ENTRIES : POST ENTRIES.
Many a time an owner has been disappointed in sailing because his entry arrived too late, and he should recollect that by the Y.R.A. rules, a yacht must be entered for a match at least forty-eight hours before noon of the day appointed for starting the race. But a longer time may possibly be required, and in inserting the dates of a match in a diary, the date of closing the entries should be inserted as well.
A club cannot accept post entries, but sometimes a yacht, which was not properly entered, is allowed to start upon the other competitors signing a paper that they do not object. If the other competitors did not do this, and if the post entry won the prize, the club or regatta committee could be sued by the owner of the second vessel ; and he could recover the amount of the prize.
Entries can be made by telegram, and it is considered a sufficiently good entry if proof is given that the telegram was despatched or handed in at the telegraph office before noon of the day on which the entries closed. So also if it can be proved that a letter was posted in such time that the entry ought in the ordinary course to have arrived before noon of the day on which the entries close, the entry should be considered a good one. A plea of forgetfulness, or a general statement that some body was " told to enter the yacht, and forgot to do it, or neglected doing it," does not justify the acceptance of a post entry.
Post entries are condemned for two strong reasons ; in the first place they are disliked by the owners of the yachts that have already entered in good time ; in the second place, they are disliked by clubs and regatta committees, because owners are induced to hang back until the last moment to see if the weather will suit their yachts, or to see if they can arrive in time to sail. The chance of swelling an entry by admitting a
late corner, that had not deferred entering for any of the above reasons, is a very remote one, and post entries are now rarely heard of.
A yacht cannot be entered for a race under two rigs, but if there are two or more distinct races at the same time, or a prize for each rig, she can enter under a different rig for each. If it is a race where there is an "allowance for rig," a yacht cannot be entered under different rigs. In a race where there are distinct prizes for more than one rig, and where the rig of the " first yacht in " determines the rig of the winner of the principal prize, an owner may enter a yacht of each rig, but in no case can two yachts of the same rig be entered in a race.
In all cases the form of entry provided by the Y.R.A. should be signed by the owner or his representative before the race is started. So also in all cases should the declaration that the rules have been strictly observed be signed before a prize is presented.
In races that are ordered to be re-sailed, from whatever cause, all the original entries can start, and no yacht, whether she was among the original starters or not, requires to be re-entered. The yachts in fact are regarded as the entries in a race which has been postponed.
If a yacht commits a breach of the sailing rules in a race which is unfinished, no action can be taken under the alleged cause for protest ; and should the race be re-sailed, the breach of sailing rules is, practically, considered as not having taken place, and the offending yacht starts on exactly the same terms as the others, and can win the prize, providing, of course, no breach of the rules occurs during the re-sailed race.