CHAPTER VII

THE RACING RULES AND THE RULES OF RATING

By 'THALa.s.sA'

PART I. THE RACING RULES

We race yachts in home waters under the rules of the Yacht Racing a.s.sociation.

For a long time yacht racing was conducted without any central authority or court of appeal, and the difficulties which arose in consequence enabled a few racing owners to start the a.s.sociation ('For the promotion of the interests of yacht racing,'--General Rule 1) in the year 1875; since which it has gradually and surely increased its authority until, at the present time, it is acknowledged by clubs and owners alike as the ruler of the sport, owing much to the energy and ability of Mr. Dixon Kemp, the secretary of the a.s.sociation, and to the solid work done by many of the older councillors, among whom should be specially mentioned the Marquis of Exeter, Sir George Lampson, Bart., Sir William Forwood, Sir George Leach, K.C.B., Major Frank Willan, Colonel Fitzroy Clayton, Major Percy Hewitt, Mr. E. R.

Tatch.e.l.l, Mr. F. c.o.x, Mr. A. Manning, and, last but not least, Captain J. W. Hughes, who, with Prince Batthyany Strattmann, took a most active part in starting the a.s.sociation.

The qualification for the a.s.sociation embraces 'the owners of racing yachts, and such other gentlemen interested in yacht racing as the Council may elect'; ... 'also the representatives appointed by recognised yacht clubs' (General Rule 2). It is astonishing to find, by an examination of the list of members, how few racing owners belong to the a.s.sociation and how many old cruisers and steam-whistlers show their active interest in the sport of yacht racing by paying two guineas a year to support the court of appeal. We touch our caps to them for doing so--but pray them to allow the men actually engaged in the sport to settle the details as far as possible. Indeed, it would appear desirable that the Council should be mainly composed of racing owners, and that each cla.s.s of racing yacht should be represented, say, by two councillors. Thus--two for racing cruisers of the 'Columbine' type, two for the large cla.s.s of racers, two for each Y.R.A. cla.s.s, and two for each of the 'Minima' cla.s.ses (1 and 1/2-raters), or 18 in all. The other six members of the Council might with advantage be selected from the appointed representatives of the yacht clubs (General Rule 3).

At present the Council is practically a self-elected body, General Rule 4 stating that 'vacancies occurring between the annual meetings _shall_ be filled by the Council.' Evidently the word 'shall' should be replaced by _may_.

Four councillors retire annually by rotation (General Rule 4), but are eligible for re-election, and changes seldom occur from this cause, except through compulsory retirement due to non-attendance for an entire year. Quite right; when you have a good man keep him if you can; but the self-election clause is wrong in principle, and quite unnecessary in a council beginning each year with 24 members.

General Rule 5 describes the procedure for electing councillors.

General Rules 6 and 7 refer to the Annual General and Special General Meetings, and No. 8 to the annual subscription--which is two guineas.

General Rule 9 should form part of the measurement rules. It refers to the payment of measurement fees, and their non-payment is mingled in a most curious manner with the non-payment of subscriptions to the Y.R.A., on which latter point there is a penalty in Rule 8. So far as measurement fees are concerned all owners should be on the same footing. The general rules are of course only binding on the members of the a.s.sociation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Start.]

General Rule 10, concerning the meetings of the Council, is vague, and might well have another rule, to be spoken of presently, incorporated with it.

General Rule 11 describes the duties of the Council which are tantamount to the objects of the a.s.sociation, and might with advantage be mentioned in Rule 1. The measurement of yachts for racing and the issue of certificates of rating should be added to the rule, as now being duties which are governed by the Council.

General Rule 12 describes the procedure necessary for effecting any alterations in the rules (general or racing), a two-thirds majority of the Council, and, subsequently, of a general meeting, or of a general vote, being necessary for any _amendment or addition_ to the rules. A member may, however, persevere in a proposal, although the Council report unfavourably upon it; in which case it is brought before a general meeting, or a general vote, and then requires a favourable majority of three-quarters to pa.s.s it into law.

This rule is perhaps too stringent in its conservative tendencies, a two-thirds majority being ample under any circ.u.mstances. When such a majority is obtained in face of the Council's opposition the case must be very strong. Nothing of the kind has ever occurred; but in 1891 certain alterations, recommended by the Council, failed to obtain the requisite two-thirds majority at the Annual General Meeting.

