As those of you who have been dinghy racing with WS Racing before will know, we start our races using a WHISTLE BLAST from the Committee Boat (or sometimes from the pontoon ashore). We ensure that all the helms are clear where they are in the sequence of blasts by shouting out after each blast (and giving the information if asked directly by a helm/crew).
The final start time between each Class’ Start Position is determined by using the handicapping system called the Portsmouth Yardstick (PY). The PY for each Class of boat is calculated by some clever folk who look at the measurements of each Class and then decide how much faster/slower each Class travels through the water – all things being equal (e.g. wind strength, ability of helm, condition of boat). The longer/shorter a pursuit race lasts also affects the calculation.
NB. 1) We will be treating the 303s with a helm AND a crew as Double Handed (=DH) and they will have the advantage of starting before 303s which are Single Handed (=SH). 2) If RS Venture or RS Stratos are racing then these Classes will Start two minutes AFTER the Martin.
Here is the Starting Sequence which WS Racing will be using in 2016 for a 35 Minute Race:
| Whistle Start Sequence for 35 Minute Race | ||||||||||||
| Minutes being counted down from… (and W = Whistle Blast) | ||||||||||||
| 303 Double + Single/H | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| W | W | W | W | W | ||||||||
| 303 D + 303 S + Lib | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| W | W | W | W | W | W | |||||||
| 303 D + 303 S + Lib + 2.4 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6/5/4/3/2 | 1 | 0 | |
| W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | |||||
| 303 D + 303 S + Lib + 2.4 + Mrt | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7/6/5/4/3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | ||||
| START FOR EACH CLASS | 303 D/H | 303 S/H | LIB | 2.4 | MRT | |||||||
And for a 40 Minute Race:
| Whistle Start Sequence for 40 Minute Race | |||||||||||||
| Minutes being counted down from… (and W = Whistle Blast) | |||||||||||||
| 303 Double + Single/H | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| W | W | W | W | W | |||||||||
| 303 D + 303 S + Lib | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| W | W | W | W | W | W | W | |||||||
| 303 D + 303 S + Lib + 2.4 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6/5/4/3/2 | 1 | 0 | |
| W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | ||||||
| 303 D + 303 S + Lib + 2.4 + Mrt | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7/6/5/4/3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | |||||
| START FOR EACH CLASS | 303 D/H | 303 S/H | LIB | 2.4 | MRT | ||||||||