There was an incident at last weekend's Deep South Multi-Class Regatta that I'd like to share with this forum and get everyone to think about it especially if you sail a faster boat at multi-class events.

I was racing my A-class in the same start with the F-18's and I-20's. We were staying in touch with the spinnaker boats (they would sail away from us downwind and we would catch back up on the upwind legs). The Hobie 16's were in the start after us and we were lapping that fleet on our 2nd or 3rd time around the windward-leeward course.

In this particular race, I had rounded the A mark just behind an I-20. Both of us bore away on starboard and the I-20 had just set its chute and was shifting into "warp speed". Suddenly they realized they were on a collision course with a Hobie 16 sailing upwind on port tack. The Hobie 16 tried to bear away but that put them more in the path of the charging I-20. The I-20 did a crash jibe with a lot of yelling at the Hobie 16 to do circles. He kept yelling at the H-16 driver who was an older sailor. The H-16 retired from the race and I heard him say to his crew as they turned downwind "I'm just getting in the way of other boats". That must have been a sad sail in for that team.

Certainly the Hobie 16 was wrong (port/starboard) and probably should have been looking more upwind to begin anticipating that they were near the port tack layline putting them in the path of the starboard tackers rounding the A mark. But the I-20 driver was pretty irate and there was no need for that. That driver could have anticipated that the Hobie 16 doing about 6-7 knots upwind was going to have a tough time staying away from his I-20 doing 12-14 knots downwind. All he had to do was get his crew on the wire and heat it up a couple of degrees and sail around the H-16 (it was only blowing about 10 knots with flat water). The same goes with crossing situations upwind. There were several instances where a slower port tack boat thought they would cross me but suddenly realized they were not going to make it. Instead of having them do a poorly executed bear away and risk getting t-boned or have them tack right in front of me, I would wave them across. It really did not cost me any distance and just made the situation safer.

I also saw some spinnaker boats coming in a bit too late on some leeward mark roundings again with Hobie 18's and Hobie 16's trying to establish their rounding "rights" and in the process scaring the hell out of folks. The best thing to do would have been to throttle back with the takedown a few lengths earlier instead of blazing into the 2-boat length circle with all "guns blazing". Again, you lose very little (you may actually have a better tactical rounding) and you gain respect from the other sailors.

Sail fast, sail safe, sail fairly!

Bob Hodges
A-Class USA 230