Procedures for Race Committee (RC) Duties

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A few years ago, we introduced this very successful procedure for volunteering for RC duties. Simply put, if you register to race, you are required to signup for RC duties.

1. If your boat is registered to race, each boat owner is responsible for providing three volunteers and each dinghy skipper is responsible for providing two volunteers. If your boat is registered in more than one fleet you have to register twice!
2. Go to: nsc.ca/volunteers/racing_db/ (or follow the RC Duties link using the main NSC page Volunteers button)
3. Find the month you'd like to volunteer in using "Previous Month" and "Next Month".
4. Pick a race night and sign up your race boat. If a race night you pick is partially filled, either pick another night or spread your volunteers over a couple of nights. For keel boats you must provide three (or more) people. For dinghies, you must provide two (or more) people.
5. When registering, indicate the skipper, boat name and fleet that you are volunteering on behalf of. Otherwise we may not know which boat to credit. If you are volunteering on your own, there is no need to fill in this section.
6. Show up for race duties on the night you selected at least 1 hour before the race starts. (5:15PM for summer race nights, 5:00 PM after September 1st. If you have volunteered for Frostbite races, the first gun is 13:30. Please be at the dock by 12:30.)
7. If you race more than one night, go to step 1 and do this again. That’s it. You are finished. Congratulations for signing up for Race Duties.

For those who don’t signup, we’ll be filling in the slots with the names of boats that have signed up to race but haven’t signed up for race duties starting one month before each race session (spring, summer, fall and Frostbite), so why not sign up right now?

Questions and Answers

Who can volunteer? The skipper for each boat that is registered to race is responsible for providing volunteers. However, the people who show up for race duty don’t need to be skipper or crew of the boat. They don’t even need to be racers! They just have to be able to perform the light duties expected of them as RC crew.

What about training? No experience is necessary. RC duty training will be provided by NSC for those who are interested (see the website and Telltale for details).

What happens if all the race nights aren’t filled? Then we go to the second stage. At the second stage we gather up all the race registrants, discard those that have already signed up and start filling in the holes in the schedule. To make it easier for folks to come out we’ll sign you up on your race night. That way you don’t have to worry about coming out on a night that isn’t convenient to you. We do this approximately one month before the start of each race season (spring, summer, fall). If you don’t want to do RC duty on your race night make sure you sign up in stage one. Once all the race nights are filled the remaining boats will go on the reserve list.

What happens if all the race nights are filled? If all the race nights are filled (don’t forget the Frostbite series) then those of you who didn’t have the opportunity to volunteer will be put on a reserve list. If a skipper cannot perform RC duty on their chosen or assigned race night then they will contact you to take their place.

What is this reserve list of which you speak? The Race Committee Volunteer Coordinator will take everyone who is registered for racing, but has not signed-up, and will put them on the reserve list. If we have gaps in the schedule, we will assign volunteers from the list. Although we will give you as much notice as we can, you are still responsible for making sure you check the schedule for your name before the series starts, and again regularly. We will make the list available on the NSC website so that others can contact you (see below).

How will I be contacted? It is each skipper’s responsibility to make sure that their contact details, and specifically their email address, is correct on their race registration form, and in the NSC Bluebook. If it is not correct, or it changes during the season, it is your responsibility to notify the RC Volunteer Coordinator (rc_volunteer_coordinator@nsc.ca) and the NSC office (nsc-admin@nsc.ca). Volunteers receive reminder emails when they sign up and in advance of the event itself.

Can’t make it on your chosen or designated race night? Yep stuff comes up, we understand. If you can’t attend, it’s up to you to recruit your own replacement. If you can’t make it on your race night, contact the RC volunteer coordinator, get a copy of the reserve list, and contact the first boat on the list to have them cover for you. If you are on the reserve list and get a call, you have an obligation to follow through. (You can see that it’s better to signup and know your schedule rather than be called at the last minute). If you can’t get a suitable replacement from the reserve list, you are still obligated to find your own replacement. The RC Volunteer Coordinator will help if they can, but what we can do is limited, especially at short notice.

What happens if the RC volunteers don’t show for RC duty on race night? This can happen. If a skipper/RC crew fails to show up in a timely manner in order that the RC boats leave the harbour on time, the race bosun will draft an immediate replacement from the reserve list and from the boats ready to race in the harbour. The bosun will start with the reserve list but any boat may be drafted. It’s either that or cancel the race. If you are pressed into duty on a night you registered to race you will get average points. The boat that failed to attend their scheduled duty will be protested under sailing instruction Part A, 20.11, may be scored DNE, and will still need to fulfil its volunteer commitment.

What happens to my scoring? For those of you who are worried about points and stuff like that, you will not get points for a race night that you volunteered for or were assigned to, so make sure you volunteer on a night you don’t race. If you are pressed into duty for a NSC-run race on a night you registered to race, you will get average points, according to sailing instruction 20.9. Any boat that refuses to provide volunteers under these circumstances will be protested according to sailing instruction Part A 20.10 may receive a DNE and will also still need to fulfil its volunteer commitment.

I’m already doing another Race Management duty. Volunteering for scoring and protest committee for weeknight series or frostbite racing is recognized as RC duty. Your boat still needs to come up with the requisite number of volunteers. Scoring one series of racing is equivalent to 3 volunteers for one RC duty (i.e., 3 volunteer-nights). Holding a year-long volunteer position is equivalent to 6 volunteer-nights. Just make sure your name is on the appropriate scoring or protest judging lists..

I don’t race but I’d like to do RC duties! No problem, just go to the website and signup as many (or few) people as you wish. Just leave the boat name and fleet (for which you would be volunteering on behalf of) blank.

Questions/Comments? Send an e-mail to the RC Volunteer Coordinator.