More: Uncle Frank seems to think that the 2-minute tape came from the Canadians along with much of appendex E. The tape was used so that as the last boat finished a heat the tape was started for the next. We, of course do not use it that way and hence, in some cases becomes a pain in having to dodge boats for a minute and a half.
However, the general practice of waiting for all to be in the starting area to start the clock has lead some to not be timely. The clock (one-minute)here at Elon this weekend was started with warning before all were in the area to hussle people up. It worked when some were late and soon all were in the blocks before the starter was ready...cool.
My feeling with a lot of two-day multiple fleet events observed that an RD could announce that the clock will start in five-minutes at the call for the next heat and start a 2-minute tape accordingly. If you are a true competitor you will pay attention and we will get more quality racing in.
It is also interesting for one that travels that it is the same people that are late time and again, not just at one regatta but others on the schedule, as well.
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