A few comments on the racing at Gulfport YC from the vantage point of the RC Signal boat....
Starts were quite good. A-Cats generally at boat end for pointing, Inter 20s at pin end for speed, various F16s and 18s in the middle. Most everybody on the line at GO.
It was painful watching the leeward rounding at the gate. The McDonalds and Ben Moon were the only ones who had good roundings and even then not always. MUCH was lost by starting the rounding near the mark, only to end up close-hauled several boat lengths downwind of the mark. Often the assymetrical was left up far too long, causing the boat to go very fast, very far down the course beyond the mark. With boats overlapped so many outside boats could have slowed a bit and turned inside at the mark.
At the top mark on the leg to the offset it seemed to be fastest to just stay on the trap(s) until rounding down, rather than fiddle with outhaul, mast rotation, barber haulers, etc. We could see a boat slow for the adjustments and not make it up with the better off-wind setting.
I did not see anyone stand up in the boat or actually sail up to see which side of the course was the best before a race. (It was the left most of the time due to shore effect.)
Finally, for the boats with aluminum masts that seemed to have leaks in them when capsized, we would watch with binoculars (yes, we WERE watching for people attached to boats) as the sailor used the righting line to start the mast coming up, slowly. Just as progress was being made, they would give up and the mast would re-fill quickly. Keep at it! Should not need a fisherman or kayak passerby to help.
Just observations from a long-time racer.