Hey Matt, maybe you're having a bad day with cut-and-paste, but that was not a quote from me. I intentionally omitted names from my disertation on my understanding of the subject.
That was Rick I was quoting, not you, Mike.
From a PRO perspective, you give the sailors what they want, not necessarily what you think is "best" for them. If they want a reach or two, and you've got the resources to pull it off, then you need to give them a reach.
If there's going to be a reach, it should not be the second leg of the race (which just stretches out the fleet). If the wind is up, the next to last leg (before an upwind finish) is optimal for a tight, double-trapeze reach. Good for some crash and burn action. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
A way to separate fleets of differing performance profiles (which is what Rick was trying to accomplish) is to use a trapezoidal course. Takes more resources, though.
