Below are some of the questions we regularly receive during the HYC Regatta. If you have additional questions ask the Information Desk or submit your question below.
Registrants for Regatta and their families may use the HYC Captain's Table Restaurant from Thursday evening through Sunday of Regatta. The Regatta Information desk will provide identification / registration data for the Hostess at the restaurant. The restaurant has a dress code which can be viewed at the HYC web site by clicking here
Reservations are recommended.
The Town of Barnstable is in control of the beaches and beach parking areas. It does not issue tickets, but instead tows the vehicles that are illegally parked. Tho recover a towed viehicle is a considerable expense. Please pay your appropriate parking fee or find some other method of arriving at the club for Regatta.
The Veteran's Beach driveway is for boat dropoff/pickup and car parking. The HYC driveway is only for restaurant access for club members. The driveway is also shared by the Condo Association next to the club. Blocking the driveway is and inconvenience to the club members who are not participating in the Regatta and to the Condo owners. Please be considerate and do not drive into or block the HYC driveway.
Why is the beach parking restricted when I can see there is more room to park in some areas of the beach? The HYC has negotiated with the Town of Barnstable to use part of the beach area for parking and boats. The Town of Barnstable has determined that it wants to reserve the rest of the beach area for beach access for town residents and visitors. Please respect that the town has accomodated the Regatta to a great extent in allowing Regatta boat dropoff and pickup and parking.
This is similar to the parking restrictions in the beach area. The Town of Barnstable wants to reserve areas of the beach front for residents and visitors to have a swimming area during the day. On the other side of the club, the beach is owned by the Condo Association. Massachusetts, unlike other states, grants ownership of the beach to homeowners down to the low water mark. The Condo Association does not want boats stored on their beach. Please respect those wishes.
The Race Committee is cognizant of the geographic limitations of providing safe and competitive races in a restricted area. Therefore some fleets have limitations on the number of boats that can safely compete in those race circles.
There may be a minimum of 4 boats to start a race. This page is not official, so please check the Notice of Race (NOR) for the latest fleet limitations.
Why are there strict rules for negotiating the Hyannis Ship Channel? Hyannis is a major commercial port on Cape Cod. Besides the ferries, there is a large fishing fleet that use the Port of Hyannis to unlaod their catch on the Hyannis docks. There are also a lot of recreational boaters coming and going all day. The Channel is bordered on either side by shallow water that these commercial vessels and large recreational vessels can not navigate. In addition, they can not stop very quickly and the ferries have difficulty observing small boats that might sail in front of their bow.
Rule A: Sailboats, contrary to what you may think, do not have the right of way over power boats in the channel.
Rule B: Crossing the channel must be done perpendicular to the channel.
For safety reasons the competitors must follow the Hyannis Shipping Channel Rule as stated for their class as listed in the Sailing Instructions.
Sailing Instructions (SI) will be provided to the competitors at Check-In.
There are big boats traveling back and forth multiple times each day plus a lot of smaller marine traffic.
The competitors must be ready to deal with 3 major weather conditions during the Regatta. They are Squalls, Thunder Storms and Fog. The Race Committe wil be monitoring weather contitions during Regatta, but any of these may come up quite suddenly on Nantucket Sound.
Should any of these conditions become apparent, please be prepared to follow the directions of your race circle PRO.
The Hyannis and Hyannisport tidal range is generally between 3 to 4 feet. The competitors should plan for at least 4.5 feet of tidal rise when beaching their boats or leaving equipment on the beach during competition. Look for the tidal range marks on the beach.
If you have any questions please ask a member of the HYC dock staff.
Registrants may check in Thursday and Friday during the times listed in the Notice of Race (NOR) . Once the registrant has CHecked-In the proces is complete. The registrant need not Check-In again.
Opti sailors have the option of Checking-In Saturday morning as well as Thursday or Friday.
Sailing Instructions (SI) will be provided at Check-In if they are not posted on-line.
Please refer to the Notice of Race (NOR) for the latest Check-In Times.
This page is not an official Regatta document.
All Competitors under the age of eighteen (18) years old must complete and submit and Personal Health and Medical Form signed by a parent or guardian prior to participation in this regatta. This form is available on the Regatta web pages and may be faxed to the Hyannis Yacht Club, fax number 508-778-6811.
Click here to download a copy of the Health and Medical Form
Any Regatta participant of eighteen (18) years and above, with any of the condictions liste don this form should consider providing the Hyannis Yacht Club Regatta with a completed Health and Medical form.