Racing Duties

Zero duties for
leisure sailors and windsurfers

Paid staff cover....

Club racers only do 1-2
race duties per year

  • Racing members aged 16 or over are required to do up to 3 duties over 2 years
  • Each October we see who has raced over the past year and those people only are added to the duty system
  • You’ll receive a welcome message which contains your login details

Duty Roster

DutyMan is a web based duty roster management system where members can book their own duties and organise duty swaps interactively. Duty reminders are automatically emailed to you.

Contact the Club office if you’re not receiving the emails or need to change your email address.

What's involved with a race duty?

Brief overview

  • Chat to staff about water activities taking place that day, which areas to use or avoid
  • Assess wind direction/weather forecast to get an idea of course options
  • Drive the committee boat out & anchor (powerboat licence not needed)
  • Plan and display the course & put the green flag up
  • Run the start automated sequence
  • Once people are racing, note boats as they complete each lap with times
  • At a suitable moment, finish the racing by shortening the course and use the automated sequence
  • Record all boats as they cross over the finish line with times
  • Repeat these steps for the second race if there is one
  • After racing, bring the boat back to shore, collect all the sheets and put the number of laps and finish times on to the signing on sheets

Detailed step-by-step process

The Racing Duty Manual is a step-by-step guide for the duty whole process from start to finish.

 

The level of detail means it is a large document so do read through it before your duty to familiarise yourself with the process.

A hardcopy of the manual is included in the race tray so you don’t need to print or bring anything with you.

The race tray also includes: 

  • signing on sheets
  • lap sheets
  • clipboards with stopwatches
  • maps of the lake with the lettered race marks

FAQs

Do I need to know racing rules?

No – you just need to have a basic understanding of how Club racing works, such as someone being over the course start.

If a sailor protests another sailor then speak to staff after the race who will help.

Will I be on my own?

We schedule all race office duties to be in pairs so someone will be with you.

If a week before you can see that the other person hasn’t confirmed there duty on DutyMan try to contact them or your fleet captain.

It is possible to do the race duty on your own if you are experienced.

When should I arrive?

Please arrive an hour before the race starts to allow time to speak with staff and prepare.

The committee boat needs to be launched 30 minutes before the race starts.

Using DutyMan

Please see below for some instructions on using DutyMan for the first time.  There is also a good help section on the DutyMan website itself.

If you are eligible for OD Duty you will have had an email, at the beginning of November, with a link to the Duty Allocation Form. The subject of the email is ‘Draycote Water Sailing Club: New duties ready for allocation’.  If you are not eligible for duty and would like to help please contact: draycoteod [at] gmail.com

You book your duties using the Duty Allocation Form on a first come first served basis, crewing members can book the same dates as their Helm. Any unallocated dates will be auto allocated to those who have not booked the minimum requirement.

Select a date you would like and close the form, you are now booked.

If you have logged into DutyMan and cannot find the ‘Duty Allocation Form’, it is in the right hand menu.

When the booking period expires the duties are published to the Roster. If you have not booked a duty you will be auto allocated a date or dates at random. When the duties have been published to the Roster, you will get an email asking you to confirm your attendance. This is the final part of the process. Confirmed duties display a blue tick, this reduces the club administration costs. Reminders are automatically sent, so ensure you monitor the email address you supplied to the club.

The Roster for the next calendar year is published at the beginning of December. A notification of your duties will be emailed to you, which requires you to confirm you will be able to attend.

The confirmation is the final part of the process and vital to it working fully.

  1. Log in to DutyMan.
  2. Go to the Roster section
  3. Click on the red arrow to the left of your duty ‐ your duties will be shown in red.
  4. Click on one of the options shown on the right Confirmed with or without reminders if you can do the duty.
  5. There should now be a blue tick by your duty if you have confirmed.

There will be unforeseen circumstances when you will not be able to do your scheduled duty, it is your responsibility as a member to arrange a swap. The member seeking to exchange a duty has the responsibility for the duty until the exchange is arranged & confirmed.

To arrange a swap you must be logged into DutyMan. Your duty will be highlighted in red, click on the swap symbol. Browse through the Roster for people you would like to request a swap with and click on their swap symbol, the more the better. Write a short message in the box provided and click Request

Volunteering...

For Race Duties

Non-racing members often volunteer for duties and some racing members offer extra help on top of their standard duties which we are very grateful for. Speak to a staff member to volunteer.

For Specific Events

There are a couple of events each year (e.g. the Open Day, Draycote Dash) that we ask for volunteers for. These requests are sent out in the email newsletters.

For Club/Grounds Tasks

A few members have approached us offering to help out with Club tasks and grounds maintenance. Speak to a member of staff if you’d like to help, too.

Contact us

Please complete the form below and a member of staff will get back in touch with you.