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How the Piedmont Model Yacht Club Manages an East Coast 12-Meter Yacht Regatta

By Francis Angel

Although there is a wealth of information on how to run a regatta on the AMYA Web site, I’ve been asked to write an article on how our club runs one. First I recommend that you read everything about regattas on the AMYA page and in the ISAF rulebook. We all owe a great debt of gratitude to the officers and members of the AMYA for providing this information. The suggestions that I make are of course only guidelines on how to deal with the nuts and bolts of regattas.

As everyone is aware each location has it’s own set of limitations. To better understand our system, you need to know a little about our sailing site and local area. Our pond is on the campus of Elon University just to the north of Burlington, NC. The small town of Burlington is in the middle of the state between Durham and Greensboro on Interstate 85/40. The site is quite attractive with easy access to the water and plenty of unrestricted walking room. We have adequate parking and restrooms close by. The pond is notorious for it’s light and fluky winds. It’s also somewhat small with three aerating fountains to keep down the growth of algae. The shape is roughly a rectangle that is 400 feet by 250 feet. This limits the number of boats in the water at any given time to a maximum of 15. Burlington only has four restaurants that have banquet rooms large enough for our Saturday night dinner. We do however have an abundance of motels. We get all the over flow from the conventions from Raleigh to High Point. The pond is only 10 minutes away from most of the motels. Being on the interstate facilitates easy traveling to our regatta. Typically we’ll have entrants from New Jersey to Florida. The last several years we’ve had 30 plus boats enter the event.

Now for a little history of the club and area. The Piedmont Model Yacht Club was formed in 1981. From the original 3 members the club has grown to 20, of whom 10 to 12 attend each scheduled local sailing date. Starting in 1982 the club has hosted a regatta every year except 1989, the same weekend as Hurricane Hugo. PMYC has even spawned a new club in Raleigh, NC who will be having their first regatta this year, 2001. It has been our intent since our inception to promote the sport of model yachting. I’m happy to report that all four regattas held in North and South Carolina last year had 30 or more entrants. This year looks to repeat, with the new club and the "2001 Nationals" at Lake Norman Yacht Club in Mooresville, NC, which is just to the north of Charlotte. There are already 38 captains that have announced their intentions to attend. For several years we’ve had an excellent web page maintained by our Webmaster and contact person Robert Mersereau. For a more complete picture of our club please visit http://www.amya.org/club100/. Our area and EC-12 Meter sailing in general have benefited greatly from the efforts and generosity of David Brawner. David founded and maintains the East Coast 12 Meter Class Web Page. http://www.ec12.com/. I must add that without the co-operation and co-ordination of The Sun City/Hilton Head, Charleston, Atlanta, Lake Norman, Raleigh Model Yacht Clubs along with The Florida EC-12 Association, and not forgetting our good friends to the north in Columbia and Mt. Laurel, Region 3 wouldn’t be the hot bed of EC-12 sailing that it is.

Why should I be writing this article? I’ve attended 84 regattas to date. Of these, I was RD for 13 including the 1987 Nationals. I’ve served as regatta staff for 2 others, one of which was the 1998 Nationals. I’ll also be on the staff of the 2001 Nationals. I’ve attended regattas in Stowe, VT (2000 "Nats); Newport, RI, Mt. Laurel, NJ, Columbia, MD, Norfolk, VA, Hampton, VA, Martinsville, VA, Burlington, NC, Mooresville, NC, Charleston, SC, Hilton Head, SC, Sun City, SC, Lawrenceville, GA, Roswell, GA, Atlanta, GA, and Jacksonville, FL. This year I intend to extend my travels to State College, PA and Melbourne, FL. Also, I wasn’t thinking too clearly when I agreed to write an article for Rick West’s Web Page.

