On the bay the RC's are having good results with a leeward start line. A single C mark above the start line a short A mark for dinghy's and slow cats with a finish boat a bit above the rumb line and then a long A mark for fast cats with an offset hippty hop when you have spin cats.
Courses are Start A C Finish to weather at the short A mark or insert an additional A C lap.
When your fleet finishes, they mosey back to the start area, The Class Flag goes up when all are back to the start area and you have your five minute sequence.
It allows a lot of boats and classes to use the same circle and you are never waiting long.
It keeps the majority of the fleet away from the start area so you don't have any interference with fleets with very different starting styles. EG... lasers think they are keeping clear of a starting cat fleet by reaching back and forth about 20 yards below the line.... The kids especially are stunned to find a cat screaming at them with a minute to go while creeping up to the line through their little parade.
A separate finish line on the other side of the signal boat causes troubles with a fleet finishing while another stages to start.... in the middle of their finish line.
The dinghy's really really want a traditional reach leg since it does not effect their tactical race (as does a vocal segment of the beach cat world.) But you have to move a lot of stuff when the wind changes.
You only need a gate when when one of your OD fleet is pushing 25 or 30 boats. With a single C mark, the fast boats always know the best way around the dinghy's is the outside route and rule become a little easier to follow.
We have a finish position program that records finish positions and times. If you have a wireless card you can send the results to the club for posting before the fleet hits the beach. The program is used for all of the Key West Race circles, Screwpile and Annapolis Race Week. Even if you don't send the results into a scorekeeper... it saves a hell of a lot of time not having to enter the sail numbers.
