2005 LIGHTNING NEW ENGLAND DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
                            and Women's Juniors and Masters NE District Championship

NOTICE OF RACE

ORGANIZING AUTHORITY: The 2005 New England District Lightning Championship is organized by Lightning Fleet 273 at the Massabesic Yacht Club (MYC) and has been sanctioned in accordance with the Bylaws of the International Lightning Class Association (ILCA).

LOCATION & DATE: The Championship will take place on July 9 + 10, 2005 at the MYC on Lake Massabesic, in Manchester, NH. The Womens, Juniors and Masters (W,J,M) will be held on Friday July 8th, also at MYC.

RULES: The regattas will be governed by the rules as defined in the 2005 – 2008 Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS), the Prescriptions of US SAILING, the Rules Governing All Lightning Class District Championships (Class Rules), this Notice of Race and any amendments thereto, and the Sailing Instructions and any amendments thereto. For purposes of qualification for the 2005 North American Championship the right of appeal is denied.

CHANGES TO THE RULES: RRS 42.3(b) is changed to read, "on a free leg of the course, when surfing (rapid accelerating down the leeward side of a wave) or planing is possible, the boat's crew may, in order to initiate surfing or planing, pump the sheet, but not the guy controlling any sail, but only once for each wave or gust of wind. When the mainsail is pumped, only that part of the sheet between the crew member handling the sheet and the first block on the boom shall be used." This changes RRS 42.3(b). The 720 Degree Turns Penalty of RRS 44.1 & 44.2 will apply, except that when a boat breaks a rule with a spinnaker drawing, she drops it completely while taking her penalty and resets it and has it drawing after the penalty, in which case the penalty is one full turn or 360 degrees instead of two full turns. This modifies RRS 44.1 & 44.2.

CATEGORY: The regatta is designated Category C in accordance with Appendix I, Regulation 20, restricted as follows: Advertising on hull only.

ELIGIBILITY: The NE District regatta is open to all ILCA members, however, only members of Fleets of the NE District will be eligible to win the NE District Championship and qualify for the ILCA North American Championship. To sail in the Masters all skippers must be at least 55 years old and the combined age of all three crew members must be 130 years. All competitors in the Womens championship must be female. All competitors in the Juniors must be 19 years old or under. For the purposes of these age requirements, the age of the competitor is determined by the age on December 31, 2005.

ENTRY PROCEDURE: Registration for the Championship will be at 10 AM Saturday July 9th. For the W,J,M championship, registration will be at 10 AM on Friday July 8th.

ENTRY FEE: The fee is for the Championship is $60.00 and includes coffee and donuts each morning and dinner for three saturday night. There is no entry fee for the W,J,M regatta.


SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Friday July 8, 2005
    10:00am                     Registration & Measurement at MYC for W,J,M
    11:00am                     Competitiors meeting for W,J,M
    12:00am                     Harbor start for W,J,M Races 1, 2, and 3 will be run back to back.
                        Awards and a Light dinner will follow sailing.

Saturday, July 9, 2005
    9:00am - 11:00am         Registration & Measurement at MYC
    11:00am                        Competitor’s Meeting
    12:00am                        Harbor Start, Up to four races will be sailed back to back as conditions allow.
                        After Sailing - Dinner at MYC and NE District Meeting

Sunday, July 10, 2005
    10:00 AM                     Harbor Start Completion of series
                        Awards will be held after racing


NUMBER OF RACES: Five races are scheduled with the completion of the first constituting the Regatta. No Warning will be given after 2:00 pm on Sunday. The Race Committee (RC) may adjust the racing schedule to suit weather conditions.

SAILING INSTRUCTIONS: The Sailing Instructions will be available during registration beginning Friday, July 8 for the W,J,M and Saturday July 9th for the Championship.

MEASUREMENT: Boats must hold valid Measurement Certificates, including Mast Certifications, and must display valid membership decal and mast decal before it can be entered in the Championship. Measurement Certificates must be presented at time of Measurement. Boat, sails, spars, and equipment must be made available for measurement and inspection before the Championship; and any or all yachts or portions thereof may be ordered remeasured at the discretion of the District Measurement Committee. Each boat shall carry a fluke-type anchor weighing at least 4 pounds (1.8 kg) with 50' of line attached for anchoring a Lightning, a compass, a minimum one gallon bucket, a paddle, an approved wearable life preserver for each person on board, a throwable life preserver (cushion), and a whistle. Each yacht must be equipped with a centerboard preventer.

SCORING: Abbreviations for scoring shall be in accordance with RRS Appendix A11.

Each boat finishing in a race and not thereafter retiring or being disqualified will be scored points equal to her finishing place, as follows: first boat scores 1 point, second boat scores 2 points, and so on. "DNC", "DNS", "DNF", and "RAF" score points equal to one more, and "OCS", "DNE", "BFD," and "DSQ" score points equal to two more than the greatest number of boats eligible to start in any race of the series. "RDG" scores points equal to the finishing position awarded her after a hearing for request for redress.

Each boat's total score will be the sum of her scores for all races. The boat with the lowest total scores wins.

TIES: Ties will be broken in accordance with Class Rules Article VIII, Paragraphs 5 (a) & (b).

FURTHER INFORMATION: For registration and or further information, please contact:

Walt Colantuono 603-880-0083 w.colantuono@att.net

for Housing information contact: Joe Ray joe.ray1@comcast.net

Nearby hotel: The SLEEP INN in Londonderry, NH 603-425-2110