Race Management

We have an extensive racing programme at The Poole Yacht Club

Look at the Notice of race below to see our list of regular sailing events.

The website calendar contains all of the forthcoming events, including regattas, open meetings and training events

Day Starts Time Classes Ends
Sun 3 Mar 10:30 a.m. 1,2,3,R,4 7 Apr
Mon 1 Apr 6:15 p.m. 8,D,G,T 20 May
Tue 2 Apr 6:15 p.m. R,1,2,3,1A,4 21 May
Thu 4 Apr 6:15 p.m. R,8,O,D,G,H,7 23 May
Sat 6 Apr 10:30 a.m. 7 21 Dec
Sat 6 Apr 2 p.m. (G,D),8,T 11 May
Fri 3 May 6:15 p.m. R 21 Jun
Mon 27 May 6:15 p.m. 8,D,G,T 8 Jul
Tue 28 May 6:15 p.m. R,1,1A,2,3,4 16 Jul
Thu 30 May 6:15 p.m. R,G,D,H,O,8,7 11 Jul
Mon 22 Jul 6:15 p.m. 8,D,G,T 9 Sep
Tue 23 Jul 6:15 p.m. R,1,3,1A,2,4 10 Sep
Mon 16 Sep 6 p.m. 8,D,T 30 Sep
Tue 17 Sep 6 p.m. R 1 Oct
Sun 29 Sep 10:30 a.m. 1,2,3,R,4 1 Dec
Sat 26 Oct 2 p.m. 8,G,T 7 Dec
1
Class 1 Cruiser
1A
Class 1A Cruiser
2
Class 2 Cruiser
3
Class 3 Cruiser (A/B)
4
Class 4 Cruiser
C
All Cruisers inc. R19s
R
R19
D
YW Dayboat
G
GP14
O
Osprey
7
Laser/Aero H’cap
F
Fast H’cap Dinghies
T
Slow H’cap Dinghies + Hobie 16
E
Medium H’cap Dinghies
8
E,F,9 + T (Class 8)
9
Asymmetric + Foiling H’cap Dinghies

Handicap Dinghy Rating

Handicap Dinghy Racing at Poole Yacht Club is done under the Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) system.

We race in three banded groups, fast, medium and slow.

Class Name PY Number
9 Very fast <1000
F Fast 1001 – 1201
E Medium 1025 – 1200
T Slow >1200

Cruiser Racing Class Definitions

Our Club rating system uses the Velocity Prediction Rating System, VPRS; www.vprs.org. For information about ratings contact Ruth Kelly, rating@vprs.org

Cruiser Class 1

Each boat shall hold a current VPRS rating certificate
The Low limit is 0.900 with no high limit.

Racing emphasis will be ‘Out of Harbour’ courses
Class Captain Mark Titterington

Cruiser Class 1A

Each boat shall hold a current VPRS rating certificate
The Low limit is 0.831 and high limit 0.899

Racing emphasis will be ‘Harbour’ courses and ‘Out of Harbour’ when conditions allow. Class Captain Rob Russell.

Cruiser Class 2

Each boat shall hold a current VPRS rating certificate
The Low limit is 0.800 and high limit 0.830

Boats with lifting keels may race with keels set at no less than 1.5m.

Racing emphasis will be ‘Harbour’ courses
Class Captain Stuart Terry

Cruiser Class 3

Each boat shall hold a current VPRS rating certificate
No Low limit and high limit 0.799

Racing emphasis will be ‘Harbour’ courses
Class Captain Mark Titterington.
Class Captain James Field.

Although some boat types may not fit well in a particular Class, every effort is made to accommodate those wishing to race and provide fair competition and some cross-over is permitted subject to all Captains’ approvals.

Ratings MUST include a spinnaker for Class allocation. However, boats without a spinnaker may race but results may, be differentiated from those with; subject to numbers participating,

Larger/heavier weight boats are accommodated in Class 1 and 1A
Smaller/lighter weight boats are accommodated in Classes 2 and 3

For information contact the Club’s Cruiser Capt. Ian Aitken or Vice-Captain, Roger Bond: roger@normtec.co.uk.

Notice to Mariners

Local Notices to Mariners are issued by the harbour master on a regular basis to inform mariners of any operations or works taking place in the harbour which may affect the safety of navigation. These are distributed to all the marine operations involved in the harbour area, as well as adjacent harbour masters, local marine offices and notice boards at harbour access points.

Handicap systems

IRC

Well known and established rating system, used worldwide. Typically used for all major regattas and racing in UK. Large database of boats enables good correlation of ratings. Uses measurements to define the boat and sails, also includes a boat type allowance (Hull factor) which is used to amend the rating for different types of boat. More information at www.ircrating.org.There is an annual fee to obtain a rating.

PY (Portsmouth Yardstick)

This is an empirical rating system (no measurements) which analyses the performance of boats to derive a rating. Some values of PY are fixed for the year, typically for dinghies. It is also possible to use a PY which is varied statistically for each race based on performance of the boat. This rating system is free and is typically organised through either the club or via nationally agreed values for PY.

VPRS

New system (2010) based on velocity prediction formula, principally created for Poole Yacht Racing Association (PYRA). Uses only measurements to predict performance via polar diagram which is then converted to a rating based on averaged wind strengths. More information at www.vprs.org. There is an annual fee to obtain a rating.

Racehut Signals

If you are new to racing at Poole Yacht Club or have never worked out how we start, look at the excellent videos below.

These will explain the bespoke start sequence from the race hut. Otherwise they may remain a mystery to you!

General Recall Last Start

General Recall

Individual Recall

Full Start Sequence