Optimist Munster Championships

Monkstown Bay Sailing Club – October 2^nd / 3^rd 2021

Notice of Race

This event is subject to the Covid 19 guidelines as laid out by the Irish Government. All people associated with this event must comply with these conditions. These conditions may change as the event approaches and will influence the running/organisation/cancellation of this event. By taking part in the events covered by this notice of race, each competitor agrees and acknowledges that they are responsible for complying with any regulations in force from time to time in respect of COVID- 19 and for complying with the MBSC COVID-19 procedures. A Covid protocol has been published by MBSC for the event, https://mbsc.ie/ , that must be read by coaches, parents / guardians of all sailors and sailors themselves, in order for the sailor to compete. Signed acceptance and adherence to all the stipulations in the protocol is a condition of participation in the event. Completing the MBSC Covid Tracker App is deemed to be equivalent of signing. Competitors and coaches shall comply with any reasonable request from an event official. Failure to comply may be misconduct. Reasonable actions by event officials to implement COVID-19 guidance, protocols, or legislation, even if they later prove to have been unnecessary, are not improper actions or omissions.

1. Organising Authority
   • The Organising Authority (OA) is Monkstown Bay Sailing Club, in conjunction with the International Optimist Dinghy Association of Ireland (IODAI).
2. Rules
   • The Championship will be governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing 2021-2024 (RRS).
   • Irish Sailing prescriptions will apply https://www.sailing.ie/Portals/0/Irish%20Sailing%20Racing%20Rules%20of%20Sailing%202021_2024%20iwth%20prescriptions.pdf
   • O.D.A Class Rules will apply.
   • In all rules governing this regatta:
     • [DP] denotes a rule for which the penalty is at the discretion of the protest committee and may be less than disqualification. This changes RRS 64.1.
     • [NP] denotes a rule that shall not be grounds for protest by a boat. This changes RRS 60.1(a).
     • [SP] denotes a rule for which a standard penalty may be applied by the Race Committee without a hearing or a discretionary penalty applied by the Protest Committee with a hearing. This changes RRS 63.1 and A5.
   • Racing rules Race Signal AP, 28.1, 35, 60.1(a), 61.1(b), 62.2, 63.1, 63.2, 64.1, A4 and A5 will be changed. The changes appear in full in the sailing instructions. Competitors shall wear a personal flotation device (PFD) at all times while afloat, except briefly while adjusting clothing or personal equipment. Flag Y will not be displayed. This changes RRS 40. The sailing instructions may also change other racing rules.
3. Advertising [NP] [DP]
   • Sailor advertising is permitted on the hull as per World Sailing Regulation 20.3.2 but as restricted by Class Rule 2.8. Advertising will be restricted to Category A.
   • Boats may be required to display advertising supplied by the organising authority.
4. Eligibility and Entry [NP] [DP]
   • Competitors in the Munster Championships must be a member of IODAI, a permanent resident on the Island of Ireland and a member of an Irish sailing club. The OA, in association with IODAI, will have sole discretion in determining eligibility under NOR1.1.
   • Entry is open to a maximum of 120 sailors in the Main Fleet (Junior and Senior) and a maximum of 60 sailors in the Regatta Fleet. Additional entries may be permitted at the discretion of the OA. A decision regarding additional entries will be finalised by 30th Sept 2021.
   • Entry is open to all sailors who are under 15 on the 1st January in the year of the championship.
   • The entry fee for all sailors (Main & Regatta Fleet sailors) must be paid when registering for the event at iodai.com. The entry fee is €60 for all fleets, for entries before 22:00 on 30th Sept 2021.
   • A completed declaration of Parent/Guardian Consent Form shall be submitted at registration. This form is available on mbsc.ie/iodai.com. Please download this and have it completed on arrival.
5. Event Description and Venue
   • The Senior and Junior sailors may either sail as a single fleet or may be divided dependent upon entries.
   • The Regatta Fleet which will combine coaching and racing.
   • The Venue is Monkstown Bay Sailing Club @ Paddy’s Point, Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork. All boats will be required to base themselves at the Venue for the duration of the event. No boat may launch from or recover to an alternative location.
6. Schedule

Main Fleet

Regatta Fleet

Note: Schedule may change depending on weather conditions.

• The racing schedule will be as above however the Race Committee may, at its discretion, get one race ahead of schedule. If an extra race is to be run, IC Flag E will be displayed at the finish of the last scheduled race of the day. Not more than 4 races shall be sailed on any one race day.
• Each day, succeeding races will be started as soon as practicable following the finish of the previous race.
• The Championship will consist of a maximum of 6 races.
• Four races shall constitute a series.
• On the last scheduled day of the regatta, the first warning signal of a race shall not be made after 1430, except following postponements, recalls and abandonments of a race where a warning signal was made before 1430.

