2022 NEWPORT YACHT CLUB
Summer Series Racing – General Information

NEWPORT YACHT CLUB
110 LONG WHARF
NEWPORT, RI 02840
401-846-9410
www.newportyachtclub.org
office@newportyachtclub.org

NEWPORT YACHT CLUB OFFICERS
Commodore….Elizabeth Green….commodore@newportyachtclub.org
Vice Commodore….Robert Antignano….vicecommodore@newportyachtclub.org
Rear Commodore….Michael O’Reilly….rearcommodore@newportyachtclub.org
Secretary….Edith Morin….secretary@newportyachtclub.org
Treasurer….Christopher Long….treasurer@newportyachtclub.org

REGATTA COMMITTEE
F.J. Ritt (Chair), Alan Renfrew, Allen McCoy, Lee Parks
regatta@newportyachtclub.org

INTRODUCTION:
Welcome to the 2022 racing season. The Newport Yacht Club (NYC) Regatta Committee’s goal is to provide racing participants with a safe, fair, and fun experience. On the following pages is general information not incorporated in the Notice of Race (NOR) or Sailing Instruction (SI) but which may be of benefit to help ensure a successful and enjoyable summer of racing.
We encourage all competitors to study the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) for 2021-2024, NOR, and SI prior to participation.
Note: NYC Race Committee will take into consideration all options to offset earlier sunset times in August so that all competitors will be off the water by sunset. This is to accommodate those boats that are being chartered for the racing series. Sailing Instructions will be modify when deemed necessary and posted on the NYC website.
Please email the Regatta Committee if you have any questions at regatta@newportyachtclub.org.

PHRF CLASS
The split of the PHRF class is determined based on entries, ratings and feedback from participants. The split will be announced on the club website and Notice Board before the first day of racing for the series. It is likely that there will be one spinnaker PHRF class and potentially two non-spinnaker PHRF classes. There must be at least two (2) boats registered, with valid 2022 PHRF certificates from PHRF-NB, in each class 24 hours in advance of the first race for the class to be scored.

J/22 CLASS
The J/22s chartered from Sail Newport are not class legal and therefore sail as a separate class, racing as a spinnaker class on Tuesdays and non-spinnaker on Wednesdays. If three (3) or more non-Sail Newport J/22’s are properly registered, they will be given a separate class start. Alternatively, non-Sail Newport J/22s with valid rating certificates may sail as PHRF entrants on Wednesday nights.
Each Sail Newport J/22 crew shall pick a Team Name. THIS IS MANDATORY. The team name is used instead of the skipper’s name in scoring. Each Sail Newport J22 is required to give the Race Committee your Team Name when you check in on each race day.

WEATHER
First and foremost, it is the individual skipper’s responsibility to decide whether the conditions are appropriate for his/her crew and boat. (RRS 3 – Decision to Race)
The NYC Race Committee uses the following weather guidelines in judging whether racing should be postponed or cancelled on any given day. All decisions will be made based on weather observations at 5:00pm (1700) on the evening of the race. Consideration will be given to the forecast and stability of the conditions keeping in mind that not all boats racing are equipped with the necessary navigation systems or lights to operate safely in restricted visibility.
Word will be communicated by appropriate postponement or abandonment flag signals (RRS inside back cover & as shown below) at NYC and broadcast over VHF channel 73.
Wind
• Criteria:
— Sustained winds greater than 20 knots or below 5 knots – Race canceled
— Sustained winds of 18-20 knots — racing is at the discretion of the RC
Fog
• Criteria: Visibility less than 1 nm – Race postponed or canceled
• Determination of visibility:
— If the New York Yacht Club flagstaff is visible from NYC, visibility is approximately 1 nm.
— Captain’s on-scene conditions report from a vessel underway.
Rain / Lightning
• Criteria:
— Thunderstorms or lightning forecast or observed within 10 miles of NYC – Race delayed until storm passes or canceled.
— Rain alone will not necessarily be a reason to cancel racing.
Weather Information sources include but are not limited to those listed below. Final determination rests with the designated Principal Race Officer (PRO).
• NOAA VHF weather broadcasts and website – www.weather.gov/box
• NOAA Station NWPR1 – Newport (Coasters Harbor) – http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=nwpr1
• Sailflow (Rose Island Station) – www.sailflow.com
• NYC Clubhouse Weather Station

START SEQUENCE
NYC uses a rolling start for each class. In this process, with the exception of the first class, the starting signal for one race is the warning signal for the next.
In accordance with RRS 26 “races shall be started by using the following signals. Times shall be taken from the visual signals: absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded.”