Hi I am sure that everyone has read the articles on the fleet change diligently - but just in case .. . Starting TOMORROW the fleet structure for the main long series (frostbite, autumn, spring, summer) is changing. There will be five starts ...
1 - Asymmetrics (RS100 8.4 and quicker) - also includes foilers! 2 - Fast Handicap (monohulls quicker than RS Aero 9 (i.e. <= PN 1018)) 3 - Slow Handicap (monohulls - RS Aero 9 and quicker (i.e >= PN 1019)) 4 - Multihulls (no change) 5 - Junior (RS Feva, Topper, Topper 4.2, Optimist)
The main change will be for former members of the fast handicap with a PN of 1019 or greater and the lasers who will be sailing together in Start 3 - play nicely!.
We have also brought the PY system inline with the published (2018) RYA figures - so some of you may find your PNs tweaked by a few points. In the future the changes will be made at the start of the Spring Series.
Mark Sailing Secretary
Last edit: 5 years 6 months ago by Mark Elkington.
Please could the start order be reconsidered? For many years now, the multihulls have started last and this is for safety reasons. Multihull sailors know that their boats will not turn on a sixpence, so are pretty good at staying well away from the start line for other classes while awaiting their own start. The prospect of inexperienced sailors in Toppers and Optimists getting caught up in a multihull start is distinctly worrying and, even if collisions are avoided, would be extremely frightening for the youngsters involved. My guess is that the thinking is that it's a good idea to let all the other boats get away before the Juniors' start but a boat that is racing is much more predictable than one that has not yet started, so problems are much less likely if any encounters happen after the start. So please, Safety First - Multihulls Last...
Hi Jeremy This junior start wasn't changed this time - it has been the last start for almost a year now (though we haven't had juniors at every race). I believe the thinking was that the juniors would be safer not having any other boats around while they are starting and it would be odd for the multihulls to wait around for 6 minutes for their start if there were no juniors racing..
Have there been any incidents?
I will raise this for discussion at the next sailing committee.