_The Rules for the Guidance of the Council_

have never been pa.s.sed by a General Meeting, although some of them (like No. 7) are important. All of them should be incorporated with the General Rules. These unauthorised Rules are:--

No. 1, that the Council may be a.s.sembled by the president, or by a vice-president, or by a requisition of three councillors addressed to the secretary.

No. 2, that five shall be a quorum.

No. 3 refers to the chairman; and

No. 4 to the minute book of the proceedings.

No. 5, that a quorum of three may be a.s.sembled at any time and notice, to settle questions on the measurement of yachts.

No. 6 regulates the procedure on General Rule 4, last paragraph, the election of councillors.

No. 7 regulates the procedure on General Rule 2, first paragraph, the election of members of the a.s.sociation.

_The Racing Rules_

There are thirty-two 'sailing rules' under which yacht racing in British waters is conducted. Many of these rules have nothing to do with 'sailing,' but refer to the measurements for rating, entries, sailing committees' work ash.o.r.e, and cognate matters; the rules and paragraphs of rules connected with any one subject being dotted about in the most bewildering manner, and the whole forming a general hotch-potch, no great credit to the yachting Fathers.

The rules, being numerous and complex, must always be difficult to follow; but this difficulty is increased tenfold by unmethodical arrangement, and by the absence of any code whereby the law-making decisions of the Council can be discovered and kept in view by racing owners, by 'sailing' committees, and by the Council itself.

The rules have been examined and explained with much ability by Mr.

Dixon Kemp, in his book on 'Yacht and Boat Sailing,' chapter viii.

being devoted to the subject. Every racing owner should possess this book: it is, therefore, unnecessary to repeat the treatment of the rules therein contained. Nor is a criticism of the rules necessary, as this has been done by the present writer in a series of articles published in that excellent paper 'The Yachtsman,' on April 28, and May 5, 12, 19, and 26, 1892; which back numbers can be obtained for a few pence by applying to the publisher, 143 Strand, London. Moreover, a summary of the rules was given in the Almanac for the Solent Racing, published by King & Co., Southampton, in 1893, and will probably be repeated in succeeding years.

An attempt will therefore be made in these pages to treat the Racing Rules in a different manner, by an examination and description of the duties of each important actor in connection with a yacht race.

_Duties of a Designer_

The princ.i.p.al object and duty of a designer is to build yachts capable of winning prizes fairly. He must, therefore, study every peculiarity and custom of the sport, the average climate during the racing season, and, above all, he must study the rule of rating and measurement (Rule 3), to be examined at the end of this chapter. Other rules must not escape his attention; for instance, the designer of Mr. Carrol's yacht, when building in America for races in British waters, would note that by Rule 9 shifting keels may only be moved by manual power, and, consequently, that if any hydraulic appliance be used, anything in the nature of an acc.u.mulator would be contrary to the spirit of the rule, and would be matter for protest. The same remark applies to working and hoisting the sails (Rule 13).

A designer must note that, by Rule 15, yachts over 10-rating must be fitted below deck as yachts, including two wooden transverse bulkheads. Also that, by Rule 16, yachts of 30 to 90-rating must carry on deck a boat not less than 10 feet by 3-1/2 feet, and yachts of 90-rating, or more, a boat not less than 12 feet by 3-1/2 feet.

Designers must also consider Rule 33, which defines 'cruising trim'--especially Clause 2, which prohibits the placing of 'sails or other gear' 'in the main cabin' of yachts which race in this trim; and Clauses 3 and 4, concerning the anchors and chains, and boats.

_Private Match_

A yacht race can only be said to occur when the compet.i.tors have carefully prepared for it, and when it is under the direction of some competent nautical authority. In arranging a private match, it is therefore important to appoint both a race officer and a referee, the latter having the power to decide any dispute or to refer the same to the Y.R.A., should he think fit to do so.

_Club and Open Matches_

Private matches are less frequent than of yore, and modern racing is generally for prizes given by yacht clubs or by town regattas.

_Duties of a Yacht Club_

The object of a yacht club is usually defined somewhat as follows:--

R.S.Y.C.--The encouragement of yacht sailing in the Southampton Water and Solent.

R.P.C.Y.C.--To encourage amateur yacht racing in the Solent.

C.Y.C.--To encourage the racing of yachts in the small cla.s.ses Y.R.A.

B.S.C.--To promote the interests of amateur boat-sailing.