Race Committee Tool Kit

Thank you for volunteering to serve on Race Committee and being an essential part of AYC’s on-the-water activities. Please review the information below, including “The Basics,” the relative “Lake Information,” and the “Common Stuff.”

SAFETY NOTICE: Life jackets should be worn at all times when aboard the powerboats. This is good seamanship and protects you and others in the event of an emergency.

All mark-set boats need at least two adults aboard, and if high winds are predicted, a third adult should be aboard. Three people are better than two in water rescue and capsize situations since one person needs to drive.

Any safety concerns or issues should be reported to our AYC Safety Chair at Safety@arizonayachtclub.org

THE BASICS – Powerboat Operators, Boat Checklists, Scoring (click to expand)

APPROVED POWERBOAT OPERATORS: This page lists all the folks who have successfully passed the safe powerboating coursework and on-the-water practical. Feel free to contact those newer operators and offer to take them aboard for some practice.

COMMUNICATE WITH THE LAKE CAPTAIN: Below are boat checklists that are used to communicate the condition and issues of boats used during racing. Each operator should print the relevant form, complete it after each race and email it to the Lake Captain at the end of the day – taking a picture of the checklist is quick and easy.

RACE SCORE DUTIES: Each fleet serving on the Race Committee is responsible for entering the day’s scores in a load file. SCORE ENTRY FORM
There is also a video link titled, How to Enter Scores for those new to the process. The club scorer will then process the file and post the scores.

LAKE PLEASANT INFORMATION – Videos, Charts, Directions (click to expand)

Video: Setting Race Marks at Lake Pleasant (7 minutes)

Required viewing by anyone aboard the mark set boat (Whaler)

You need to know how to handle the race marks and the anchoring system—and doing it wrong will make a complete mess that someone else will have to fix. Lake Captain David Newland and his son Josh created this video to show how it’s done correctly.

Video: Arizona Yacht Club Sailboat Racing – Lake Pleasant (3 minutes)
Mike Ferring produced this short introductory video about the club’s racing at Lake Pleasant.

Video: Swanage Sailing Club – Sailboat Rescue and Safety Training Video (15 min)
This video includes how to right a capsized boat: small, large, and catamarans; towing, retrieving a person in the water, dropping safety crew to help; acting fast to avert danger; and handling injuries.

Lake Pleasant is less than one hour north of central Phoenix. If you’ve never been there, plan at least 90 minutes to get there, take the shuttle to the Valet Dock, and get settled for departure. Here are directions to Lake Pleasant.

TEMPE TOWN LAKE INFORMATION Video, Charts, Directions (click to expand)

We usually use one of two boats docked in the TTL Marina. The boats are owned by ASF and used during AYC races. Please use the TTL Powerboat Checklist when aboard either boat as an operator. The list is comprehensive and is to be submitted to the Lake Captain if an issue is present.

Video: Swanage Sailing Club – Sailboat Rescue and Safety Training Video (15 min)
This video includes how to right a capsized boat: small, large, and catamarans; towing, retrieving a person in the water, dropping safety crew to help; acting fast to avert danger; and handling injuries.

Tempe Town Lake Marina is plunked down in the middle of metro Phoenix, bordered on the north by Route 202. Here’s more information and directions on how to get there.

THE COMMON STUFF: Race write-ups, Photos, Protests (click to expand)

Race Write-up and Photos
The person serving as PRO is asked to identify someone from their fleet to take a few pictures or do a brief write-up on the day’s event.

Please submit your write-up and photo upload notifications to the club communications team.

Photos
If you took photos, please sort through them and upload your best 10-15 shots to our AYC SmugMug account. Please, no photo dumping or blurry pics. You give the club permission to use your photos on our Facebook page and our weekly newsletter by uploading your photos. Members may also download them for free. “Share Your Photos” is located under the top menu “Other.”
UPLOAD PHOTOS HERE

Please submit your write-up and notification of photo upload to the club communications team.

Protests
Beginning in fall 2022, any protest or redress hearings will be conducted online. Hearing requests must be filed according to the Sailing Instructions using the US Sailing app, the form linked below, or by sending a simple qualifying email to the Racing Captain.

Hearing Request (Protest) Form (PDF)

Arizona Yacht Club Fleets
Arizona Yacht Club has several fleets, each active with many boats and good sailors. See the fleet page here.