I’ve been using my trusty Apple 2E since 1984 to handle the tasks associated with regattas. I recently purchased a new computer and got on the Internet. I’ll still rely on the old apple for a lot of the work. It has all the templates and databases that I use. One of the things I’ve found out about e-mail is that people change ISP’s like underwear. They don’t read their e-mail and if they do, they don’t respond. Therefore, I’ll still rely on the US Postal Service to deliver important stuff like regatta entry forms. I will try to use electronic communications as much as possible. Our club has always tried to operate on a 0 balance budget. Our little newsletter has always been our major expenses and will now be delivered electronically. I can’t leave this subject without thanking all the other newsletter editors and in particular Milton Thrasher of the "Bell Bottom News" which was the voice of Region 3 for so many years. Well, I’ve bored you enough; lets get to the point of the piece. What follows is a step-by-step list on how we hold regattas. We sail the EC-12 Meter Yacht but our methods will work for any class. Keep in mind that this is how we do it, based on the restrictions outlined above.

PREPARATION

1. Select a date that doesn’t conflict with other clubs in your area. We use the last regatta of the year for a meeting to co-ordinate the schedule for the next year.

2. Make dinner reservations as soon as the date is established.

3. Order trophies. We award the first 5 places.

4. Send out the entry forms at least 2 months before the event. We usually send out 110 forms. Make sure you have a long cut off date, at least 10 days. Require enough frequencies to cover the anticipated size of your fleet. We required 3 this year and next it will be 4. Include on the entry form all the information you’ll need from them and make sure you provide all that they need, such as location, date, time of Captains Meeting, motels, maps and directions. Charge a reasonably entry fee. The going rate seems to be $25.00.

5. Type up your Sailing Orders (Notice Of Race). These should contain any changes to the RRS (Racing Rules of Sailing) required by your local conditions. Make as few changes as you can. Include a drawing of the course you plan to use, a sample menu and directions to Saturday’s dinner and a list of all the captains containing all the information on their entry forms (the list of Captains can be done last after the cut off date). You should try to get as much of this done as early as possible. Make several copies of an information page to hand out to any interested parties that stop by your regatta to watch. This is where you get most of your future members.

6. Make a checklist of the items you’ll need to take to the pond the morning of the regatta.

7. Make a shopping list of the supplies you’ll need for the regatta based on your best estimation of the number of entries you’ll get. Go ahead and buy the bulk of the non-perishable items. If you need more later it will be a smaller quantity.

8. Arrange for all the help you’ll need for the regatta. Line up more that you actually need, in the real world people aren’t always able to honor their commitments.

9. As the entry forms are returned, set up two databases. One for the frequencies and one for all the other information on the form (sail #, name, address, phone # AMYA # and e-mail address). Set up a database with the following fields; sail#, name, frequency # 1, frequency #2, frequency #3 and so on until you run out of space. Some captains will list more frequencies than you require. More is good. Under the field, frequencies #1 list all the possible frequencies from 27 Mhz. to 50 Mhz. You now have a database to list the frequencies each captain has along with his sail# and name. As the forms arrive enter the data from each form in the applicable database. For example: John Doe, sail # 99 freq. # 62, 67, 72, & 63. Enter his personal information in your first database. In your second database, opposite channel # 62 enter his sail # (99) and name (Doe). Now enter the rest of his frequencies in the remaining fields. As each entry comes in, enter them in the databases, don’t procrastinate. Also, enter them in your computers address book. Believe me, it’s a lot easier to find a place for the last ones if you have the majority already entered. You can use the find function of you computer to help you locate a place. You may have to move more than one to create a space. If you wait until you have all the entries you will have a headache in direct proportion to the number of entries. If you must pair 2 or more boats on the same frequency try your best to pair a fast boat with a slow one. Even if you have a small number of entries I strongly suggest that you follow step # 9 to the letter. It will be a great help when you start getting fleets of 30 boats. If you choose not to follow step # 9, you can stop reading now. All remaining tasks are based on step #9.

10. Pick up the trophies. Allow time to correct any mistakes.

11. On the cut off day you may make your scoreboard. Don’t enter any information yet, just lay out the grid. Prepare an e-mail to all the Captains, listing all the assigned frequencies. You should have been entering their addresses in your computers address book as they arrived. Store it in the Draft section if you have one. You now have a good idea of the numbers you will be dealing with. The rest of this section will assume that 31 boats are entered with no frequency conflicts. If you have less, your problems will be proportionally smaller. I will deal with frequency conflicts a little later. We use our version of the EORS (Equal Opportunity Racing System). For qualifying, the fleet will be divided into 2 fleets of 16 and 15 boats with a mix of experienced and inexperienced captains in each fleet. Make a list of the two fleets. After the qualifying heats are run the fleet will be divided into three groups. We promote/relegate 4 boats after each heat. The fleets will be named, PINK, Blue and WHITE. More about the names later. Now construct a score sheet consisting of three columns labeled from left to right: Pink, Blue and White. Under the Pink label, number down the page 1 to 13. Under the Blue label place an X in the first four places. If the 5th slot, place the number 14. Continue down the page numbering the slots for 15 to 22. In the White Column, again place an X in the first 4 positions. In the 5th slot, enter the number 23 and continue down the page numbering the slots from 24 to 31. Now make as many copies of this score sheet as heats you intend on running with a couple extra just in case you need them. You now have a blank score board with just the grid on it. From the left to right at the top enter the words: CAPTAIN, SAIL#, Q1, Q2, Q3, CARRY OVER, HEAT 1, HEAT 2, continue to HEAT 10, THROW OUT, TOTAL and FINISH. This will give you room to score 6 qualifying heats if you need more than 4. Only the lowest score in the qualifying heats will be CARRIED OVER. The next ten slots HEAT 1 to HEAT 10 represent 30 races. You will list the highest single heat score for each skipper in the slot THROW OUT. We divide each grid section diagonally and keep a running total by placing the heat score in the top section and the total in the bottom half. Then you’ll subtract the THROW OUT from the heat score and enter the result in the TOTAL column. Finally you’ll compare all the totals and enter the finishing position for each captain in the FINISH column. You now have a scoreboard ready for the names and all the score sheets you’ll need. Now about the unusual names on the score sheet. The first time I used this system I wanted an aid to help myself and the captains keep the fleets in order. I had attended a regatta using the promotion/relegation system where it seemed no one knew what fleet they were in. I was determined to correct this problem without lugging a computer to the pond. What I needed was something that was three different colors, easily attached and removed from transmitters, light weight and cheap. I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me a long time to think of colored plastic clothespins. Some thought the concept was silly and wouldn’t work but the system has been widely adopted in the region. So the fleet names on the score sheet are the color of the clothespins. The system will be explained in detail as we run the first non-qualifying heat. I haven’t forgotten about frequency conflicts either, they’re covered in the next section.

12. The day after the cut off date, check the mail for any late arriving entry forms. If there are some, try to work them into the system. If you can’t work them in, just call them and give them the bad news. If you’ve done your part correctly there won’t be any late entries. Now is the time to double-check your frequency assignments. Use the entry forms to make sure you have everything correct. If you have a frequency conflict try your best to pair a fast boat and a slow boat. If not, then one of the two will have to change to and alternate frequency quite often. The RD will need to have a list of every ones frequencies handy at the pond to effect the necessary changes. If your e-mail for the frequency assignments is correct, now is the time to send it and to call those that don’t have e-mail. Your message should remind them to bring all of the crystals on their entry form and to PLEASE respond that they received you message. Don’t trust the mail to deliver a post card or letter and have someone show up with the wrong crystal, upsetting your whole applecart. Go to your database with the names and addresses and arrange it by sail number, in descending order. Print it and use it to place the names and sail numbers on your scoreboard. Add the RD and Staff to the list. Rearrange it in alphabetical order. Print it and add it to the other pages of the Sailing Orders (paragraph # 5). Now make a copy for every Captain and Staff member. Now is also the time for nametags. They can be either machine made using the databases or hand made. They need to contain the name, sail number or staff position and assigned frequency. One more thing needs to be on them. Retrieve the list that you made when you divided the fleet into 2 groups. Label one group (16 boats) red and the other (15 boats) green. On the nametags for the red group place a large red dot and a green dot on the ones for the green group. Use your database to print labels containing the name, sail number and assigned frequency for each captain and staff member. Affix the labels to 9 X 12 manila envelopes. Find the nametag that matches the envelope and place a colored dot on the envelope that matches the one on the nametag. Place the nametag, a copy of the sailing orders and anything else you like in the envelope. When finished, arrange the envelopes in alphabetical order and place in a cardboard file box. Take another cardboard file box and place in it: the three bags of colored clothes pins, 2 legal pads, 2 clip boards, extra pens and pencils, extra starting tape, hand held tape recorder, cell phone, and anything else you think you’ll need at the pond. You can now relax. You have your scoreboard and all the material you need in the 2 boxes. The only thing to worry about for the next few days is the weather. You must have a plan in place for rain. More about weather plans later.

13. The day before the regatta take the marks to the pond and set them out. We use a rectangular pattern of 6 marks. Either end can serve as the start line and the 2 in the middle are the finish line. We start at one end of the lake and sail around the parameter of the rectangle 2 and ½ times finishing in the middle of the rectangle. This gives us 2 and ½ long upwind legs, 2 long downwind legs and 4 shorter reaching legs. The course has a starting line and 8 mark roundings and a finish line. It can be reversed if the wind shifts. This is a good time to chat with the captains who arrived early to practice. On the way home pick up any perishable items you need and any last minute items to round out your first bulk purchases. Using you check list, (paragraph #6) load up all the stuff you’ll need at the pond. Check it twice.

EXECUTION

1. Arrive at the pond early enough to have every thing set up and waiting when the first captain arrives. He should be greeted with the smell of hot coffee and donuts. You should also have some fresh fruit, bananas are a favorite. Your full staff need not be there, only the one you assigned to pick up the fresh donuts and ice. Have him ice down the soft drinks and bottled water. The rest do need to arrive well before the Captains Meeting. As soon as the scorekeeper arrives have them make a score sheet for the qualifying heats. This is done on a legal pad. At the top of the page write Red and Green separated by 3 or 4 inches. Under Red, number down the page from 1 to 16. Under Green, number down the page from 1 to 15. Draw a line under both 8th places. On the top of the next page write Top Red & Green and separated by 3 or 4 inches Bottom Red & Green. Under Top Red & Green, number down the page from 1 to 16. Under Bottom Red & Green, number down the page from 1 to 15. On the next page, set it up the same way and use the words Top Red & Bottom Green and Top Green & Bottom Red. Number down the page as before. This is your extra pair of races to be used only if you can’t break the fleet into three parts using the scores in the qualifying races. On the 4th page, number down the page from 2 to 31. This is the page that will be used to separate the fleet into 3 groups. Now you’re all set. As the scorekeeper was making the qualifying heat score sheets, another staff member was greeting the captains and giving them their Sailing Order packets. Telling them in the process to make sure that they were on the correct frequency and they were in the RED or Green Fleet.

2. Call the Captains Meeting at 9:00 am. Welcome everyone to the regatta. Introduce the staff and have each captain state his name and home town. Don’t assume that anyone has read all the stuff you prepared for them. The first thing is to ask that all questions be held to the end of the meeting. If you let them ask questions first, you will never get done. Go over the sailing orders, explaining any rule changes. Explain that the designated staff person will be taking their lunch orders during the early morning. Then will phone them in to McDonalds around 11:30. Shortly there after the staff member will go and get them and return around 12:00. And they will be provided with drinks and snack packs. Tell them about the dinner plans and mention the sample menu. You may have their attention now for a short while, so briefly explain the race management and scoring system. Quickly show them the course. Now, ask if there are any questions? Answer them as briefly as you can. The last function of the meeting is a radio check. Give the captains time to respond to your commands. Make absolutely sure there are no problems with radios. If you don’t, your regatta will operate under clouds of "I’m getting hit". Give the captains 5 to 10 minuets to take care of any final business they have. Notify them that the Red Fleet sails first.

