Hi all

if you have 4 yachts entered in a race series and on the day of the race 2 of the boats don't compete in the race and a third boat intends to compete but has engine trouble and is not able to leave her mooring, is the remaining boat that starts the race and sails the course entitled to take the points for the race win

I have looked in the racing rules of sailing but can not find any answer on this

Thanks in advance

Regards Don

The clubs sailing instructions should have the minimum number of starters listed. Usually it's two starters. If one boat retires after the start then the other boat finishes he has a win.

simmrr said..

It also may have been a little more sportsman like to have put off the race until other contestants could join? If not enjoy the champagne!

On the other hand, if two yachts can't be bothered to start then it would be unsportsmanlike of them to complain that one boat got its act together. If you start saying "we don't feel like sailing today so you are a bad sport if you do" then where does it stop? Should the sole starter not have gone out if the other crews didn't start because it was raining and they were wimpy? What about if the other crews don't go out because they have boats that are only good in light winds and the sole starter has been getting beaten in the light winds and hoping for a good blow to Even things up? What about the fact that the crew of the lone starter may have missed a day's work/social occasion/nice cruise/gone out on a cold day etc earlier in the series and now the other crews may be skipping the event for a similar reason?

If the fact that someone wants to go to Aunt Ethel's wedding on a race day means that no one else should start then no series will ever be completed.

As Ramona says, the SIs should state the number of starters required to make a race. The ancient rule was that one starter made a race valid but that it could be over-ridden by the SIs. I can't find any such provision in the current rules either.

As a single starter, you dont even have to sail the course, just start. Most SI's scoring (topyacht default anyway) has DNF number of finishers +1, so you still get 1st. Might miss out on the wine though.

you could have cut a few corners?

Hi Donk, you will find the relevant rule all the way down in the Scoring section, of R.R.S. rule 90.3a if anyone at your club is giving you grief.
90.3 Scoring
(a) The race committee shall score a race or series as provided in Appendix A using the Low Point System, unless the notice of race or sailing instructions specify some other system. A race shall be scored if it is not abandoned and if one boat sails the course in compliance with rule 28 and finishes within the time limit, if any, even if she retires after finishing or is disqualified.