FANTASTIC!

Here's a report from a Dutch (non-pro) sailor (the translation is web-automated, so read over the grammar mistakes):
A-Cat Worlds Report

<img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Wednesday, Day 3:

Winds light, 6-7 knots, occasionally dipping down close to the 5 knot minmum, out of the North-Northeast.

1st race of the day, positions 1st time around the weather mark:

1. Ashby
2. Booth
3. Guck
4. Pease Glaser
5. Daniel
6. Melvin
7. Pieter Saarberg, NED
8. Ogletree
9. Ian Lindahl, USA
10. Callabria
11. Kinder
12. Thomas Persson, SWE
13. Tracy Oliver, USA
14. Cope

(NOTE: Not sure what happened, but the first race was started for the first time, it was abandoned when the boats were halfway up the weather leg. Powerboats went and rounded them up and sent them back to the starting line. When they tried the start again, there was a general recall, and the third try was under black flag. That third start was successful.)

Second time around the weather mark:

1. Ashby
2. Melvin
3. Booth
4. P. Glaser
5. Guck
6. Ogletree
7. Saarberg
8. Kinder
9. Callabria
10. Daniel
11. Persson
12. Cope
13. Philpott

(NOTE: Wind is down around 5 knots now.)

Thanks Mary, I will look forward to wonderful updates throughout the whole regatta

Here's the wrapup on the first race Wednesday, which is the 5th race overall for the regatta:

Positions rounding the weather mark for the third and last time:
1. Pease Glaser
2. Booth
3. Melvin
4. Ashby
5. Guck
6. Ogletree

And Rick's boat went to the finish, because anything could, and did, happen in the light air. Here are the finish positions:
1. Pease Glaser
2. Guck
3. Melvin
4. Ashby
5. Booth
6. Ogletree
7. Daniel
8. Saarberg
9. Cope
10. Kinder
11. Marstrom
12. Randy Smyth
13. Persson
14. Hoekstra
15. Atkins

Rick has done a rough calculation of the overall positions after the five races, taking out a throwout:

1. Guck, 6 points
2. Ashby, 8 points
3. Melvin, 10 points
4. Booth, 25 points
5. Ogletree, 27 points
6. Kinder, 46 points
7. Daniel, 56 points
8. Pease Glaser, 65 points
8. Atkins, 65 points
9. Cope, 71 points

The wind is now down to about 3 knots, and they are going to hold off for a while to see if the wind comes up enough to start another race.

The happenings at the beginning of the race is that they posted they postponement flag. If they posted a general recall, then the next start would be under the black flag. There is much more to this story then just that, but I will let somebody else lay that part of the story out.

It's been a very interesting regatta- 100 boats here and some truly awesome sailors and legends. I'm just trying to learn a lot, not hurt myself or the boat, have a nice vacation with my wife, and stay out of the way of the rock stars- so far I've succeeded. This is a great venue in general- but the internet connection is terrible! It's been tough conditions every day IMO- First day the wind was good but gusty- I don't know the official numbers but the gusts were pretty intense to me with a very short choppy sea state and the occasional large (ie ~50' motoryachts) boat waves. Lots of pounding and boats going over (including me), boats and gear breaking (including Randy Smyth's mainsheet for instance, and I saw a mast come down right behind me). Second day was much lighter wind but the chop had only moderated slightly and the seaweed was all over the place! They are using a "number tag" system here to keep track of all the boats for safety reasons and if you forget to take your tag with you or forget to put it back on the board within a time limit that evening you get a 20% penalty (Nobody forget the safety issue on the first windy day but @ 8 people, including yours truly <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />, did on the second light air day). On the last race yesterday (race 4) the wind was dying, the chop was still up and the weed was same or worse- I'm talking clumps the size of basketballs! THAT will slow anybody down! I ended up worrying more about dodging weed than trying to keep the optimum course and tacked and jibed "extra times" just to clear weed! It was a long day and apparently a fairly large number of people (NOT including me this time!) , having been lapped by the likes of Glenn and Lars, etc. got confused and "finished" by sailing through the finish line and going in vs through the gates and back on around the course. I know I was surprised up the last upwind leg to suddenly have so few boats behind me <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />!!!
The RC did not penalize these boats, only the ones who "confessed".
Today the weed was gone, the sea was less choppy but the air was light and dying all the way around the course. The RC got the timing wrong on the first start, then a bunch of boats jumped the gun so general recall and finally got it right the third time. Wind ended up dying to practically nothing- they sent us to the beach to wait- At 3:00 they finally decided to cancel the second race (the A Cat World Championship sailing instructions are very specific- you cannot start a race after 4PM for instance. You cannot shorten a course and you cannot make up a race.). So, at most we will have 3 more races- 2 tomorrow (and weather here is supposed to be @ 10 knots so should happen) and then 1 Friday (but the forecast is for 20-25 knots then and class rules won't allow a race to start in winds over 22 knots OR to continue if the average wind is over 22 knots for 15 minutes before the first boat finishes- so that may not happen). Five races constitute a championship so if we have no more races there will be a champion for this regatta!
Ben's wing is, of course, very cool but has not proven to be the "killer" yet.
Well, off to bed!

