Racing Overview
This webpage covers the following topics:
Racing in 2026
We have continued to evolve the 2026 racing programme based on the experiences of prior years and feedback from the membership. Easter is particularly early this year, so rather than run the "Easter Egg Series" and risk low turn outs and tricky conditions, we are running a discrete 4 race weekend in mid-April, imaginatively called the "Not the Easter Egg Race Weekend". Listening to feedback we are trialling a 3-race series over the May Bank Holiday weekend, and a class series for the Scows as an alternative to them competing in the Sprint series. These events are all in addition to our traditional Points, Sprints, Trophy Races and our annual highlight Regatta Week. We have once again timed most of the popular Sprint races on the same days as the Junior Sail Clinics (which are a revamped and more comprehensive Oppie & Topper Club) to enable juniors who want to experience Club races to do so when their peers are also at the Creek. The benefits of this can be seen with the ever-growing number of juniors competing successfully in WWSC and other Harbour Club events. For Juniors we've included a Race Series in late May as well as the racing associated with Junior Week, which was very popular and well attended in 2025.
Sign on arrangements for Club races
Club races are governed by our Sailing Instructions which lay down the requirement to sign on and sign off after races. The sign on sheet is used by the Race Team to check all competitors are accounted for. It is therefore very important and failure to sign on and off will likely mean you will be disqualified from the race. Here are the key points to remember:
- Every boat taking part must sign in on the Race Entry sheet before setting sail. The sheet will normally be found by the steps down onto the Hard.
- If the crew of the boat are juniors (i.e. under 16) their parent, or another adult specifically authorised by their parent, must sign them in. Juniors cannot sign themselves into Club races.
- The person who signs is confirming the boat is in a seaworthy state to set sail AND they are satisfied the crew are safe to take part in the race in the prevailing weather conditions. They are also confirming the boat has Third Party insurance.
- The boat's crew (or in the case of juniors the adult who signs them in) takes responsibility for their safety and must not rely on the Race Team to look after them although clearly they will provide assistance so far as possible
- When the boat returns to Snowhill the crew must sign off using the Declaration Sheet (normally to be found near the steps to the Hard). This confirms they are safely back AND have complied with the rules governing the race. Junior crews can sign themselves in on return.
- All boats must display a sail number by which they can be identified. The sign in sheet must include this number (not a different one!)
Juniors wishing to join in the Club racing being held in parallel with Junior Sail Clinics will need to follow the normal Club racing arrangement above.
Types of Races
We provide a variety of races over the season:
- Points races: these comprise a series of races with the overall result determined by how well a boat sailed over the series. Normally there will be one race per tide lasting 60-90 minutes and normally there will be 2 classes - fast and slow with separate starts and courses. We try to make courses interesting but if the wind is strong and/or there is only 1 safety boat we may need to keep the fleet in a more confined area.
- Trophy races: these are one-off events where the Trophy result depends on just one race. Again we plan races to last 60-90 minutes with as interesting a course as possible
- Sprints races: as the name suggests these are short, sharp races which should last less than 30 minutes. Sprints races are run in one class (i.e. all boats sail together). This allows the Race Team to run 3 consecutive races in quick succession over a single tide using the same, short Triangle/Sausage course each time. They are excellent for sailors that want to improve their starting, mark-rounding, and boat-on-boat skills. They also appeal to those who don't enjoy long legs beating up the harbour! You can read more about Sprints here. This year for the first time we are running three Scow fleet races which will take place alongside the Sprints. The course for these will more like a points race course.
- Pursuit races: Most sailing races at WWSC are run with boats starting together at the same time. A boat's elapsed time (i.e. how long it took to complete the course) is used along with its handicap to work out a corrected time that determines its result. This means it takes a while to work out who has won. A pursuit race is different. Here the slowest boats start first according to their handicaps and the result is determined by the first boat home. In theory everyone should arrive at the finish together so they are a lot of fun. The Higgs, the Armada Challenge, and the Last of the Summer Wine races will all be run as pursuit races. Unfortunately the handicap for Oppies means they can't take part in these races
- Average lap races: we use this type of race to enable the maximum number of boats to sail together however fast or slow they may be. Even Oppies can race against the fastest boats in the Club! The approach is very simple and involves boats sailing as many laps as they can around a simple course set off East Head until the Race Officer decides its time to finish. We will use this for our Charity Race and possibly other events.
Volunteering for race duties
The Club is entirely reliant on volunteers to run our races and other on-the-water-events. Our expectation is that every member who is fit and able will volunteer to help the Club at least once in the season and we expect racers (or parents of young racers) to do this by volunteering for race duties.
You can read more about the different types of race duties here and there's guidance on using our online Duty Roster here. The key messages are:
- You don't need any special skills to do most duties AND
- It's fun! You get to enjoy a day on the water and see all the action and meet other members.
Downloads
Last updated 18:09 on 18 February 2026