The start
The start is one of the most exciting parts of any sailing race, and with such short races a good start is a vital part of the winning tactics. Both the start and finish are imaginary lines drawn between orange flags on the race committee boat and a black inflatable iShares cylinder buoy. Generally, it will be more advantageous to start at one end of the line (either nearer the committee boat or buoy), due to factors such as the wind direction, the tide, and who has right of way. The more aggressive crews may be fighting to start at their chosen end of the line, while more conservative crews may start further away from the jostling boats — but they are likely to have the benefit of ‘clean’ undisturbed wind.

The starting procedure
The races are started with a countdown involving starting guns and flag signals, which might seem rather complicated at first, but understanding the sequence makes the spectacle all the more exciting! For 2009, the 5-minute starting procedure has been simplified, and a flag displaying the number of minutes remaining until the actual start will be hoisted in a 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 sequence.

If the race committee see any part of a boat over the line when the gun goes then there will be a loud sound signal and the X-flag is hoisted. In that case the boat or boats judged over the start line have to go back and re-cross the start line again, keeping out of the way of the other teams. Restarting is a substantial penalty, so the teams will be keeping a close check on this!

The course
Depending on the number of boats, venue, and wind conditions, the race organisers can decide to run racing over different shape courses - oval or triangular - around two or three buoys which are large 1.8m white square inflatable race marks . The sailors will know which course to sail by the flags flown from the committee boat. When the boats are sailing upwind they will be zig-zagging as they tack towards the first mark, then when they sail away from the wind the crew will hoist the huge gennaker sail at the front of the boat using just man-power alone their heart-rates will be pumping.

During the racing
The sailors will be shouting at other boats to try and use the racing rules to outwit each other, especially at the mark roundings. If any skipper thinks another boat has infringed one of the racing rules they can wave a red flag and shout “protest!”. Umpires are on the water (look for the boats with big iShares Cup UMPIRE flags), and work like football referees — they decide if any boats have committed a foul and can give penalties (the boat has to complete a full 360-degree turn). The umpire signifies a penalty by whistling and pointing a red flag at the boat that has committed the foul. If the umpire thinks no foul has been committed they blow a whistle and raise a green flag. If there is a really bad foul the umpires can show a black flag resulting in instant disqualification!

Finish
First past the post wins - it's as simple as that! The Extreme Sailing Series is scored using a 'high point' system, so if there are 10 boats in the fleet the winner scores 10 points, the second placed boat gets 9 points, the third 8 points and so on. A disqualified team gets zero! As does a boat that does not start or finish a race. The last race of each event scores double points, putting the pressure on for a great finale. The overall regatta points are calculated on the same high-scoring system ie first overall has 10 points (if 10 boats are competing). The team with the highest number of points across all the six regattas will win the overall Extreme Sailing 2010 series.