Racing will be governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing, including the rules of the El Toro one design class. In addition, participants must adhere to any park regulations or other regulations applicable to the racing venue, including the requirement to wear an approved PFD at all times.
The start time and location of racing for the upcoming week is posted on the club's web site at www.hpsailingclub.org no later than noon on the Tuesday prior to the first Wednesday to which the changes apply. Other notices to competitors will be made verbally at the launch dock of the racing venue or on the water, by mutual consent of all competitors.
Up to 2 races are held each Wednesday evening during daylight savings time. The season is divided into five "quarters", each quarter consisting of six weeks (up to 12 races) and scored separately. The last quarter may be shortened to five weeks (up to 10 races) if necessary in accordance with the daylight savings time schedule. Any races abandoned or cancelled shall not be rescheduled. For 2004, the five quarters are scheduled as follows:
| Quarter | First | Last |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apr 7 | May 12 |
| 2 | May 19 | Jun 23 |
| 3 | Jun 30 | Aug 4 |
| 4 | Aug 11 | Sep 15 |
| 5 | Sep 22 | Oct 27 |
The warning signal for the first race is at 6:00pm, except late in the season when scarce daylight dictates an earlier start time, determined by mutual consent of sailors who participate the prior week. Racing takes place on Stevens Creek Reservoir in Cupertino, CA, except late in the season when, due to low water or consensus opinion among participating sailors, racing may be moved to Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, CA. See the Racing Venues page for detailed information about the launching and racing areas. When more than one race will be held on the same day, the warning signal for each succeeding race will be made as soon as practicable. To alert boats that another race will begin soon, competitors will hail one another verbally.
The start time and location of racing for the upcoming week is posted on the club's web site at www.hpsailingclub.org.
Racing takes place on Stevens Creek Reservoir in Cupertino, CA, except late in the season when, due to low water or consensus opinion among participating sailors, racing is moved to Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, CA. The Racing Venues page describes the racing area and typical mark locations on each of these lakes. With minor exceptions as indicated, all courses are around temporary marks set each week according to current wind conditions. Marks typically consist of orange, red, or yellow plastic jugs, but permanent fixtures (e.g. the floating platform on Shoreline Lake) may be designated as marks as well. The course for each race is determined by mutual consent of competitors in the starting area, and communicated by hailing. Typical courses are described on the Racing Venues page, but other courses may be set if needed.
There is no race committe or committee boat, and sailors over early at the start signal are determined by the honor system. Races will be started using a 3 minute sound-only sequence, either signaled from ashore by a volunteer, or from the water by one of the competitors as follows:
| Signal | Sound | Minutes before starting signal |
|---|---|---|
| Warning | 3 short whistles | 3 |
| Preparatory | 2 short whistles | 2 |
| One-minute | 1 short whistles | 1 |
| Starting | 1 long whistle | 0 |
The starting line will be between two temporary marks. The finish line will be the same as the start line.
Rule 44.2 is changed so that the 720 degree turn is replaced by a 360 degree turn.
To accommodate potentially dying wind conditions, a course designation may invoke the "20 minute rule" to determine whether a second lap is to be sailed. If this rule is invoked, all competitors must pass through the start/finish line to complete the first lap. If the first competitor does not reach the start/finish line before 20 minutes has passed since the start signal, then the course is shortened to one lap and finished immediately. Sometimes a limit of 15 minutes is used, e.g. late in the season when we're running out of daylight or wind and need to finish a race quickly.
Friendly protests are encouraged as a means of continuing education in the rules for all competitors. Competitors attention is called to rule 61.1, Informing the Protestee. Protests will be heard by a committee nominated by mutual consent at pizza immediately following racing. All protests and hearings are conducted verbally (this changes rule 61.2), with decisions reached before leaving the restaurant. When the protest committee decides that a boat that is a party to a protest hearing has broken a rule, it shall disqualify her. However, a score of DSQ may be used as a throwout. (Does this change a rule?)
Each quarter is scored as a separate series using the Low Point scoring system of Appendix A. A competitor's worst three finishes in each quarter shall be excluded. The winner of each quarter shall be awarded a prize at the annual holiday party. In an effort to encourage and reward participation, only those sailors who have yet to win a quarter in the current annual season are eligible to to be awarded the prize for subsequent quarters in that season.
Competitors participate in the regatta at their own risk. See rule 4, Decision to Race. The organizing authority will not accept any liability for material damage or personal injury or death sustained in conjunction with or prior to, during, or after the regatta.