The Club 500 class of small power boats was introduced into the Club in 2019 and already has 8 members.
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The Club built a 6 stage Starting Gate which automatically times the length of the race with a horn sounding at the start and finish. If a boat jumps the start signal then this is indicated by red warning lights but no action is taken. When the Starting Gate was first introduced the race was aborted automatically but this caused such confusion, with some skippers not understanding that the race had been aborted, that this was removed from the program.
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A maximum of 6 boats race around a M shaped course for 5 minutes. The number of laps is recorded with the remaining time to complete the last lap. If there are more than 6 skippers taking part then they are organised into groups and multiple races held. In a morning sailing it is usual for 2 heats to be held and the results combined.
Lots of detail on the MPBA website, click button to go to the site.
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Club 500 boats can only be purchased in kit form from Club500Slipway, click button to go to the site.