It seems like there should be things you can do in setting up the course to get a good starting line and a pretty good weather leg.

I just wonder what the basic concepts might be and the acceptable compromises in order for the racing to be the best possible test of sailing skill in the face of an unfortunate wind direction.

I realize that it can be a nightmare for the race committee, but maybe people have some ideas that could be helpful.

I am not really asking about super-shifty wind, just wind that is going to cause the boats to bunch up at one of the starting line race after race and/or wind that is going to cause the boats to all sail on one long tack after the start and then maybe one short one near the weather mark.

Scott

Wow,this never happens in EC sailing so it will be interesting to here the responses.
We try to set up the 2nd leg to be up-wind as much as possible.

R.C.Greer

All you have to do is pick up the lake and turn it in the direction needed.

Reichard Kahle
Charleston, SC

Or perhaps compromises could be considered. Like move the weather mark toward or away from shore and the starting line to the middle of the course to make the weather mark more directly upwind of the starting line. Put the leeward mark as best one can directly downwind of the weather mark and maybe have a short distance for the leeward offset mark.

If the finish line was at the upwind mark then there might be 2 fairly long pretty much upwind beats.

The compromise would be that the legs would be shorter in the interest of more true upwind legs. Of course, we do not want to see the course moved too far offshore.

I am not saying this is a cure-all, but it could sometimes be an alternative to a very skewed course setup.

In shifty winds several different colored large upwind-mark buoys could be set fairly far apart (all equal distance from the starting line) ala the Detroit Nationals and the course would be called out just before each race using the buoy that is most directly upwind of the starting line.

Scott

You don't want to have a very short first leg or all boats will get to the top mark at the same time. As Greer suggested sometimes you just have to deal with what you have at the start and build some good upwind into other legs.

Reichard Kahle
Charleston, SC

vernon,
this happened recently at the region 3 champs down here in florida.
the marks were all fixed with the wind blowing across the course 90 deg 95% of the time. Unfortunate and not much fun actually.
One couldnt make the start on a starboard tack so it was a ndightmare from the getgo with the whole fleet rounding the so called weather mark at the same time. As a result, the protests were plentiful.
Just a parade of sorts. maybe a triangular course would have worked.
Regardless, i feel there should be someone dedicated to moving marks
during the regatta to keep the event truly competitive and the fleet apart. Florida is trending toward fixing marks in the water in a 'matrix' layout but
can become a bit congested and hinder the ability to quickly respond to serious wind conflicts. Skip Miller was asked to address this but havdnt heard anything. He has a great amount of experience setting courses for U.S. sailing regattas. ill check in with him.

If I may interject an idea here, we moved the finish line to wheere the windwad mark and the offset were. This means that the line judges had to walk back and forth with the scorekeeprers, but heck with them...... In all truth we did it at the IOM Nationals and everyone was very happy with it....

"When the cannon fires, harden up, tack or get out of my way"

I really think Ken and the Villages Race crew did as well as could be done with the wind/lake configuration.
It is hard; having been R.D. for a few regattas I really can comensurate with the RD and his crew in dealing with an unfavorable wind direction and limited lake options.
Any time you are at a regatta I am able to opine-let me know your ideas...they will be considered and acted upon if possible.

R.C.Greer