Note: Special discount for participants in the 2018 BCYC Taco Tuesday Series!

Know the Racing Rules of Sailing! Whether you would like to get up-to speed, or up-to-date, this interactive clinic is focused on helping you understand how the rules work. While the right-of-way rules themselves are simple enough to understand, the complexity lies in the rules which limit the actions of the right of way boat, such as when acquiring right-of-way, altering course in the presence of a keep clear boat, or giving room at obstructions or marks. It is also important to understand the rules which exonerate a boat that is compelled to break a rule by the action of another boat that is breaking rule. Know your rights!

Animated PowerPoint and magnetic boats on whiteboards bring the rules to life, and all the information is included in the handouts.

We hope to see you there!

Click here to register.

The Racing Rules of Sailing for 2017-2020 book is available here.

“Protest” is not a dirty word. It is a required hail to inform another boat the she has (in your opinion) broken a rule. It does NOT mean that you have to go into a protest hearing. Over 90% of the time it is clear if a rule has been broken, and by which boat. The appropriate next step is for the boat that broke a rule to take a penalty per rule 44.1, and the race continues.

There are situations when a protest hearing IS warranted. But this is only in complex situations when the competitors really DO NOT KNOW who was at fault, and a panel of experts is required to find facts, interpret the rules, and make a decision. Otherwise, everybody is better off when rule violations are handled on the water. But, this only works when the competitors know the rules!

There is no sugar-coating that the rules are complex and can be difficult to learn.  And, they change every four years, so while you may have learned them in the past, you probably do not know them in the present form. While this half-day experience will not make you an expert, you WILL learn why and how the rules work. One thing is for certain – you cannot learn the rules by reading the rule book. But, you do need the book! The most reliable place to get it is from USSailing.org. If you join US Sailing, you get one for free…

Protest hearings are expensive! They require that a panel of experts be assembled (who often are not otherwise already onsite), delay trophy presentations, and deny participants the enjoyment of after-race events.  For this reason, BCYC is sponsoring a one-time special offer for this event:

Participants, skipper or crew, in the 2018 16 week BCYC TACO TUESDAY series are offered a discount of over 50%! The more that rule violations are handled on the race course, the better the famous after-racing party, weekly trophy presentation, and raffle!

Click here to register.

The Racing Rules of Sailing for 2017-2020 book is available here.

Participation in H20 Class races in Fleet 1 requires that the helmsman be either an Owner or Skipper member in good standing (see Fleet 1 bylaws I.F.2 and I.E.2). A new “Expired Memberships” page is now included on this website. Links to this page can be found at the top of the “Members Roster” page, and near the top of the “Fleet1 > Divisions” page.

Helmsman who race in High Point, or Rain or Shine, races will not be scored by Fleet 1 if their membership is expired. High Point race scores are used for awarding the High Point trophies at the end of the season, and for promotion, re-qualification, and demotion between the A, B, and C divisions. Please also note that the organizing authority of a race or regatta may reject an entry for an event under RRS rule 76.1 if it is known that the entrant is not a member in good standing.

We encourage all Fleet 1 members to keep your membership current. If you are included on the “Expired Memberships” page, please renew the membership using the “Members > Membership Renewal” page. All renewed memberships will expire on February 1, 2019. As such, the payment amount will be prorated by the number of days remaining between when you renew and 2/1/2019. Please note that if you pay by check, your “Expired” status will not change until the check has been received, and manual steps to change the status in the database are completed.

Alternatively, you can delete your membership by clicking the “DELETE ACCOUNT” link on the “Members > My Account” page.

We appreciate your cooperation.

The Membership Committee of the Fleet 1 Board of Directors

One on the most common comments I have received from attendees of my “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing” seminar over the past 10 years has been “Can you do it in half a day?”. The all-day event does require a large commitment of time, and is admittedly exhausting. But, I always knew that the answer was “no’ unless I came up with an entirely new approach and teaching technique. Well, I am excited to say that I will be offering “Rules Around the Race Course”, an interactive clinic in a half-day format on March 10, 1-5 PM at LIYC. Two years in the making, the focus is on how and why the rules work, and how they apply to the situations that occur in every race. While it may sometimes seem like there are an infinite number of ways that boats can “meet”, there are not. The patterns are recognizable and relatively small in number. The same things happen during every start, on the windward and leeward legs, at obstructions, and around marks. One thing is for certain – you cannot learn the Racing Rules of Sailing by reading the rule book.

For those of you who have attended my full-day seminar, some as many as 6 or 7 times, this is an entirely new and different experience. It is better.

The more knowledgeable the fleet is, the better the quality of racing for everyone. This goes for skippers and crews because more heads are better than one! And because youth are our future, a discounted price is offered for those 18 and under.

For more information, click here.

I hope to see you there!

Peter Haynes

• If you received an email entitled “Harbor 20 Class Association canceled your automatic payments”, please IGNORE it.

• If your membership is expired or about to expire, please mail a check to Roxanne Chan made out to “Harbor 20 Fleet 1”:

If you are an active Owner Member of the Harbor 20 Class Association, you are invited to participate in a vote for the 2018 Harbor 20 Class Association Board of Directors. This vote is being conducted online now through December 31, 2017.

Following are the instructions followed by a link to the page to cast your vote:

1. A vote for the Class Board of Directors can only be cast by Owner Members in good standing. If your membership has expired, you must renew your dues before you can vote;

2. You must be logged into this website to vote. If you have forgotten your password, you may reset your password by clicking here.;

3. You will casting a vote for up to 15 individuals to fill the Board seats;

4. The current Class Board has nominated 15 individuals for consideration. These individuals were published on December 10, 2015 via email to the membership. No other nominations have been received, so these are the only candidates for consideration;

5. Once you submit your vote, you cannot change your vote;

6. Any questions or problems with voting should be addressed to webmaster@harbor20.org.

When your ready to vote, click here.