billmcinnis
Member
The comments I’ve heard about the Worlds were that, generally, it was very well organized and run. The only adverse comment was that the starting lines were much too short, making it overly difficult to get a fair start. I think that this is fairly common at Sunfish regattas (in spite of the fact that the best sailors seem to cope with it). In addition to making it hard to start, it definitely contributes to the sometimes excessive number of general recalls.
There are many different opinions on the ideal line length, but, most rule-of-thumbs fall between 1 and 1.5 boat-lengths times the total number of boats. The lines at many regattas don’t come anywhere near that. I’ve been in a couple where you couldn’t fit all the boats through sideways.
Some classes have written race committee guidelines covering things like line length, port-end bias, maximum wind to start races in, length of races etc. I haven’t heard of anything like this in the Sunfish class and I wonder if it might be a good idea. They wouldn’t have to be mandatory and they might only be applied at major regattas like regionals and up. Another thing that’s sometimes done is to use line checkers. One or two of the better sailors in the fleet check the line and provide feedback to the RC. It’s not binding, but for information only.
I think the class should look into this. Any comments?
There are many different opinions on the ideal line length, but, most rule-of-thumbs fall between 1 and 1.5 boat-lengths times the total number of boats. The lines at many regattas don’t come anywhere near that. I’ve been in a couple where you couldn’t fit all the boats through sideways.
Some classes have written race committee guidelines covering things like line length, port-end bias, maximum wind to start races in, length of races etc. I haven’t heard of anything like this in the Sunfish class and I wonder if it might be a good idea. They wouldn’t have to be mandatory and they might only be applied at major regattas like regionals and up. Another thing that’s sometimes done is to use line checkers. One or two of the better sailors in the fleet check the line and provide feedback to the RC. It’s not binding, but for information only.
I think the class should look into this. Any comments?