J/22 North Americans - looking at a start

[Jackdaw]

WYC hosted the J/22 North Americans this last weekend, with 39 boats attending. As you would expect, we had a large percentage of the boats traveling in for the event, coming from all over the USA and one from Great Britain. Due to the caliber of the event our RC was all-hand-on-deck, and all four of our national-level PROs were working (in 4 boats). Jodi and I were asked to work as race officials on the pin boat, and as we were not racing those days, we happily agreed.

The start of the first race on Day2. The line is 1.5x#BOATSxLOA, so about 1300 feet. We are about 1 minute from the gun and the ‘stir’ is still running, with boats starting to look for spots. Dean (PRO) is calling OCS, Jodi is recording, and I’m spotting weirdness.

A few seconds before the start, and the line is fully formed. No one will be OCS this race. Notice the mid-line sag, a natural occurrence of big fleet starts in a class that does not allow devices like the ProStart or RaceGeek.

All clear. Boats in the 2nd and 3rd row are having a hard timing getting going as the air is very confused and choppy. Start back here and your race is already condemned to a mid-pack finish as best.

Questions:
What caused the mid-line sag?
What can you do to help avoid it?
Based on the distribution of the boats, what can you tell about the line?
Why a pin-boat and not a inflatable marker?

 

[Apex]

mid lone sag is common. its a good trick to know,because if you are in mid line start it is (typically) to be ahead of the fleet slightly. avoid it? time on the water practicing starts AND early in the start sequence sight the line and pick up geographic references.

re distribution...hard to see but appears boat end is favored?

...and last for a pin boat, you have opportunity for sighting from both ends of the line. esp useful for a start that big. one thing to keep in mind and helpful for us this winter, the flag CAN move on the boat to reset the line. reference the flag not the boat and watch /check at start of your sequence....

 

[Jackdaw]

mid lone sag is common. its a good trick to know,because if you are in mid line start it is (typically) to be ahead of the fleet slightly. avoid it? time on the water practicing starts AND early in the start sequence sight the line and pick up geographic references.

re distribution...hard to see but appears boat end is favored?

...and last for a pin boat, you have opportunity for sighting from both ends of the line. esp useful for a start that big. one thing to keep in mind and helpful for us this winter, the flag CAN move on the boat to reset the line. reference the flag not the boat and watch /check at start of your sequence....

Yep if you don’t have electronics that can help, sighting or ‘going for it’ can be your only options. You can’t see either boat from the middle of a long line, so you reflexively back off a bit. With devices like the racekgeek, that kind of sag is a thing of the past.

Good call re the wind.... the line was perfectly square with the median wind, but a slight rightly tipped it. But the tight line spacing made it better to get away clean!

Red the pin yes, but it does put the entire boat on the course, and it’s not an obstruction. You have to account for that with line size, and you still have an issue with boats tying to slam it. We had a heavy kellet 10 feet down the rode to keep it away from keels!

 

[Jackdaw]

Oh and the results! While former world champ Chris Doyle (of North Sails) cruised in and kicked ass, WYC teams were 2 and 3, and 7 of the top 10.

 

[glaufman]

Time, again, to show my ignorance...
How is that boat not an obstruction?

 

[Jackdaw]

Time, again, to show my ignorance...
How is that boat not an obstruction?

Great question! Well it’s always an obstruction in real life ;^), but the racing rules regarding ‘obstructions’ turn off during the run-in to the start. Just like the committee boat!

Section C rules of the RSS are 18-21, ‘At marks and obstructions’. This means that 3 minutes before the start, starting marks/boats are ruled as obstructions, but usually not at 15 seconds to go.

Many racers don’t know that last part!

But at 15 seconds before the start, L would NOT have to give room, and W is barging.

 

[glaufman]

Yes, the section c rules are switched off that point, but that doesn't make the boat not an obstruction... Nothing in the definition of obstruction concerning the timing of the start??

 

[Jackdaw]

Yes, the section c rules are switched off that point, but that doesn't make the boat not an obstruction... