This page explains regattas of Opti Class GER, the German Optimist class association. A regatta weekend follows a fixed schedule. The exact times are in the notice of race and the sailing instructions. A video of about three and a half minutes, with everything to read below.
Your child is off to their first regatta. What happens when over the weekend? And what do you do in the meantime?
An A regatta lasts at least two days, usually Saturday and Sunday. The exact times are in the notice of race and in the sailing instructions. As examples, we use two real regattas from this year.
Entries close weeks ahead, online on manage2sail. On site, you register your child at the race office, on Friday evening or Saturday morning. There you hand in the liability waiver. You sign it as the parent.
Then the boat. Usually a valid measurement certificate is enough. But the regatta may inspect the boat and equipment at any time. Whether there is a separate measurement check is in the notice of race.
Some regattas hold a briefing for the sailors. In Greifswald it was at 10:30 am, in Spandau there was none. Check the sailing instructions.
The start time is called the warning signal, for example 11 am. By then the children must be out on the water, so allow time to sail out. If flag AP is shown on shore, the start is postponed. Then everyone waits.
A race takes about three quarters of an hour. In Spandau, three were planned on Saturday and two on Sunday. Between races, the children usually stay on the water.
And you? During the race, nobody may help. No shouting, no signals from the shore or from a boat. That is outside help, and your child can be penalised for it.
Support boats must be registered. From the preparatory signal, they stay outside the racing area until everyone has finished. Watching is fine, from a distance.
After the last race of the day, the children sail back. Now it is your turn: boat out of the water, dry clothes, food and drink.
The results are posted on the official notice board. It hangs outside the race office and is online, usually on manage2sail. Until the protest time and hearings are over, the list can still change.
The protest time limit starts when the last boat of the day has finished. It lasts, for example, 60 or 90 minutes. If the sailing instructions say nothing, it is two hours. A protest is made by the sailor, not by the parents.
On Sunday there is a last start time, for example 2 pm. After that, no new race begins. The prize giving follows about two hours after the last race.
Stay for the prize giving. Prizes that are not collected often stay with the organiser. Within a week, the results go to the ranking list.
Remember: the times are in the notice of race and the sailing instructions. During the race, nobody helps from outside. And only after the protest time is the result final.
All rules are in the Racing Rules of Sailing and in the notice of race of each regatta.
Times, time limits and the briefing come from the documents of the two regattas. Each regatta sets its own. That children usually stay on the water between races, and what parents do when they come back, is common practice, not a rule.
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