Unless you run into his brand new boat during a practice race! haha sorry Karl! It was great to meet you

Ummm, thanks? Do I really come across as that much of a butthole online?

Not in the "on topic" threads. ;-)

Major butthole :P

A bunch of people have also posted feedback on a sailing anarchy forum:

SailingAnarchy Multihull Forum

I generally agree with all that has been said (if you get rid of the swim rope, consider adding a couple of small marks to indicate when you are in the 'shallow' water area, kind of nice to know when to pull the boards up).

As for the Friday count/not count rule, I agree, you need to better define when to use this. I would suggest as 'there on Friday' being a boat that has either left the beach with the intent to race on Friday or checked in with RC on Friday (preferred). Don't just define it as they were here on Friday, as that leave some room for interpretation.

Simply you could require people at registration to declare if they are racing on Friday are not, no matter what they end up doing, hold them to that decision.

Offset mark, 'nough said, it needs to be there (on the spin fleet at least).

Fun event, more beer, more red cups, and more heat (less dead fish) !!!!

This what is used at Spring Fever (with one addition) and what we've adopted for the KPRR

An average of all the races (including the throw-out if there is to be one,) scored for the two days, whether it is the Friday and Saturday races for those who let us know in advance that they will not be racing on Sunday or those who don't arrive until Saturday and then race Saturday and Sunday. That average is then inserted into all of the race scores for the day that was missed. After that, the throw-out is taken off of the final score.
There are a couple of rules that we do not deviate from:
• If the skipper is here on Friday and chooses not to race, for whatever reason, his Friday scores are entered as DNSs. If he arrives late and cannot possibly start the first race(s), if he notifies the RC that he is racing, his Friday scores will count and the missed race may be used as his throwout or be averaged at the discretion of the scoring committee.
• If someone needs to be home with the family and can only race on Friday and Saturday, and, provided they tell us at time of registration, we will score the same way for the missed Sunday races. Should they change their mind and decide to race on Sunday, they will be welcome to do so but their actual scores for Sunday will not be counted, only the averaged scores will be used.
• If a fleet only has 30% or less of its fleet on Friday or Sunday then an average will be created for all the members of the fleet on those days.
• This information will be posted along with the SSIs on the bulletin board prior to the start of racing.

"...his Friday scores will count and the missed race may be used as his throwout or be averaged at the discretion of the scoring committee."

Why is this left to the scoring committee to decide after the fact? Seems like you'd be setting them up for potential redress hearings.

Mike

Easy fix, anything else?

The situation you want to avoid is one where the wind is high on Friday or Sunday and a team decides to not go out so they can average their other scores. The two to three day conversion is intended to permit a reasonable scoring opportunity for those who can't make all three days of racing fit their schedule without penalizing anyone. If you show up on Friday and are able to sail but choose not to (for whatever reason) then you don't fall into this "special needs" category...i.e., no soup for you.

Hadn't thought of that, but Jake is right. Occasionally, people like to take advantage of rules to help their cause.

Especially now that I'm a parent (just a more convenient excuse of course), I rarely set the boat up if it's blowing 20 anymore. But, I would take my DNS over using a rule to get better points.

Mike

Just make the skipper / team check of which days they will be racing at registration, problem solved. This could be done during online pre-registration or during any registration period. Anything that is 'open to interpretation' can get tricky / political.

As for what days, I see the point of having either the first or the last as 'optional', that is up to the PRO to decide.

I'll use my boat this year as an example, my skipper was suffering from food poisoning (or something with similar symptoms) and was unable to walk let alone sail on the Friday. He came to the beach to see if he was up to it, and after we registered we decided it was unsafe to sail (he nearly passed out stepping the mast). Our Friday scores were then given our average over the weekend.

We definitely benefited from the 'Friday is optional rule', but the reason we opted out of Friday was done without any 'sneaky' intent, simply due to safety concerns (trust me, flying down from Canada for a three day regatta, you want to race all days). That said, if we had had a bad race, or any breakage, the average score would easily have been way higher and not worked in our favor, so it is still a risk to miss a day (tip once, get a last place, ouch, up goes the average).

I guess my point is just make it clear on the registration sheet if someone is sailing or not on any decided optional days, and stick to it. Asking people why they are not sailing, or defining 'here' or 'not here' leeds to a lot of gray area.

Just my two cents, had a great time, was glad it heated up a bit and more red cups, more beer and offset marks ;-)

Bigger marks please.

I hope you are kidding.
Your course marks were 5' and extremely bright Orange, and the Yellow course were those big West Marine Marks.
Besides, Jamie can sense where the marks are.
Rick

Actually - he's serious. I'm of the same opinion. The marks we use in EMSA are the huge tetrahedrons. You can see them 2 miles away. Even my blind eyes can see them. With the glare off the water it was nigh impossible to see the marks Rick.

Are you offering to bring them down next year???

Since they are not mine - I cannot extend that offer unfortunately.

Mark, when you make your null-brained "suggestions" are you in fact "offering" to fix all regatta OA's ills?

Holy crap, where's my popcorn???!!!

Look... you moron.. when you complain about a 5 foot tetra... You have proven that you are clueless.... (Why should I miss a chance to point that out about you?) He's not using a hippity hop for chris sakes. ... They ran the Melges 24 Worlds with 5 foot tetras this year in Annapolis..

If its slightly overcast .. do they need lights and bells?

What you STILL DO NOT UNDERSTAND is that the solution is simply to ask for a compass heading to the mark.... duh!

Perhaps you don't understand how to use a compass?

Suggestions like 5 foot tetras are a problem that needs fixing with bigger marks should be matched with the moron who thought that an offset was a bad idea and deep sixed!

Hmm.... Were you the one saying that the offset mark was a bad idea and not wanted?

What do I know... maybe you plan to write him a check for several grand for the larger marks..... do you expect 8 foot seas on the bay to warrant the big marks?

But, giving you the benefit of the doubt. I suggested that you bring them down.

Just sayin!

Me too. I love these family feuds.

Trey and Tad...it is a sign of aging out.

Just deal with it.

As much as I hate to say it... Mark has a point! Tad and Trey need to stop being the premaddonas and look over their shoulder every once and a while! We took a bearing of the mark a couple times at the start (until they provided it for us the last few races)
Brendon sailed 10 out of 12 races without glasses and he is extremely nearsighted. He had no problem finding it most of the time and when he did I just looked over my shoulder.
And Mark... i've said this before... were you at the regatta? Pick your battles my friend.