Notice of Race - Personal Handicap Pursuit Series
Trident Trophy
January - December 2026. 12 races, first race of each month.
1. Rules
1.1. The Organizing Authority is Silver Wing Sailing Club (SWSC). All enquiries to
secretary@silverwingsc.co.uk
1.2. The series shall be governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing 2025-2028, and the Rules of SWSC.
2. Eligibility
2.1. The series is open to all dinghy classes sailed at SWSC.
2.2. All boats must be helmed by club members. Current club fees must be paid by the helm or person in
charge before competing in any race.
2.3. Sailors need not be a member of the relevant class association
3. Schedule of races
3.1. There will be one Personal Handicap Pursuit race per month
3.2. This will be the first race of the first Sunday of each month, except:
3.2.1. April; it will be the first race on Sunday 12th April.
3.2.2. January Pursuit re-scheduled from 4th to 18th January due weather.
3.3. The Warning Signal will not be before 10:55.
3.4. The race shall be as close as possible to 50 minutes in duration.
3.5. For starting sequence see Club Racing Sailing Instructions.
4. Personal Handicaps (PH)
4.1. The objective is to reward the sailor who has improved the most over the course of the series.
4.2. Each sailor shall be allocated a PH which will correspond to their start time (see Club SIs).
This handicap will be for both sailor and boat. If a sailor sails multiple classes then they will have a
different PH for each class. PH values can be both positive and negative (to accommodate junior
classes).
4.3. A list of PHs is published at the beginning of each year and updated each month. It will be posted on
the results noticeboard.
4.4. Method of calculating the list of PH values at the beginning of the series:
4.4.1. If a sailor has sailed sufficient races during the preceding year, a ‘
personal PY
’ value will be
calculated. This is the average of the
‘achieved PYs’
returned over the year by the RYA PY
handicap calculation for that sailor/boat combination.
The ‘
personal PY’
is then converted to a PH for a 50 minute race. The 0 point is a PY of 1210.
4.4.2. If a sailor has a valid PH from last year’s Trident trophy series their new PH will be a weighted
average of this and the PH calculated from their ‘
personal PY’
. If not the ‘
personal PY’
value is
used.
4.5. If there is no valid data the committee will allocate a sensible PH. This may be done when the list is
initially generated or on the day if required.
4.5.1. If a sailor is already seeded into a club division then suggested PH values for a boat by division
are printed on the PH list. This will be used to set a PH ‘on the day’ if required.
4.6. To ‘dampen’ the system changes are made to the PH vales after each race, and a new PH list is
published:
The system is based on that used by Burghfield SC. Changes are proportional to the distance from
‘mid fleet’ of a sailor in the preceding race. Changes are also weighted for fleet size and start time.
This is done only for the specific helm/boat case.
5. Sailing Instructions
5.1. Club Sailing Instructions are available on the SWSC website and are pinned to the club notice board.
6. Scoring System
6.1. The series is defined as a ‘Club Series’ as detailed below.
6.2. Scoring shall be IAW Appendix A, and shall use the Low Points System, with the following exceptions
for a ‘Club Series’:
4th January 2026 Silverwing Sailing Club
Staines Road
Wraysbury
TW19 5AG
6.2.1. Scores for races in a ‘Club Series’ are allocated to competitors as opposed to boats.
Competitors may race as either helms, or crews, or both; and will be scored separately as helms
or crews. Competitors may sail different boats during the series. This changes App. A.
6.2.2. Rule A5.3 will apply.
6.2.3. In Pursuit Series a competitor’s score shall be the total of their best scores from a number of
races equal to one half of the number of races sailed. If one half of the total races sailed is not a
whole number it shall be rounded to the nearest whole number.
This is different from all other ‘Club series’ as the Pursuit Series only has 12 races.
A competitor shall sail a minimum of this number of races to qualify for a series.
6.2.4. The number of races counting towards the above qualifying score shall however not be less than
three.
6.2.5. If a competitor does not sail the required number of races in a Club Series they shall still be
given an overall position. They will however be deemed a ‘non-qualifier’ and will not be finished
higher overall than any competitor who has qualified. They will not be eligible for any trophies.
6.2.6. Club Series ties shall be broken IAW rule A8, except that excluded scores will be used. This
changes rule A8.1
6.3. Four races are required to constitute a series.
6.4. Competitors undertaking RO or safety boat duties shall score for those races their average score
from the races they competed in during the series. These are defined as ‘RO average points’.
6.4.1. A competitor must have sailed the required number of races to qualify for a trophy however.
6.4.2. No more than two races scoring ‘RO Average points’ will count towards the series.
7. Post-Race Penalties
7.1. RRS Appendix T applies.
7.2. Advisory Meeting
When there is an incident that will not result in the lodging of a protest or a request for redress, a boat
may request an advisory meeting and notify any boat involved in the incident. An adviser will then call
a meeting to learn what may have happened and will state whether any rule appears to have been
broken, and by which boat.
A boat may as a result notify the race office that it accepts a Post-Race Penalty when it applies to the
incident, or choose to retire, but is not required to do so.
8. Trophies
8.1. The trophy for the overall winning helm is the Trident Trophy.
9. Rights to use Names and Likenesses
9.1. Competitors automatically grant to the organising authority without payment the right in perpetuity to
make, use and show any motion pictures, still pictures and live, taped or filmed television of or
relating to the series.
10. Risk Statement
10.1. Rule 3 of the Racing Rules of Sailing states: “The responsibility for a boat’s decision to
participate in a race or to continue racing is hers alone.” Sailing is by its nature an unpredictable sport
and therefore involves an element of risk. By taking part in the event, each competitor agrees and
acknowledges that:
a)They are aware of the inherent element of risk involved in the sport and accept responsibility for the
exposure of themselves, their crew and their boat to such inherent risk whilst taking part in the event;
b)They are responsible for the safety of themselves, their crew, their boat and their other property
whether afloat or ashore;
c)They accept responsibility for any injury, damage or loss to the extent caused by their own actions
or omissions;
d)Their boat is in good order, equipped to sail in the event and they are fit to participate; e)The
provision of a race management team, patrol boats, umpires and other officials and volunteers by the
organiser does not relieve them of their own responsibilities;
f)The provision of patrol boat cover is limited to such assistance, particularly in extreme weather
conditions, as can be practically provided in the circumstances
g)It is their responsibility to familiarise themselves with any risks specific to this venue or this event
drawn to their attention in any rules and information produced for the venue or event and to attend
any safety briefing held at the venue;
11. Insurance
11.1. Boats are required to be adequately insured including insurance against third party claims of
at least £3,000,000
