Club Racing takes place every Sunday and Wednesday afternoon throughout the year along with a spring to autumn Wednesday evening series.
Different classes of boat have different speeds. Over many years a set of handicap numbers has been developed by the Royal Yachting Association (the Portsmouth Yardstick) which allows classes of all speeds to compete on an equal footing. Since these are average numbers for all types of sailing water, FOSSC makes some adjustments to these in order to provide Club Numbers.
CLASS RACING
In class racing, classes race in individual fleets. FoSSC currently has class racing for Lasers, Solos & Handicap fleet.
HANDICAP RACING
In handicap racing boats of all classes start together. They are timed over a set course and results are calculated using the Portsmouth Yardstick handicapping system to determine each boat’s average lap time with the results being scored in order from the lowest to highest average time. In this way if two classes of different speeds were sailed by equally skilled sailors, after the scaling their times should be equal even if they have sailed different numbers of laps. The overall results are based on the scaled times to complete the race, with the shortest time winning.
PURSUIT RACING
In pursuit racing, the starts are staggered such that a slow class starts before a fast class. Each class sails for a time equal to half their Club Number in minutes. All boats then finish at the same time and the results are taken as the positions of the boats on the water.
JUNIOR RACING
There are 2 “mini-series” held during the Summer and Autumn months that are specifically for our younger members. Club racing will get underway at 14:00 and there will be a dedicated Junior Start 2 minutes after the last club race start, with juniors sailing on the same course as everyone else, but in their own race (with their own prizes). The Junior race will be 25-30 minutes long, with on the water coaching and assistance permitted. We hope that this will encourage more of our juniors to become acquainted with dinghy racing, and smooth their transition into club racing when the time is right.
Rookie Racing
Similarly to the Junior Racing, there will be two races in Spring which are specifically aimed at those who are making the move into racing, but might not be too confident. They will also take place concurrently with club racing, but with a dedicated start and shorter duration. The Rookie Races will be 25-30 minutes long, with on the water coaching and assistance permitted.