3. Start the Red Fleet. As they finish record their sail # in the first column of your legal pad. While the Green Fleet is getting in the water the scorekeeper can post the Red Fleet’s scores on the scoreboard in the Q1 column.

4. Start the Green Fleet. As they finish record their sail # in the second column of your legal pad. Tell the first 8 captains of the Green Fleet to stay in the water for their second heat. After all the Green Fleet boats have finished, call out the sail #s of the first 8 finishers in the Red Fleet and tell them to launch their boats. While they’re getting in the water, the scorekeeper can post the Green Fleet’s score in the Q1 column on the scoreboard. After the scores have been posted, each captain will have a score in the Q1 column. Make sure they do.

5. Start the mixed Top Red/Top Green fleet. As they finish, record their scores on page 2 of your legal pad in the first column. Have them remove their boats from the water and tell them to be sure they have given their lunch order. Tell all the boats that were not in the last heat to launch their boats. While they are getting in the water the scores in column 1 page 2 can be posted in the Q2 column of the scoreboard.

6. Start the mixed Bottom Red/Bottom Green fleet. While this fleet is sailing the scorekeeper can total the scores for the boats that have sailed in 2 heats. Enter the total in the bottom half of the Q2 column. Captain Doe, sail # 99 has a score of 8. On the 4th page of the legal pad with numbers 2 to 31, enter his sail # (99) opposite the number 8. Captain Smith, sail # 22 also has a score of 8. Enter his number after #99 separated by a comma. Captain Jones, sail # 67 has a score of 16. Enter his number (67) opposite the number 16. Continue this process and try to get it done before the fleet starts to finish. It will speed things up.

7. As the mixed Bottom Red/ Bottom Green fleet finishes record their finish in the second column on page 2 of the legal pad. As they remove their boats from the water, tell them there will be a short delay and to made sure they have given their lunch order. Add their scores to the scoreboard and to the 4th page of the legal pad using the method outlined above. The scoreboard should have 2 scores for each boat with the total of them in the bottom half of column Q2. Page 4 of the legal pad should have 31 sail numbers entered opposite the score for each one. You will have more than one sail # on some of the numbers, don’t worry. At the start of this process you should warn the captains to stay at least ten feet from the scoring table. A crowd around the table will distract the scorekeeper and hinder the process. In the south these people are called "sweat bees". Look at page 4 of the legal pad. Make sure you have 31 numbers listed. Count down from the top 9 sail numbers. You may need to use the AMYA tie breaking system to separate the last 2 or 3. This is the PINK fleet. Count down the next 9 sail numbers. Use the tiebreaker again if necessary. This is the BLUE fleet. You have 13 sail numbers left. This is the WHITE fleet. If you were unable to break the fleet into the 3 fleets you will need to run 2 more qualifying heats. Combine the Top/Red and the Bottom/Green in the first and the rest in the second. Do this only if it’s absolutely necessary. Enter the results in column Q3 and follow the procedures outlined above and below. Call the White fleet to the score table. Issue them each a White clothespin and tell them to get their boats is the water.

