
    Deploy your team effectively for the finish: one person calls out the class and number of boat finishing and sounds the finishing gun; another calls out the time taken in minutes and seconds, the third member of the team records this time against the sail number on the finishing sheet.

Shortening the course
At Ardleigh a race should normally run for between 50 and 60 minutes, so the decision as to when to shorten course is based on estimating how much longer a race is likely to take. Finishing boats at the race box using the transit poles is the easiest method.
    To shorten the course, make two sound signals and raise flag S as the lead boat/s approach the last mark before they next sail across the start/finish line. If there are two or more races happening at the same time indicate which race is finishing by flying the class flag with the S flag. If only the S flag is flying all races are being shortened.
    If you are finishing a race from the committee boat, fly a blue flag after you have shortened course, or even at the end of an un-shortened race. This flag indicates that the committee boat is on station to finish the race.

Deteriorating conditions
    If the wind is dropping and boats are struggling to make way (as often occurs on Wednesday evenings) shorten the course as soon as practicable. Alternatively if the safety boats are struggling to cope with the number of boats that need their attention (e.g. wind rising to force 5/6 and lots of capsized boats) the OOD should also shorten the course as soon as possible. Abandoning the race disadvantages those sailors who are coping with the conditions and usually does not result in regaining control of the race any faster than shortening the course.

Working out the handicap results
A calculator is needed to work out handicap results along the PY numbers of each class of boat racing (there is a book with these in the race box). Having already recorded the elapsed time of each boat in minutes and seconds as it finished, the next task is to calculate the elapsed time for each boat in seconds. Divide this number by the PY number of the class of boat in question and multiply by 1,000. Record this time which is the corrected time. Put the boats in order of corrected times. The boat with the lowest corrected time wins.

Handling protests
Protests should not be encouraged. Competitors should be urged to ask the opinion of a disinterested party before protesting. However it is every sailors’ right to protest if they wish to have an incident on the water resolved. Unless the protest is against the race committee the race officer may be a member of the protest committee. Make sure that at least one member of the protest committee is experienced at handling protests. There is a set of the 2005-2008 ISAF rules behind the bar.