Makes you go....

Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Inexperienced racer?
Dumb mistake turning towards the line with all the boats trying to start and on a port tack as well.:laugh:
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
That, my friends, is why I stay away from racers. They own the road and they are ALWAYS right. What a huge, as we would say in the Marine, cluster f---. Nice video by the way. LOL
 
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May 17, 2004
5,032
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Certainly a mess. Very bad decision to try to get back across the line there. Take your medicine and go around the committee to get back over. Given that it turned out to be a general recall he wouldn't have lost anything anyway.

Sounds like his crew was calling for him to turn down the line earlier, but he hesitated just enough to get carried across, forced to come backward. After that it seems like he lost awareness of the traffic and didn't make an attempt to turn inside the oncoming boat until it was too late. Lots of mistakes compounding each other.

Looks like the boat coming up on starboard may have tried to turn up at the last second, but too late to be effective. It's probably not reasonable to expect him to turn away sooner.
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
It's probably not reasonable to expect him to turn away sooner.
Looks to me he was early. Trapped near the line and the committee boat. Others closing in from behind. Once across tacking to port with everyone on starboard heading for the line... Loss of situational awareness. Mayhem.
 
Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
I would not want to be crew under that captain, if you can call him a captain or maybe call him ah....... you fill in the blank.
 
Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
I would also be pissed at the committee. that line looks really short for the number of boats. rule of thumb for length is 1.1 to 1.5 times the total length of boats in class but that line doesn't even look to have 1 boat length for each.
 
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May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
that line does seem stupid narrow. the ladies at the malls this time of year do much better in those narrow lanes. mayby there is a lesson to be learned. :)
 
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May 17, 2004
5,032
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
I would also be pissed at the committee. that line looks really short for the number of boats. rule of thumb for length is 1.1 to 1.5 times the total length of boats in class but that line doesn't even look to have 1 boat length for each.
Agree that it looks a little short. I might forgive them for that given that it's a Wednesday night race probably with varing attendance from week to week, and probably with classes of different sizes. Still would be better to err on the side of caution and make it bigger.

The other problem is that the boat end seems to be VERY heavily favored, which is kindof a recipe for a pile up there. Judging by the boat tacking in the bottom of the frame around 1:30, the wind is coming almost straight down the line from boat to pin.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
ladies at the malls this time of year do much better
Unfair comparison. The Ladies are all skilled shoppers. They have an advantage. No newbies would be allowed. Young girls must apprentice and definitely not permitted during the Christmas rush
 
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May 23, 2016
217
O'Day 1984 23 Island Park, NY
that line looks really short for the number of boats. rule of thumb for length is 1.1 to 1.5 times the total length of boats in class but that line doesn't even look to have 1 boat length for each.
Excellent points
 
May 23, 2016
217
O'Day 1984 23 Island Park, NY
The other problem is that the boat end seems to be VERY heavily favored, which is kindof a recipe for a pile up there. Judging by the boat tacking in the bottom of the frame around 1:30, the wind is coming almost straight down the line from boat to pin
That too
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,045
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
That really was a very weird start. There were boats essentially running with the wind on starboard pointed at the pin end and boats also on starboard tack pointing at the committee boat. Boats pointed in opposite directions but all on starboard. No wonder it was confusing. The blue boat looked for an opening ahead of everybody by attempting to run down the line toward the pin. He only got screwed up because that little boat, was also running toward the pin and decided to turn toward the committee boat and luff all sails. Since he was leeward, the blue boat had no choice but to point toward the line. Did you see how he accelerated when he went beam to wind?

Obviously, it was a bone-headed move by blue boat to jibe to port and try to duck the crowd, but the boat that he T-boned didn't help matters at all. He (the t-boned boat) could have spun off downwind, crossed the line on time with speed and avoided contact. Instead he, turned right into the blue boat. I'm sure he had leeward boats to worry about, but he would have done better to try his luck with any leeward boats that might have been following.

I think setting the line with a cross wind really screwed up the start. Like I said, all boats were on stbd yet the fleet was split, with some wanting to run with the wind toward the pin and some wanting to tack upwind toward the committee boat.
 
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May 17, 2004
5,032
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
I think setting the line with a cross wind really screwed up the start. Like I said, all boats were on stbd yet the fleet was split, with some wanting to run with the wind toward the pin and some wanting to tack upwind toward the committee boat.
Completely agree with you that a lot of the mess was due to the start line. A more upwind start would've spread out the boats much better. I did look at some of the other videos on that channel and it looks like they often start with unconventional start lines, sometimes with boats running to the start flying spinnakers.

I think the blue/green boat's mistakes started as soon as he got ahead of the little boat. At that point he still had room to turn and run down the line, and it sounded like his crew was saying to do that. If he had then maybe he would've stayed clear of the line, or maybe he would've been forced over early, but he would at least have a chance. Instead of doing that he hesitated, and by the time he did turn he needed to come way back down to get on the pre-stsrt side of the line. That, combined with the other boats reaching up early of the gun, led to the collision. After he hesitated really his only good option was to go out around the committee and start a little late.

As for the boat that got t-boned - In hind sight I agree it looks like he may have been able to escape to leeward, or at least lessened the collision. At that moment though he probably didn't have time to realize the impending collision and evaluate all of his options. He had a lot of traffic to leeward just before that moment so although he had pulled ahead of it, he probably didn't know if there was still anyone there or not, especially as tunnel vision and fixation on the approaching target set in.
 
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TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
Wow, that was entertaining. Especially having the drone footage to help explain it. Clueless is the only way to explain it.
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
This is what happens when new racers compete with more experienced racers. Some try to follow one of the frequent racers. This tends to concentrate boats on one of the ends. That end maybe favored but if the crowd is there then you’ll be blanketed and most go no where. Look at the boats at the far end. All are going near max speed. Look at the space in the middle of the line. That’s where you might find clear air. Clean air means speed.

Watch the starts of national level races. All racers are looking for clear air