Kirt

Why Tom? Was there a black flag up for the first try, or is it automatically required after a general for this event (per the SIs or class rules)?



The joys of managing a 100 boat fleet (on a 3-lap course with a wide variance of talent between the "haves" and the "have-nots"). The RC correctly scored boats that finished (you don’t have to sail the course correctly to be scored as finished). If the competitors aren’t willing to protest one another, it’s up to the RC and jury to decide if they want to do anything. About the only thing the RC can do is check the mark rounding sheets and protest the boats. Most likely, at an event such as this with an on-water jury, they would leave that to the discretion of the jury to file the protests.

Thanks for the report, Kirt, it's great to hear from those on the water!

Mike

I have a question for everyone here. I was looking through thebeachcats.com at the A-class worlds photos and stumbled upon this picture. Just out of sheer curiosity, can anyone shed any light on the make of the boat and the significance of having hulls shaped like that? thanks

Duck and cover Vinny!

http://www.catsailor.com/forums/showflat...part=1&vc=1

That looks like the boomless one too.

a better pic of the rig, sort of looks nice
Aerynt

Thats the LR2, sailed by Randy Smythe, designed by Richard Roarke, built by John Lindhal. Ian Lindhad is sailing the same hulls and Fred Smith (Canada) has one also. Boomless main is Randy's creation, I believe.

I cant answer the "why is it shaped like that" part of the question. You could do a search on LR2, I think it was discussed here and on one of the design sites.

Bill

This is probably a better thread to read concerning the hull shape and design.
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18037

By the way Kirt, do you know anything about the scoring codes? I'm not familiar with "TLE" (it's not in the RRS).

Also, how did they "penalize" the boats that didn't sail the course correctly? I don't see any RAFs or DSQs for Race 4.

Mike

Smyth is the best performer on the LR2 at 21st position overall.

If anything the light winds and heavy chop should have favoured the LR2 if its mythical longitudal stability is true. Smyth is a very good sailor (Olympic medalist and many other prizes) and 21st is not a placing normally associated with Smyth.

If anything the results so far don't point to a significant improvement in performance due to the new hulls c.q. sail.

Wouter

I think jumping into the class with very little practice, competitive regattas and so-on is a difficult thing to do. the level of sailors and competitors at this regatta is at the top level of this sport. So I believe a 21st position is very good for having jumped right in, new class, new boat, new sail. doe anything ever please you. And you are correct on the observations of hull speed, right now it is not a break-through that leaves others in its wake. What we are seeing is that the 2 currently dominant platforms are dominating the event with the top A-cat sailors doing the dominating. You have the Morreli & Melvin A3 and the Ashy Sailcraft-Geltek Flyer MKII dominating this regatta. The sails that are winning are also the same ones. The newest Glaser Main from Jay & Pease along with the Ashby Main from Glen. Lars, Pete and Glen remain dominant. Pease has begun to climb back up, Charlie Ogletree is having a great regatta, Matt Struble is doing well, but the ones on top are the ones who have been on top for the last couple of years.

I thought there was going to be a new Marstrom design in this thingy. Anybody seen it? Picture?