7. Registration / Measurement Validation – Main Fleet only [NP] [DP] [SP]
   • Each boat is required to complete the IODAI Measurement Self Declaration Form 2020 (available at www.iodai.com) and submit this form at registration. Each boat shall have a valid Registration Book and each sail shall have a corresponding Sail Measurement Certificate, both of which should be available for inspection.
   • Competitors shall use only one hull, daggerboard, rudder (with tiller and extension), mast, boom, sprit and sail during the Championship. These parts of equipment may be inspected or measured by the Technical Committee.
   • Substitution of damaged or lost equipment is not permitted unless approved in writing by the Technical Committee. Requests for substitution shall be made to the Technical Committee at the first reasonable opportunity
   • If the substitution was made on the water, between races, both the damaged and the substituting pieces of equipment shall be presented to the Technical Committee after the end of the day’s racing. In this case, the substitution is subject to the approval of the Technical Committee given retrospectively.
   • A boat or equipment may be measured at any time for compliance with the class rules and sailing instructions.
8. Scoring
   • When four or fewer races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores.
   • When five or more races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score.
9. Penalty Systems
   • RRS Appendix P “Special Procedures for Rule 42” shall apply.
   • RRS P2.3 will not apply and RRS P2.2 is changed so that it will apply to any penalty after the first one.
   • RRS Appendix T Arbitration will apply. If a party is not present at an arbitration meeting, any party that was present may take a Post-Race Penalty at any time until the Protest Committee has completed taking evidence. This changes RRS T1 (a).
   • A boat that has taken a penalty or retired under RRS 44.1 shall complete an acknowledgement form at the Race Office within the protest time limit. [NP] [DP]
   • The penalty for breaches of Class Rules will be Standard Penalties [SP] which changes rule RRS 63.1 and may also be less than disqualification.
10. Sailing Instructions & Briefing
    • The Major Event Sailing Instructions will be available on the event website, https://mbsc.ie/, at least five days prior to the event.
    • Supplementary Sailing Instructions will be available at online registration.
11. Safety Check [NP] [SP][DP]
    • A list of the mandatory equipment required and the process to be adhered to is posted on the IODAI website under Safety Check List. It is the responsibility of each Parent/Guardian to ensure each sailor is in compliance with this Safety Check List.
12. Support boats [NP] [DP]
    • 1. Support boats must register online with the OA and declare each competitor they are supporting online. Participants will be contacted separately after entry closes.
    • 2. Support boat drivers shall wear kill-cords when the engine is running
    • 3. Support boat personnel are required to be equipped with and wear a personal flotation device at all times while afloat, except briefly while changing or adjusting clothing or personal equipment.
    • 4. Support boats shall carry a working VHF Radio.
    • 5. Support Boats may be called upon by the Race committee and/or the Safety Officer to assist with rescue operations.
    • 6. Launching and Retrieval of support boats for the regatta can take place at the public slipway in Paddy’s Point.
    • 7. Except when requested by, or agreed with, the Race Committee, support vessels must stay 50m distant from the race area during racing, i.e. from the warning signal until the last boat has finished each race.
    • 8. Support vessels shall follow all instructions from the Race Committee, including sailing instructions regarding support vessels, as well as instructions given on the water. Any breach of the rules regarding support vessels may result in a protest or report of misconduct.
    • 9. Penalties for breaches 12.7 &12.8 may include a scoring penalty for the supported sailor(s), or such penalty as the OA deem appropriate following a hearing.
    • 10. There will be a briefing for support boat skippers as per schedule in 6 above. Attendance at any support boat briefing is mandatory for support boat skippers.
13. Risk Statement
    • 1. All those taking part in the event do so at their own risk and responsibility. The OA or any part involved with the organisation of the event disclaim any and every responsibility whatsoever for loss, damage, injury or inconvenience that might occur to persons and goods, both ashore and afloat as a consequence of participation in the races covered by this notice of race and the sailing instructions. Participation in this event, supporting events and in each race is at the sole discretion of the sailor and at his/her own risk. Notice is drawn to Rule 4 of the RRS states: “The responsibility for a boat’s decision to participate in a race or to continue to race is hers alone”.
    • 2. Sailing by its nature is an unpredictable sport and therefore inherently involves an element of risk. By taking part in the event, each competitor, and their parents/ guardians agree and acknowledges that:
      • 2.1. They are aware of the inherent element of risk involved in the sport and accept responsibility for the exposure of themselves and their boat to such inherent risk whilst taking part in the event.
      • 2.2. They are responsible for the safety of themselves, their boat and their other property whether afloat or ashore.
      • 2.3. They accept responsibility for any injury, damage or loss to the extent caused by their own actions or omissions.
      • 2.4. Their boat is in good order, equipped to sail in the event and they are fit to participate.
      • 2.5. The provision of a race management team, patrol boats and other officials and volunteers by the event organiser does not relieve them of their own responsibilities.
      • 2.6. The provision of patrol boat cover is limited to such assistance, particularly in extreme weather conditions as can be practically provided in the circumstances.
      • 2.7. The fact that the race committee conducts inspections of a boat does not reduce the responsibilities of each competitor set out in this Notice of Race.

14. Insurance
    • 1. Each participating boat shall be insured with valid third-party liability insurance with a minimum cover of €3,000,000 or the equivalent per event.
15. Regatta Fleet Competency
    • 1. All Regatta Fleet sailors must be competent and capable of sailing a triangular course (with approximately 250m legs) in light to moderate winds.
16. Trolleys
    • 1. All trolleys must be in full working order and marked with a current sail number.
    • 2. Old trolley tags must be removed; new trolley tags will be issued at Registration.
17. Data Protection and Image Rights
    • 1. By entering the Championship, competitors and support persons accept that they may be photographed and/or videotaped participating in the race and/or using the Championship facilities and they consent to the taking of such images and to the use, reuse, publication and republication of such images in any media, in conjunction with the competitors name or not, without compensation and without the competitor’s approval of such images or any use thereof.
18. Prizes
    • 1. In the Senior and Junior Main Fleets, trophies will be awarded to the Top 3 sailors in each fleet/division. There may be prizes for local competitors.

19. Environmental Impact
    • 1. MBSC aims to minimise the environmental impact of hosting the Championship and, in conjunction with the Club’s sustainability actions, we urge all competitors and visitors to bring reusable water bottles. There are several “rehydration stations” on site where water bottles can be replenished with fresh drinking water and the Club House will also provide free refills.