Rule 26 start signals
At another club's regatta the start follows rule 26 of the Racing Rules of Sailing, not the club's own signals. The whole division starts together on a five minute sequence: five, four, one, go.
Time from the flags, not the horn. Rule 26 takes every time from the visual signal, and a horn that is late or missing changes nothing. Start your watch when the class flag goes up: five minutes to go. P up, four. P down, one. Class flag down, go.
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5 min to go
Warning signal
Class flag raised
Horn 1 horn
The notice of race or sailing instructions can put the warning signal at other than five minutes, or make it something other than a class flag, such as a number board.
Flying:
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4 min to go
Preparatory signal
P flag raised
Horn 1 horn
The sailing instructions may name flag I, Z, Z with I, U or the black flag instead of P. Each brings a penalty for a boat over the line, or in the triangle to the first mark, in the last minute.
Flying:
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1 min to go
One minute
Preparatory flag lowered
Horn 1 long horn
Flying:
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Go
Start
Class flag lowered
Horn 1 horn
No flags
Where several divisions start, each division's warning signal is made with or after the start signal of the division before it, so one sequence runs straight into the next.
If the start goes wrong
Rule 29 covers a boat over the line at her start signal. A regatta's sailing instructions can change this too, and the race page says where they do.
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Individual recall
Flags: X
Horn 1 horn
A boat was over the line at her start signal. X stays up until every such boat has come back behind the line or an extension of it, for up to four minutes, or until one minute before the next division starts, whichever is first.
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General recall
Flags: First substitute
Horn 2 horns
The race committee cannot tell which boats were over, or something went wrong with the start. The new warning signal comes one minute after the First Substitute comes down, with one horn, and the divisions due to start after this one start after the new start.
Flags I, Z, U and the black flag as the preparatory signal carry penalties under rule 30 for a boat in the last minute before her start. Under I, a boat over the line or its extensions must sail back across an extension before she starts. Under Z, a boat in the triangle between the ends of the line and the first mark takes a 20 per cent scoring penalty. Under U or the black flag she is disqualified without a hearing; a U flag disqualification is lifted if the race is restarted, a black flag one stands, and she sits the restart out.
Where the club starts this way
The regatta's notice of race and sailing instructions can change any of this, and they govern. Each race page carries what they say.
- Race 3, Spring Series Heat 3, Balmain Regatta, Sunday 25 October 2026
The club's own starts are signalled differently. In a scratch start P goes up at six minutes and three red flags count down from three; in a handicap start numbered boards count the minutes and each boat starts on its own number. Under rule 26 there is no six minute signal and no red flags: the class flag at five minutes is the first thing you see.