Amen, I overheard some 20 guys saying "so much for the 18's, our race is the 20's". That doesn't mean they were OK with the 18's beating them, only that they saw the advantage the 18's had in this year's conditions. I'm sure the 18 guys were jazzed to be competitive with the 20's. I do not see a problem with 2 fleets, as long as the numbers are there.
I call bull ****..
Find me somebody who let a boat pass them because they were in the other class... I simply don't believe it.
It is quite normal to have several games in play out there... hell... todd and tad were betting rum.
I think the race was scored properly using SCHRS and then in one design fleets. I would also sort the finishes by elapsed time and publish that result as well. EVERYBODY can find the race that matters to them.
Anything else is just spin ...
Mark, this is a different kind of racing that I don't know if you have experienced. We don't spend all day trying to cover someone and keep them in our shadow or pressed to the surf line - it only serves to slow you both down while your staring at 80 miles of ocean in front of your bow and a fast fleet all around. Different people have different skills in odd wave and wind angles, wave height and wind speed. You certainly don't slow down to make the pass easy, but you don't fight too hard to keep them behind you if they have speed even if they're in the same class - it kills you both. This is more akin to a drag race than a buoy race.
There are times in certain waves and wind I had a good bit of speed on every 20 in the fleet but if I wasted my speed by engaging in a fruitless battle while I had the advantage, that 3000 feet I could have gained by locking horns with someone, would be gone and next time we gybe or the wave state changes slightly, Lohemeyer will probably be back into one of his (more plentiful) advantaged points of sail and around me in no time flat. Everyone seems to understand that and there is very little boat on boat engagement (until you start to approach the finish line where you will see some engagement).
Believe me - and I'm telling the complete honest truth; At NO TIME did I ever engage a battle with an F18 because it would have been pointless. I never saw any other 20 engage with an F18 on the course either.
Look at car races like the 24 hour Lemans where you have mixed classes racing on an endurance race course - how many times to do you see a slower class trying to block and hold a faster class down...you don't - because it doesn't make sense for either of them. The slower guy, if in front, doesn't slow down to let them by but they don't fight the pass.