Start the WHITE fleet. Have one of the staff call the BLUE fleet to the score table and issue them each a BLUE pin. Call the PINK fleet to the table and issue each a PINK pin. While the staff member has been handing out the pins the scorekeeper has been working on the scoreboard. He’s taken the LOWEST score for each captain and placed it in the CARRY OVER column. This is their first score of the regatta. When finished with the scoreboard, he gets out the score sheets consisting of 3 columns marked PINK, BLUE and WHITE. These were made in PREPERATION paragraph 11. He has placed them on a clipboard and marked the first one, HEAT 1. Most of the work has been done now and things will move pretty fast. Check with the staff member in charge of lunches and make sure everything is under control. The RD will need to have 4 Blue pins at hand.

8. As the WHITE fleet finishes record their sail numbers under the White column from top to bottom. The top 4 places marked with X will be promoted to the BLUE fleet. Collect their white pins and issue them a blue pin. Also, tell them to stay in the water but away from the finish line and await the next heat. Call the last boat in the fleet as the next to last crosses the finish line. Launch the BLUE fleet. The White fleet had 13 boats, 4 were left in, and 9 were added for a total of 13 in the Blue fleet. The same will happen with the Pink Fleet. This is one of those times when 3 fleets of 13 add up to 31 boats. The RD will need 4 Pink pins.

9. Start the BLUE fleet. AS the BLUE fleet finishes, their sail numbers are recorded in the Blue column from top to bottom. The top 4 places marked with X will be promoted to the PINK fleet. Collect their blue pins, issue them a pink pin. Have them retire to the center of the pond and await the start of the next race. The last 4 boats of the BLUE fleet will be relegated (demoted) to the White fleet. Collect their blue pins and issue them a white pin. Have them remove their boats from the pond and launch the PINK fleet.

10. Start the PINK fleet. As the PINK fleet finishes record their sail numbers in the Pink Column from top to bottom. There are no X’s in this column, only numbers. The last 4 boats will be relegated to the Blue fleet. As the last 4 cross the line collect their pink pins and issue them blue pins. All the boats are now removed from the pond and the WHITE fleet is launched.

11. Normally the racing would continue but I’m going to take a minute to get us caught up. We now have the score sheet for HEAT 1 completely filled out. Each captains sail number is beside one of the finishing positions. The Pink column has the scores from 1 to 13. The Blue column has the scores from 14 to 22 and the White column has the scores from 23 to 31. These scores should now be posted on the scoreboard in the top half of the HEAT 1 column. Then the total for each boat taken from the score in the CARRY OVER column and the score in the top half of the HEAT 1 column should be placed in the bottom half of the HEAT 1 column. Please note that no scores were posted to the scoreboard until all three races in HEAT 1 had been run. As the day wears on and boats break down these numbers can change. As boats break down or withdraw they will migrate to the White fleet and stay there until they rejoin the fray. If the White fleet gets small, say 6 or 7 boats then promote the whole fleet into the Blue fleet and start doing 6 up and 6 down with just 2 fleets. At this point in the regatta, 7 races have been run and it’s time for a decision about lunch. The regatta can either be halted for a short period or racing can continue with the skippers eating between races. Whatever suites your situation is best for you. If you continue racing, make sure the skippers on the "Bubble" get a chance to eat. We announce lunch as soon as it arrives. The fleet that is racing is given 30 minutes at the conclusion of their race. During the day the main function of the RD is to keep the event moving. Any protests should be handled quickly and not be allowed to drag on and on. A rulebook and visual aids must be provided for the Protest Committee. The Committee shall consist of the RD and 2 knowledgeable Captains not involved in the protest. In this system penalty points do not affect the finishing position of the boat that is penalized, only it’s total score. Neither will they affect the placement in a given fleet. Doe, #99 finished 9th in the PINK fleet and lost a protest and was assessed 8 points. He will remain in the PINK fleet but his score for that race will be 17. It will be entered as 9 + 8 on the scoreboard. Well, back to the racing.

12. Start the WHITE fleet. As the fleet finishes, their positions are entered on the Heat 2 score sheet. The top 4 boats exchange their White pins for Blue and retire to the center of the pond. The rest of the WHITE fleet removes their boats after finishing. Remember to call the last boat in each race to speed thing along.

