It always amazes me how few people read the SIs. Just before the start one of the F16 sailors asked about the course, "What does 4X mean." Of course, we didn't answer except that it was in the SIs.

And the fact that someone tried to finish in the Starting Line was anaother example of not reading the SIs.

The reason there are SIs is so the RC can utilize a system to get in more races and better races for all fleets.

Example: there were two courses: 4 and 4X
4 was a triangle, Windward-Leeward, and upwind finish on the starboard side of the RC boat.
4X simply added another Windward-Leeward.
Reason: The first three fleets were faster boats and this gave them a longer course.
The slower boats were given a course 4 and they started later.
This allowed all the boats to finish within about 10 minutes of each other in order to get off more races.

The reason for the finish line on the starboard side of the RC boat is that we can have a short line making it easier to score the finishers.
On the other hand the start line needed to be much longer to accomodate the larger fleets.
Doing it that way we could get off another start as soon as the last boat finished without having to take the time to reset the starting line.

I know when I attend a regatta I really read over the SIs thoroughly.
Main things to watch for:
*Start procedures (Most use the ISAF which takes 5 minutes for each class.., Tradewinds uses 3 minutes and get lots of fleets off faster)
*Start and finish lines
*Courses and how they will be displayed
*How they will handle boats over early, both individual and general recalls
*How will be the barging buoy be treated
*How they will handle wind shifts and the moving of marks

Those are just some of the basics you need to look for at every event.

Rick