Course Design

Originally posted by merlin2349 no offence but if that is the case might i sugest you are sailing the wrong boat for the water!!

True but the options are either to change the boat which I do not want to do or to change the water but there are few alternitaves.

What I can do is to choose to treat the handicap racing on cources that I do not like as practice for the class racing which I get to do every so often. I also get to practice in a boat that is great fun and a challenge just to sail.

 

the only way of solving problems with handicaps is to be lucky enough to run two seperate courses - one for the handicap and one for the assymetrics - being a laser (pn 1078) sailor and a spice sailor (twin wire skiff - pn 930) these problems are well noticed! in the laser, boats like the RS400s (pn 952) are hard to beat as the courses tend to favor them however in the spice it tends to lack any tactical racing on a set course.

about a month ago i raced at cardiff bay at the welsh sailing games in the spice, the race commitee decided to set the cats and flying fifteens and the fast handicap on the same course area as the assymetrics on adifferent shpaed course with the cats reaching from one mark to another across the downwind leg !- this combined with a heavy force 6 with squalls reading 7/8 provided some exciting racing with us going downwind with limited visibilty to leeward versus flying fifteens beating upwind and cats reaching across the downwind leg!!!

prehaps going to the extent of towing the dinghys out of the bay and into the channel would of made a better idea where an open windward-leeward course could have been set, this should of been possible seeing as it was organised by the welsh yachting association!!

 

Edited by ssailor

There was the famous regatta at Stonehaven YC a
couple of years ago where the Race Officer decided
he would not listen to the competitors warnings.
120 boats, with a fast assymetric windward leeward
(including cats) INSIDE a triangle for toppers and
lasers etc of the same line. Seperate leeward marks
for each fleet only two boat lengths apart with fast
boats piling in (Force 4+) to one mark with lasers etc
going dead down wind past it on both sides of it.
Much talk of collisions in the bar!
Many fleets don't plan to return under those
circumstances, unsurprisingly!

upwind downwind for cats that will do nicely thank you mr race officer!!!!

Hi Ian, I agree with so many of your points.  Although it should be said (and I alluded to it before) that runs actually favour the Lasers and conventional spinnaker boats and reaches actually favour the assymetrics as long as they are not too tight.  This is the opposite to most peoples' assumptions.  I used to be a keen Laser competitor and can remember finding the reaches processional although I've noticed the less experienced like them.

We are lucky at Bough Beech we have an excellent squad of Race Officers, all our races are started on the water, with mostly square lines and decent beats, so I'm not complaining. 

I was wondering if there are any views on different courses.  I'm going to chuck my halfpenny worth in but in stages and see what results.  Wait for my next post.