RYA advises on Advertising Code

UK dinghy classes will not be able to use Category C advertising unless they specifically request it from the RYA

The RYA recognises that rating rules and handicap systems other than Portsmouth Yardstick, are often used by more than one Club, and that one Club might want to restrict all its handicap racing to Category A, while another might have good reason to wish to adopt Category C for racing under the same handicap. Also, a single club might want Category A to apply to (for instance) its keelboat handicap racing, since the entrants are only ever likely to be boats of Category A classes: whereas much of its handicap centreboard racing is for Category C classes.

Provision is therefore made for a handicap system or rating rule to seek categorization and therefore use in more than one format. Different formats may then be stated to apply to different races, and the results may if so desired then be combined for an overall result. The prescription is:

Regulation 20.5.1

(a) A controller of a handicap system or rating rule may request the RYA:
(i) to decide that races held under that system or rule are Category C, or are Category C with restrictions stated in the request.
(ii) to subdivide the system or rule into two or more subsystems or subrules with different Categories. Race results may later be combined. The RYA will normally agree to such a request.

(b) For races for which scoring under the RYA Portsmouth Yardstick Scheme is specified, the advertising category (for UK competitors under ISAF regulation 20.5.1) is Category C.

(c) When a handicap system is controlled by the organizing authority for the races to be sailed under that system and when permission as required has been received from the RYA for Category C advertising to be displayed, the Notice of Race shall so state, and shall state any approved restriction.

(d) Regulation 20.4.4 and the prescription thereto apply to clubs organising handicap racing.

When a handicap system controlled by the event organizer, such as a Club's own system, is used, the RYA prescribes that permission to display Category C advertising, and any restriction thereto, shall be stated in the Notice of Race. For example:

"Results will be calculated using the Limpopo River Sailing Club Handicap System. The Limpopo River Sailing Club Handicap System’s Advertising Category for UK sailors is approved by the RYA as ‘restricted C’. The restriction is that advertisements may only be displayed on spinnakers."


Can a club Insist on no advertising at its events?

The Advertising Code cannot be changed by notice of race or by sailing instructions. The Advertising Code recognises that some clubs will wish not to have advertising, and therefore allows a national authority to approve requests from clubs to restrict a club event to Category A subject to certain conditions. The RYA has prescribed as follows:

Regulation 20.4.4

An organising authority wishing to restrict advertising in an event to Category A shall apply to the RYA Racing Division at least 15 days before publishing the Notice of Race, specifying the event and confirming:

(a) for a Club event, that the event:
(i) is sponsored, organized or held by a Club which has sailing as one of its activities, and
(ii) does not form part of a wider series for which Category C boats are eligible, and
(iii) is not a qualifier for another event for which Category C boats are eligible.

(b) for an invitational event, that the event is not a qualifier for an International Class event.

The RYA will normally grant approval if such an application is received. The restriction to Category A and the RYA statement of approval shall be printed in the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions.

The Code does not define an 'event', and the RYA interprets it to include both a single race and a series, for the purposes of the Code. Permission may therefore be sought with reference to a race or races, to a regatta or other specific event, to the whole of a club's programme where there are no open events, or the whole of the programme but excluding any event that is part of a wider series for which Category C boats are eligible. In all cases the events for which permission is being sought must be individually specified.


Other Details

There is no restriction on advertising on clothing or personal equipment, or on sailboard hulls. In addition, just as today, hulls, sails and other items of equipment can carry a maker's mark. Supplied equipment can carry Category C advertising chosen by the event organiser.

National authorities can introduce licensing systems, and charge fees from its sailors who carry advertising - but the RYA has decided to license all its sailors to carry permitted advertising, and not charge any fee.

It is possible that other National Authorities will introduce a licensing system, and competitors travelling abroad may be asked at registration for their licence. A GBR competitor abroad is under the sole jurisdiction of the RYA for this purpose, and letter may be requested from the RYA stating that the competitor does not require a licence or permission from the RYA to display category C advertising.

The Code also says that there should be no variation of entry fee based on whether a boat carries advertising. This is not mandatory, and the RYA is not critical of UK organising authorities that use variable entry fees to help them run events provided that the differential is not punitive.

The Code can be accessed via ISAF's website, and has been reproduced, with the RYA's prescriptions, in YR1, the new RYA print of the rule book, available in March. In addition the RYA has set up an email helpline to answer any questions.