BACKGROUND
An unmodified Dragon Force 65 qualifies for membership in both the DF65 and RG65 class. This dual eligibilty leads to a minor complication for AMYA members and clubs in writing Notices of Race and Sailing Instructions. A further complication is introduced because the DF65 COA registers boats and the RG65 follows its International organization and assigns sail numbers to skippers, who apply that one number to all the boats they own. The class secretaries of the DF65 and RG65 Class Owners Associations have agreed on the following policy to deal with the options available to a DF65 owner.
The most important issue deals with National and Regional Championships. The AMYA by-laws specify that participants in such Championships must be AMYA members and their boats must be "properly registered in its class." (8.3.1)
This means that participants must have been assigned a sail number by the appropriate class secretary.
OBLIGATIONS ON SKIPPERS
What this means for DF65 skippers is best explained by example. Let's say you have a DF65 and have registered it with the RG65 class secretary, as so many people have. If you want to sail it in a DF65 National or Regional Championship *as a DF65* you must go to
and apply for a sail number *as a DF65.* If you request the same last two digits as your RG65 skipper number then there will be no need to change anything on your boat. So if you have RG65 skipper number 1234 your boat may be registered as DF65 9934, but sail number 34 works for both. The same request works if you have three digits on your sail.
Conversely, if you have registered your Dragon Force with the DF65 class secretary, and you wish to sail it *as an RG65* in an RG65 Regional or National Championship you must go to
and request an RG65 skipper number, again with the ability to keep the last two or three digits (and therefore the number on your sail) the same.
So the bottom line is: If you think you are going to compete with your Dragon Force as a DF65 in some events and an RG65 in others, you need to have both a DF65 sail number and an RG65 skipper number. If you think you are going to only sail it as a DF65, all you need is a DF65 sail number. If you think you are only going to sail it as an RG65, all you need is an RG65 skipper number, the last two digits of which are your sail number.
OBLIGATIONS ON CLUBS
If a club is holding a Regional or National Championship, they have no option but to conform to the AMYA bylaw and require registration in the appropriate class. To do otherwise invalidates any Championship they award.
If the club is holding any other kind of event, the club must decide whether registration is required.
In either case clubs should make it clear whether registration is required in the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions for the event.
Here’s best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year and great sailing.