Abandon for Wind Shifts

I think you will struggle to get away from "If I am at the back bin it, but let it go if I am at the front".  Whenever a race is binned it helps some and hinders others and the same goes for a big shift.  The regular front of fleet sailors seem to accept this and just get on with it.  I have found most complaints when it is mid fleet/back of fleet racers who suddenly find themselves at the front because of a big shift. 

They have got there by accident but seem to think that they spotted a big shift that the top flight have missed. I know this because it used to be me!

I remember one nationals when the wind shifted just before the start, and I got my best start of the meeting.  It was only when I read the report afterwards that I realised I was lucky. Whilst the top flight just clawed their way back through us donuts who were at the wrong end of the line before the shift, the mid fleet started shouting at the PRO.

Personally I think wind shifts are something that we as dinghy racers just have to accept.  I have never really understood why races are abandoned because of a shift in the wind.  It is the same for everyone on the race track. Let it go and we all sail the race.

I do think that there should be minimum wind speeds for racing, but that is a different rant altogether.

The only time a race has been abandoned for a windshift that ive been in is when the 2 flights would converge majorly.

Originally posted by redback The only other situation I've felt an abondonment was justified was when we realised another club was using the same navigation mark - but the other way round.  It's not much fun in a Laser to be head -on with a Tornado!

That has happened to me three times now when yacht racing in the Solent and it is very scary since it really isn't obvious who has rights and everything happens very fast. On two of those occassions it was fleets run by different race officers in the SAME EVENT. One time in Cowes Week in a brisk F5, 40 707s were attempting to round a leeward mark in the opposite direction as 80-odd XODs 

The Chichester Harbour clubs have an agreement to always use marks one way to avoid this problem, and I've never understood why the SCRA (Solent race coordination body) doesn't do the same.

i've sailed a lightwind race at bala before which i won due to my amazing wind shift spotting ability where we reached all the way round the course from the start, and the race officer didnt abandon it

Scariest race I ever did - sailing in the cat class in a dinghy regatta with about five other starts sailing different courses after us.  Last race, running out of time after a flat calm morning, big shift during our prestart and the wind got up from about F2 to about F5.  We could fetch the windward mark, had to beat to the spreader mark and then reach straight at the leeward mark.  Problem was the Lasers and things doing triangles - got really scary trying to work out where the gaps were going to be when we crossed through them!  Almost glad we pitchpoled and decided to retire!