NAVIGA Section S Section S deals with racing sailing yachts. But in difference to F-NSS (of section NS, which deals with sail boats also), the yachts in this section are built for speed only. Section S is all about racing or, as we call it, performing well in a regatta. Therefore yachts in this section are not built according to some real world role models, but are built consequently for performing as good as possible on the water and in all wind conditions. The use of modern materials, such as fibre enhanced resin or kevlar carbon is common. But beware: this is not the key to win a regatta. While a reliable yacht is a must, the skipper is equally important! In fact some say: it is 80% the skipper and 20% the boat. Knowing the sailing rules and how to use them to your advantage, keeping an eye on the wind conditions the water and the waves, observing your opponents, having an eye for distances and speed, doing the right thing at the right time on the right spot; this is what makes you win a regatta. And … yes, sometimes you also need a little bit of luck also. But not very much. 🙂
Section SÂ is divided in different classes:
In addition to the official NAVIGA sailing classes, there often are a number of national classes, often for juniors. These classes often work as a building step to learn the sailing rules and become familiar with regatta sailing before the step is made into international regatta sailing in some official NAVIGA class. Contact your national organization to figure out which ones are popular in your area of the world.
An event in sailing is called a “Regatta”, just as with the big boats. A regatta consists of many individual heats. Since there are often much more competitors, then the race officer is capable to handle, a heat is often divided into indivdual races. The typical maximum number of cometitors in a race is 15 to 20, depending on the skills of the race officer and the overall circumstances. If there are more then that number of competitors, they are divided into groups and each group sails a race on its own. There are a number of scoring systems available, which collect races into heats and guide the competition through the regatta. But don’t worry, while this may sound complicated, as a competitor it is not your job to take care on that issue. When it is your turn to race, the race officer will call you.
Oh, and yes: RC-sailing in section S is done at almost all weather conditions.