I read every post in this thread and being a newbie racer that quit after several bad situations would like to make a suggestion. "A" fleet sailors and their aggression shouldn't be on the line at the same time as "C" fleet sailors. I own and sail spin boats. I have been on the race course with spin boats. For a new racer spin boats are terrifing at the marks and starts, fast and unpredictable. The last thing a newbie wants is to be in the way, sometimes getting out of the way seems impossible. The aggression many sailors exhibit on the water is the main reason newbies give up on racing. Just because I think it would be fun to go out and race does not mean I have internalized all the rules and understand what each of them means. If "A" class sailors want to ram each other, push the rules to the limit, etc., more power to them. Why force a newbie to mix it up with them at all. They don't want the newbie in their way and he doesn't want to be there either. As far as I can tell this is no different than road rage, everyone thinks they are right. Hell, you guys argue over the rules and most of you are very experienced sailors. If experienced sailors question the rules how could anyone expect newbies to get it.