The HP Sailing Club invites all El Toro sailors to join us for fun and friendly sailboat racing each Wednesday evening (during daylight savings time) in the south San Francisco Bay area. For the 2006 season, racing begins on April 5th and ends on October 25th.
The organizing authority is the HP Sailing Club. Races are governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing. Races are open to all boats of the El Toro one design class. There are no fees to race, and no registration is required. The Sailing Instructions are available on the club's website at www.hpsailingclub.org.
When the season begins, the warning signal for the first race is at 6:00pm and racing takes place on Stevens Creek Reservoir in Cupertino, CA. Late in the season, when daylight is in short supply, the warning signal may be moved to as early as 5:00pm. Also late in the season, racing may be moved to Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, CA (usually due to low water levels at Stevens Creek Reservoir). The start time and location of racing for the upcoming week is posted on the club's website.
The Sailing Instructions provide all details of race schedule, start sequence, courses, scoring, etc. The following information is provided as a general guide only:
We try to run two races each Wednesday. We often run a few practice starts before the first race, and one or more "fun races" afterwards as time and sunlight permit. Fun races do not count for series scoring. All courses are around temporary marks set each week according to current wind conditions. We use a 3-minute start sequence, either signaled from ashore by a volunteer, or from the water by one of the competitors. There is no race committee or committee boat, and sailors over early at the start signal are determined by the honor system.
The season lasts roughly 30 weeks and is divided into five separate series, referred to as "quarters", each scored separately. A prize is awarded to the winner of each quarter at the club's annual holiday party in early January. To encourage and reward participation, only those competitors who have yet to win a quarter in the current season are eligible to win the prize for subsequent quarters in that season.
After racing each Wednesday, all participants are encouraged to adjourn to the local pizza parlor for food, drinks, socializing, and the occasional low key protest hearing.