13 boats showed up for the race on Thursday evening which presented the perfect breeze and sea conditions for our usual Course #0 (Once around the triangle). Unfortunately there was a compounding of errors by members and the committee boat which resulted in a race that really cannot be counted towards seasons awards nor for the awarding of the coffee cup. We will write off Thursday's race as part of the learning curve for the new committee boat crew. None-the-less, everyone enjoyed the evening's sail and most are looking forward to Sunday's sail and another chance to win a cup.
Hi Ryan,
I talked with the various sailors and got a good picture of what happened. These kind of mistakes happen and have happened in the past. So just to put my 2 cents in so maybe we can avoid similar situations in the future.
It is really important to get out on the water early enough to determine what the wind is up to direction wise and if setting a starting line north of Nun 6, getting it perpendicular to the wind. Get the anchor set soon enough to allow the sailors time to evaluate it and determine their best starting strategy. The course, direction and rounding of Nun 6 needs to be posted clearly soon enough so everyone has a chance to see the posting early enough to get set up to execute their strategy. If you change the course after posting it, you need to signal that you have changed it with a sound. If you change it after starting the starting signal sequence, you need to stop the sequence with appropriate signals and signal a postponement and start a new start sequence. This is all in the rules and the instructions. Giving instructions to individual boats is never a good idea as it may give an unfair advantage to one boat over another that didn't get your individual instruction. I believe that is what happened this evening....the crew aboard Tamu were told to round Nun 6 leaving it to Starboard after you had signaled via the White board that we were to leave it to Port. The other part of the problem was not understanding that the standard direction of course #0 (and #1) is Clockwise (leaving marks to Starboard) vs. Reverse which sends the boats Counter Clockwise.
Current rules require the committee boat to designate the direction of rounding of Nun 6 when the wind is Southerly and a starting line is set up 1/2 mile to the north to establish a windward leg to Nun 6. It would be expected that the committee boat would always set the rounding of Nun 6 to correspond with the required rounding direction of the other marks for course #0 and #1. So Regular course would be Starboard rounding, Reverse course would be Port rounding. The other courses #2 Through #8 are not so obvious. Either way it was determined by the race committee that the rounding direction be posted for all windward start races so that there would be no doubt for the racers. That posting/signaling determines the course and any verbal communications have no standing. Naturally having a paper copy of the Circular along with you for all the races would be good and should answer most issues as they come up. No one is expecting you to know the courses by memory and even I with 37 years sailing the same courses with HHSA keep a copy on board to refresh my memory.
Mo Flam, the Commodore, is to be available to help pick a course and you and he should talk things over especially on Sundays when determining whether to pick a harbor or sound course is strongly reliant on wind strength and tides. If he is unavailable, he should pick an alternate to help make the decision. Again, conversing with the racers from the committee boat about the course is discouraged and should be avoided. Keep to friendly greetings and the like! You should be sure enough of your choice of course and your signaling that questions from the competitors should require a simple affirmation of your signals. For example: Question: Reverse? Do you mean East Chop first? Answer: "Course 1, Reverse." Or Question: Reverse? Do you mean West Chop then East Chop? Answer: "Course 1, Reverse. Read your instructions" If you mistakenly signal or must change your signal, Signal so all can see your change, Postpone as necessary, and start your sequence again. These changes require a certain procedure and sounding of audible signals and really need to followed even for our relatively informal club. Does the boat have the necessary flags? If not our members can help get them on board for you to use. Not starting exactly on the start time will not change results as finish times are recorded, not elapsed times.
This is not the first time instructions for HHSA races were unclear for some. I can think of two Moffett races when the results were quite disappointing for many. Once 30 boats sailed off on a 20 mile course in the wrong direction while the other 30 boats went the correct way. Some were still in denial 5 hours later when the results were announced. People did not pay attention to the "R" flag and since so many went the wrong way they were convinced they were in the right. Another time, some 55 boats simply followed along as the lead boat turned the wrong mark, cutting 4 miles off the length of the course. The remaining 4 or 5 were sure of their course and sailed the course as the instructions described it...finishing an hour later than where it seemed they should a been relative to the other boats, but ahead of them all. Again, people were too quick to follow the leader rather than read the instructions. Again, because of the number of people doing the incorrect course, some were and are to this day convinced they did the course correctly.
I hope we have a good turnout for Sunday's race. The committee boat will set the course and start the race. Racers are to report their finish time to me at this email address or text to 774-310-0023. The instructions read as follows: Finish Line: The finish line will be between a staff displaying a flag in the committee boat and the finishing mark. If the committee boat is not on station, racers are asked to take their own time as they pass between the VHYC dock and Nun 6 within 100 feet of and to the west of the Nun.
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