13. Start the BLUE fleet. Record their finishes. Top 4 exchange their Blue pins for Pink and retire to the middle of the pond. The bottom 4 exchange their Blue pins for White, and remove their boats. Call the last boat.

14. Start the PINK fleet. Record their finishes. The bottom 4 exchange their Pink pins for Blue and all boats are removed from the pond. All the scores are now posted in the top half of the HEAT 2 column and the total score is entered in the bottom half of the HEAT 2 column

15. Repeat steps 13 thru 15 until the end of the day. (4:00 pm.) The day must end on a full set of races (after the PINK fleet sails). Pack up carefully. A few seconds forethought today will save you minutes tomorrow.

16. Take the scoreboard to happy hour (6:00 pm.) and dinner (7:00 pm.). See that everyone has a good time. After dinner, pick up donuts and anything else you’ll need for Sunday. Be sure to take trophies to the pond on Sunday.

17. Sunday morning, arrive early and set up for the day the same as Saturday morning. Have a staff member pick up the ice and prepare the drinks. Lunch will not be provided of Sunday.

18. Start the Captains Meeting at 9:00 am. Thank all the captains for coming to the event. Tell them that Sunday will be a repeat of Saturday and that no Heat (set of 3 races) will be started after 12:00 noon. This should allow you to finish the day before 1:00 pm.

Give them a few minutes to get settled in and start the first race as soon as the wind allows.

20. Start the WHITE fleet. Repeat steps 13 thru 15. Make sure the scorekeeper is keeping things up to date. Keep a close eye on the clock for each race, so you’ll have a good idea when to start the last set. Just before you start the last set of races, announce that this will be the last set. As each fleet finishes, collect the clothespins for use next year. Make sure no one takes his rig down to soon. As the PINK fleet finishes the last race, invoke the "No Sweat Bee" rule.

21. After all the scores have been totaled, find the highest single race score for each captain and place this number in the THROW OUT column. Any score that contains penalty points CAN NOT be thrown out. Remember Captain Doe, (#99). He has a score of 17 in one race that contains penalty points. His next highest score is 8. He must keep the 17 and may throw out the 8. This was easy to find on the scoreboard because it was entered as 9 + 8 in the top half of the grid section for that HEAT. Now the THROW OUTS should be subtracted from the score in bottom half of the last HEAT column that was run. Enter the result in the TOTAL column. Compare the TOTAL scores and enter the finishing positions in the FINISH column. Low score is first of course. Use AMYA tiebreaker if necessary. Have the scorekeeper make a list of the Captains and their scores and finishing positions in descending order starting with first place. This will check the order of the scoreboard.

22. When you’re sure the list is correct, call the captains to the score table. Thank them again for coming to the regatta. Thank your staff for all their hard work. Start at the bottom of the list and read the Captains name, score and finishing position. When you get to 5th place, hand out the trophies. Usually, photo’s are taken of the trophy winners. After all the presentations have been made, try to get everyone including the staff in a group shot. Then get a shot of just the top five with their trophies. Tell them "it’s over, go home".

23. It really isn’t for you. Have someone get the marks out of the pond. Load up all the stuff you brought to the pond. You don’t need to be careful this time. Make sure the area is as clean, if not cleaner than you found it. Thank everyone that helped you put on the event and go home. As soon as you get home, unload all the stuff and put it in its proper place. As soon as you can, write up a Regatta Report and send it to each Captain along with any photo’s you have. You can do this either by e-mail or sail mail, but make sure each one gets a copy. If you’re an EC-12 event send David Brawner a copy for posting on the Web page. Now make a financial statement for your club members showing where all the money went and send it to them. Now, you’re done. Except, I promised to tell you about weather plans. Yes, I had a weather plan for our last regatta. It was an absolute disaster. If you’re not bored and can stand another sad tale then click on this site. www.ec12.com/rain_fell_on_carolina.htm