I was just reading JCs write up on the Canadian F18 regatta and started thinking about sailing in heavy air. The last GC and national were both in upper winds. I was wondering what the thought of the US group might be on setting some wind limits for our regattas. There are a lot of reasons for this in my mind. The price of replacing boats, parts, and such is on reason. I mean the Americas cup boats with what seems like unlimited funds have wind limits to try and conserve the boat and gear. Another reason is I truely believe having sailed a lot in both configurations that in the heavier air it is really an unfair advnatage to the double handed teams. I know the first 2 GCs had a lot of wind and were won by very skilled single handed sailors but as the 2 handed teams have learned the boats better I do not see this happening again. We want the setups to be as equal as possible. In this regard there should probably be a minimum wind so the lighter single handed boats do not have the distinct advnatage.
There are more reasons but these are 2 big ones. I would propose a class rule for large class events that wind limits of maybe 3 knots to 20 knots sustained anywhere on the course be set. That is a large range and will rarley interfer with the racing.
So what do the rest of you think?
This opens up a can of worms. I am definitely in favor of condition limits in some sort as it does no one any good to go out and attempt to race in survival conditions. The problem remains on how and when that gets defined.
20 knots steady if flat water is some dream conditions for many. 15 in some short steep waves can be almost unsailable for many as well. The bigger issue as to defining sailable conditions is the presence of gusts. 10 knots sustained with gusts coming through at 30 and or combined with 30 degree shifts really ups the challenge factor. In my experience it is the ability to handle changing conditions (and crowded situations) that really separates the 1 from the 2 up.
I believe there is already some wording about the discretion of the race committee. This to me is about the only workable solution. Given waves, gusts and the steadiness of the wind it is too difficult to define an acceptable written range window for competition. The committee should be able to evaluate those conditions and compare it to the level of the event. At a high level event like a Nationals or a GC the competitors should be capable of a much wider range of conditions.
