This page explains the start at regattas of Opti Class GER, the German Optimist class association. The signals come from the Racing Rules of Sailing and are the same worldwide. Five minutes before the start, a fixed sequence begins. The flags tell you how much time is left and how strict the start is. A video under four minutes, with everything to read below.
Before the start, flags go up and down on the committee boat. And there is a horn. What does it all mean?
The start line runs between the committee boat and a buoy. No boat may cross it before the starting signal. The start sequence takes five minutes.
Five minutes before the start, the class flag goes up. There is one sound. This is the warning signal.
Four minutes before the start comes the preparatory signal, again with one sound. A second flag goes up: P, I, Z, U or black. It tells you how strict the start is.
One minute before the start, this flag comes down, with one long sound. At the start, the class flag comes down, with one sound. Now every boat may cross the line.
Important: the flags count, not the sound. If a sound is missing, the flag still applies.
What is an early start? At the starting signal, part of a boat's hull is already over the line. Then it has to go back.
Under flag P, this is simple. The committee boat shows flag X straight away, with one sound. This is the individual recall.
The committee boat does not say who was early. Your child has to notice, sail back behind the line and start again. Otherwise the results show OCS.
Under flag I, this already applies in the last minute. A boat over the line then must sail back around one end of the line.
Under Z, U and black, a triangle counts. It lies between the ends of the start line and the first mark. A boat inside it in the last minute is penalised. Sailing back does not help.
Under Z, there is a 20 percent scoring penalty. Under U, the boat is disqualified. That is UFD. Under black as well. That is BFD.
If many boats are early and the committee cannot identify them all, the First Substitute goes up with two sounds. This is the general recall. Everyone comes back, and the start begins again.
Now you see the difference. Under U, the penalty is forgotten at the new start. Under black, it stays. The committee shows the sail number, and that boat must not sail again.
And if nothing happens for a long time? Then the answering pennant, AP, is often flying. The start is postponed, for example because there is no wind. Opti regattas need at least 4 knots.
Which flags a regatta uses is written in the sailing instructions. They also show the class flag for the Optis. Read them before the first start.
An early start is expensive. OCS, UFD and BFD give as many points as there are boats entered, plus one. Our video on race scoring shows what that does.
Remember: five, four, one, go. The flags count, not the sound. Under U and black, sailing back does not help.
All rules are in the Racing Rules of Sailing, rules 26 to 30, and in the sailing instructions of each regatta.
Since 2025, only the hull counts for an early start, no longer crew or equipment. The video shows the usual sequence under rule 26. Sailing instructions may change it, for example the time to the warning signal. Not in the video: Z and I together, AP over H or A, and abandonment with flag N. The class flag in the video is a placeholder. Sail number GER 1234 is made up.
SailRanker works it out with your sail number: place by place, with your real average.