Saving our sport.

[BJSailor]

I myself wonder about why the olympic (traingle windward leeward ) courses went away. This course selection would certainly make it easier on the larger boats who can't manouver like a J 22. Would any of the clubs be willing to employ this tried and true course layout for a major regatta?

Roy

I think that the HYC Olympic Circle went away because it was too costly (both $s and time) to maintain.  Vandals frequently took / damaged the marks, shrimpers snagged them too.

From the stories I've heard, it was by-far the most fun and popular set-up around.  I think if HYC thought about resurecting it, they'd have to jump through so many government hoops to get approvals to set up permanent structures that it would prove impractical. 

[Grind4Beer]

PHRF numbers were, if I recall correctly, intended to handicap WRRWL ...

Back in the '90s, I remember several regattas or series in which half-an-alphabet of flags were run-up to sent the fleet around fixed-mark courses with 5 or 7 legs. There were a few more whatsits in the bay to round in those days; Y, S, & R marks at least, but I can tell ya for sure that those were long-a## hauls in a J22 or J24, sometimes with course lengths of 15-20 miles. The 'Art' of picking which mark to use for start-finish included anticipating wind shifts to allow for course change to another fixed mark. If the breeze got light, the committee could pick up anchor and shorten. On a brisk day, the second race might be a couple of 2-3 mile WLWL legs.

And maybe in keeping with the TSF - GBCA ethos back then, there was no need for chase boats, because only one boat was needed to set-up, start and finish, everybody else could race. All the mark distances and bearings between each other (and some pix) were listed in a table that xeroxed into the SIs. Those long reaching legs sometimes weren't much for passing sister boats, but they were good for stretching or closing on handicap differences. Sure, sometimes the reaches turned into fetches or runs, but that was just the luck of the day, and could be a big hint as to which side was favored on the next beat.

For one-design classes, other than the entertainment/hazard factors of carrying more sail than was advisable on the reaches, WL courses probably make for better racing. For the mixed fleets though, a couple of brisk reaches might draw out more cruisers than slogging windward and wallowing leeward, as many of the less 'racy' boats step along nicely on reaches. 

... A couple of points about that, though ... There's a different set of safety hazards in rounding fixed marks. Especially with the big oilpatch and navigational objects , even the hard-core competitive boats tend to give the mark and each other a lot more elbow room, almost corinthianly at times. Nobody really wants themselves or anybody else to lose a rig or hang a keel. I've seen lots more of, umm, shall we call it "assertive" boathandling when rounding bouys, maybe because there's more opportunities to bail out with out damage if things get too crowded, but there's still some fiberglass crunches at times.

... Anyway, yeah, it's a lot more work for the chase boat to set out a wing mark, but with any luck it wouldn't need moving during a race. And splitting classes between sport (assy-sprit) and trad (symm-pole) boats gets most of the plane vs non-plane separated, so maybe running a WRRWL course or two should be considered ...

G4B