How to Be an OOD

The club is always grateful for help with race box duties.  After all - the more sailors we can get on the water - the better!  So, if you come to the club to watch the racing - you should be aware that the race box gets the best view of the action!  Why not volunteer for a duty there?

After all - an advantage is that you get your own heater and can watch all the action from the warm dry hut.  All in exchange of a little help.

(NB: Dont forget you also get free tea/coffee if you're on duty too!)

Being OOD isn't as complicated as you may think.  This page will help you understanding what's needed & with a little confidence & a few tips - anyone can be an OOD for the day.  The RYA can offer formal race direction rules if you choose to look these up, but as ASC is a voluntary managed club - we appreciate that basic knowledge if often good enough! 

The OOD does need to be present before the racing can start so this does mean arriving reasonably early.  Racing usually starts at around 10:30am, so arrival for around 09:30am is helpful.

Plenty of sailors understand the majority of what is needed from an OOD, so don't be afraid to ask advise, or for help but generally - there are a few basic tasks that need to be done.  

Race Setup - Flags:

Various flags are needed for racing, and these will be raised and lowered in a specific sequence to notify and start a race.  All the flags are kept in the rack within the race box.  The key flags are:

  This is raised to start the race sequence.

              The second flag hoisted during the race sequence.

               Used to signify if any boats are over the line at the start (used together with a warning sound of the start horn).

       Raised if many (or all) boats are over the start line and a full re-start is needed.

  Used to notify if the race has been postponed for any reason.

               Shortened course - raised towards the end of the race if it is to be finished earlier than originally set.

Setting the course:

Here at ASC, we have many race marks we can use.  1 - 7 &  at least 2 additional temporary race marks that can be put wherever we need.  The general idea of the course is to make it interesting and fair for all types of boats.  The start should always be set to wind.  The remainder can be where the lake has wind. (try to avoid marks in complete wind shadow's - that wont wind friends).  try to include normal tack, and gybe marks to make it interesting for all, and if possible include a run, a reach and a beat.  It doesn't need to be technical though, and if in doubt - there are always plenty of helms happy to help with course direction.

The Start Line:

Should be set as close as possible to a right angle to the direction of sailing to the first course mark, across the lake.  There are a number of posts our line marker can be moved to to create the perfect line.

Example start line with wind direction: