Class Rules

All owners should be familiar with the class rules, which are available from the RYA.

However, the following summary is a list of things you can’t do. It has no official standing but is a quick guide:

  • Add a go-faster fitting — well that’s an exaggeration, but only slightly so. The 707 is a closed class— see Part B 1.1. This means that whatever is not explicitly allowed is forbidden. The rules on what you can fit on the boat are extremely tightly defined.
  • Bring along an extra friend on a windy day. There is no crew weight limit, but you can only have five crew on board, and you cannot change the numbers during a championship. See Part B 9.1, 9.2, 9.3. A well-known owner in the class was disqualified for sailing 6-up during a windy race in Cowes Week 2001.
  • Have the lifelines nice and loose so the crew can hike out hard and the helm can lean back comfortably. Part B 2.4.1.3 says lifelines must be tensioned so they are at least 410mm off the deck – to achieve this they have to be quite tight (even following the amendment of this rule in 2003).
  • Have a friend tow you out behind their RIB so you can leave that heavy outboard behind. Part B 7.1 v. requires you to race with either the outboard in the cockpit housing or an equivalent weight. 7.1 also requires you to carry an anchor and lifejackets at all times, and a list of other equipment.
  • Carry spare sails ( only Elvstrom and Hyde sails can be used in 707 events) – except you are allowed two spinnakers. Nor are you allowed to substitute sails during a continuous regatta such as Cowes or Cork Week, so if it is blowing old boots one day you cannot put up an old set of sacrificial sails and save your good ones for the rest of the week. See Part B 6.6.2 and 6.6.3. Note that sails must be signed by a measurer at the tack (head for spinnakers). It is not unknown for the class sailmaker to send out unmeasured sails – check.
  • Name your boat after your company, or stick your sponsor’s decals on your sails. Category C advertising is not allowed – see Part A rule 9.
  • Ignore the paperwork. If you buy a second-hand boat, you need to apply to the RYA for a new certificate. Your certificate also expires after five years. In neither case is physical remeasurement required – just a fee. See Part A 3 a. and b.
  • Carry a spare spinnaker pole – Part B 5.1.1 restricts you to one.
  • Remove the antifouling unless you intend to apply a fresh coat. See Part B 2.2.3, 3.2.3 and 4.2.2.