Radio Procedures for Fleet 12 Etchells Race Committees

The RC will use the radio to make courtesy hails, such as OCS or General Recall, on Channel 79, and competitors will use the radio to withdraw from racing if necessary. These are the only permitted use of radios. Please bring your VHF radio on Saturday. Let's see how it works. The SIs will not be updated, as this radio thing will be a trial usage only. Please supply feedback after the day's racing and we'll decide if we should continue it.

These procedures were developed for Regattas run by Fleet 12 and may be adopted via the Sailing Instructions by other entities running regattas for Fleet 12.

Radio Procedures - Suggested Changes to NOR and SIs
Paragraphs may be added as follows:

1. Competitors should monitor VHF Channel 79 for on the water communication with the Race Committee. Competitors withdrawing from racing may notify the Race Committee via VHF if they are not able to do so directly. Only these uses of radios are permitted while racing.

2. Before the warning signal, the Race committee may use the radio to announce the course selection, or give a countdown to the warning signal.

3. After the starting signal, the Race Committee may hail the sail number(s) of OCS boat(s) by VHF radio.

4. The failure of the Race Committee to make any announcement or hail listed above, the failure of a boat to hear the announcement or hail, or the order of the OCS hails shall not be grounds for redress.

Radio Procedures - Explanation for Race Committees and Competitors
The primary purpose for allowing use of radios is to enhance safety. Competitors who need outside assistance may use their radios to notify the Race Committee, other vessels, or other entities, including the Coast Guard. Competitors are asked to notify the Race Committee if they need or may need assistance due to breakdown or other difficulty, and may use radios to notify the Race Committee if they withdraw from racing. Competitors and Race Committees are urged to adopt standard radio procedures in all communications and keep their communications brief and to the point.

The secondary purpose for allowing use of radios is to enhance the Race Committee's communication with competitors. Competitors and the Race Committee must follow RRS 41 which prohibits outside help while racing, so the RC's radio communication to competitors should be limited to three topics, (1) course selection, (2) start timing and, (3) OCS notification. The following procedures are recommended:

(1) Announcements regarding course selection may be made at any time prior to the warning signal.
(2) About one minute before the warning signal, the RC may announce a warning of the impending signal. The RC may count down the last ten seconds prior to the warning signal and may count down the last ten seconds prior to the preparatory signal. After the preparatory signal, competitors are racing, so no further announcements regarding the starting sequence should be made, unless the start is postponed or abandoned, in which case the RC should announce the status to competitors.
(3) After the start, the RC should attempt to announce via radio the sail number(s) of OCS boat(s), or announce a general recall via radio. Sail numbers should be announced clearly and distinctly with a pause between each sail number, and the list of OCS boats should be repeated three times. No announcements should be made for individual boats returning to pre-start side of the line. If no boats are OCS, no announcement should be made.
(4) Course changes, or other post-start communications from the Race Committee should not be communicated via radio except as provided above.
(5) Competitors should not use radios after the warning signal has been made, except to withdraw from the race. Competitors should not use radios to transmit or to receive communications except from the Race Committee at any time while racing.

###end### Authors: Chuck Eaton and Scott Gordon