Duties of Owners
The principal duty of a racing owner is to see that everything in connection with the racing of his yacht is done in a perfectly fair and honourable manner. An owner who breaks or infringes any racing rule flagrantly 'may be disqualified by the Council, for such time as the Council may think fit, from sailing his yacht in any race held under the rules of the Y.R.A.' (Rule 33).
When a yacht is officially measured, the owner should be on board, or have an experienced racing friend on board to represent him. He should note the position of the inside ballast, ship's stores, unbent sails, and other gear, entering same in his note-book. He should see that the crew is properly placed, viz. 'amidships' (Council's instructions to official measurer, March 1, 1883), as, by a resolution passed December 6, 1892, a yacht (Rule 3, December 1892) must now be marked by the owner, such marks being clear above the water surface in smooth water in 'racing trim,' which evidently means with crew and all weights (live or dead) carried in a race on board.
The taxable length will in future be officially measured to the 'outer edges' of said marks, a length somewhat greater than the yacht's L.W.L.
An owner should take the greatest care to see for himself that his yacht's taxable length is never increased, and that any alteration to her ballast trim, sanctioned by a recent addition to Rule 15, is never made after 9 p.m. of the day previous to a race.
As regards the sail-area, an owner should hand the sailmaker's certificate to the official measurer and give him every assistance in measuring the yacht's spars, &c.; and, subsequently, should any alteration be made to the sails or spars affecting the yacht's rating, the owner should at once inform the secretary Y.R.A. in writing, and return the certificate if required (Rule 3). In short, an owner is held responsible for the rating of his yacht being absolutely correct.
His next duty is to enter her properly for any race he may wish to compete in. 'Entries shall be made ... at least forty-eight hours previous to noon of the race day'—twenty-four hours being added for a Sunday. Clubs have asserted the right to close entries at a longer interval. Owners must therefore note these times for closing the entries, and act accordingly (Rule 5).
Post entries are not provided for in the Y.R.A. rules, and must therefore be considered irregular, whether sanctioned by the other competitors or not.
The long declaration given in the rule is a nuisance, and should be cut out, as there is no reason for mentioning one rule more than another on this declaration. So long, however, as the Y.R.A thinks it necessary, it must be enforced, and owners should help the clubs to do so by carrying it out. As before stated, an entry by telegram (sent off before the hour of closing entries) should be followed at once by this written declaration.
An owner should know that if a race be postponed or resailed all the yachts entered may start; but the entry is closed to other yachts (Rule 5).