The requirement to use a protest flag is not a Class Rule. This requirement is included in the NoR and the SIs of all IODA Championships.
For information and guidelines about Team Racing formats please refer to the Team Racing page.
Race Management Standards

The Optimist Class has been growing steadily for many years now. With such growth the need for all competitors to sail not only fair competitions but also on equal terms in every place of the world has become imperative. As in the majority of sailing events worldwide, this equality of terms has been achieved by “standardisation”.
It is with this objective in mind that IODA has begun setting forth policies to make sure that the Class’ events follow certain standards:
To achieve the first two goals, the IODA Regatta Committee prepares the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions, both of which are then completed by the organisers with local information. This method allows for consistency across all IODA events and ensures that the races follow the same standard.
To make sure that decisions taken on protests, race management procedures or Class Rules enforcement follow the same criteria in all events, the IODA Executive Committee appoints:
The IODA Course Representative and IODA Measurer shall be accepted by the organisers. They shall have full access to the relevant areas and shall be able to work in close proximity with the local people under their charge.
The following rules summarise the main aspects of Race Management. For a more comprehensive guide please refer to the Race Management Manual (to be published). Click here to download the Policy in PDF format.
IODA Course Representative
For the IODA Worlds and Continentals, the IODA nominee performing as IODA Course Representative will work closely with the race officers appointed by the Organising Committee.
The Race Officers will be responsible for managing the race management team and organising the races.
The Race Officer will not take action in relation to any of the following matters (whether or not altered by the sailing instructions) without the approval of the IODA Course Representative:
The IODA Course Representative may initiate action in relation to these matters, in which case the Race Officer will be governed by the IODA Course Representative’s decision. The Course Representative may also initiate action if he believes that the racing is not conducted according to the rules, or for any reason directly affecting the safety or fairness of the competition.
Standard Documentation
For documentation related to Team Racing (grids, sailing instructions), please go to Team Racing
Scoring
IODA events have their own special format, not found in regattas of other classes, of which thhe main characteristics are:
To score series with the characteristics described above the software must include certain features that allow the configuration of the correct scenario.
There are a number of scoring programs in the market that comply with the requisites for IODA regattas, however, if organisers of an IODA event do not have a software of their choice (of which they shall have a sound knowledge) we recommend the use of Sailwave or St Pete. The reason for this recommendation is that the IODA Secretariat can provide help in case organisers find themselves in trouble during an event.
We also provide our own set of instructions to set up an IODA regatta from scratch in both programs
The current members of the Regatta Committee are (click on name to go to the ISAF official biography):
Chairman: LUIS ORMAECHEA IRO IJ (ESP)
Useful links to ISAF pages
Protest Flag
The requirement that protesting boats display a red flag even when the hull of an Optimist is less than 6 metres in length (modification of rule 61.1 of the RRS) is NOT a Class Rule.
This is an instruction that apears in the Notices of Race and Sailing Instructions of IODA championships (Worlds and Continentals) and applies only in those events. The instruction, which also includes the demand that protesting boats approach the Race Committee boat when finishing, reads as follows:
Notice of Race 1.5 Rule 61.1 “Informing the Protestee” is changed as follows: (a) Replace the penultimate sentence of rule 61.1(a) by (b) Rule 61.1(a)(2) “If the hull length of the protesting boat is less than 6 meters, she need not display a red flag” is deleted. |
IODA members and organisers may apply this IODA standard procedure in their local events but they are not forced to adopt this policy. This is not a class rule.
NEW COURSE FOR TEAM RACING AND OTHERS...
The introduction of the 2009-2012 Racing Rules of Sailing and some recent work by the Regatta Committee has resulted in some changes to both rules and format for some Continental Championships and to the Worlds. To give you all the opportunity to prepare for these changes and in some instances consider adopting them at National and Club level, we are detailing them here.
The RRS definition of zone has been changed to:
| Zone: The area around a mark within a distance of three hull lengths of the boat nearer to it. A boat is in the zone when any part of her hull is in the zone. |
RRS 86.1(b) permits the SIs to change the zone distance to two or four hull lengths. This year for all IODA Continental and World Championships, we will adopt the default distance of three hull lengths.
For team racing, IODA will adopt D1.1(a):
D1 CHANGES TO THE RACING RULES D1.1 Changes to the Definitions and the Rules of Part 2 (a) In the definition Zone the distance is changed to two hull lengths. |
Team Racing
In response to the demand of the IODA members in the recent championships, the Team Racing events of the class have been modified in an attempt to bring them closer to other major team racing events. These changes will in provide our sailors with experience that will be directly applicable in their adult sailing life.
Team Racing at the Worlds and all Continentals except the SAMs in 2009, will use the “S” course.

This course makes it is easier to run races in sequence, reducing the chance of different races meeting. It is the standard team racing course used at many other major events and both sailors and umpires should benefit from this consistent approach.
The target time for a race will be 9 minutes, with leg times of 3 minutes for upwind and downwind legs and short reaches of just a minute duration.
The scoring system will change and IODA will now adopt Appendix D.3. The net result here is a change to the penalty points applied when a boat has broken a rule.
IODA World Team Racing Championship
As discussed at the Worlds last year, one more day for team Racing has been added to the program of the World Championship and starting in Brazil 2009, 48 teams will have the chance not only to participate but to win the Team Racing World Championship.
Racing will be on two courses on the first day and all teams will sail a double elimination series. This means that a team has to lose two times to be eliminated. The 16 best teams will sail in the Team Racing Finals on the second day of the Team Racing event.
In 2007 at the World Championship only 16 out of more than 50 teams participated in the Team Racing event, which made it less interesting to the majority of the teams. By making it possible for the majority of the countries entering the IODA World Championship to sail in the team racing competition with a chance to win the title, more countries will potentially start working seriously in team racing, thus promoting it in areas where it is until now under-developed or even unknown.
To accommodate this change the Practice race will now be a day earlier on the afternoon of the 5th August and the fleet racing Individual World Championship will commence on the afternoon of the 6th August.
As requested by many NODAs, we will post more information on possible team racing formats in the next few months and I look forward to your comments this year as these changes are implemented.
Luis Ormaechea
Chairman Regatta Committee
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