As well as a safety measure, the sign on system provides the Race Officer of the day with useful information as to how many boats might be sailing, what classes, etc. This not only helps in determining race layouts with length of start lines but on days of marginal conditions it assists the Race Officer in determining whether or not to go racing or cancel. Last Saturday the conditions were marginal with the wind jumping around from 20 to 40 knots at times with averages around 25 knots. None of the Dragons or VxOnes signed on, while two Etchells, one 2.4mR and eight keelboats did sign on. The number of keelboats fluctuated as some boats initially signed on, but then updated their status to “Not Sailing Today” which was very helpful for the RO and thank you to the boats who updated their status. This gave the RO a lot better picture of the potential impact of cancelling racing, which we did for the Etchells and 2.4s and the keelboats went out and had an excellent sail with a strong northerly and flat seas. It is also useful in terms of communicating with competitors – if you sign on, you will get updates via text messages. Even if you are not sure of the full crew list, if the skipper signs on the boat and themselves, they will then receive any text messages sent and if your crew is signed on, they will also get the message. You can sign your boat on the day before the race and update your crew list the day of racing before you leave the dock and this would really help in managing racing. Signing on not only assists the RO, but also means that we can better communicate any updates to boats intending to race on the day.
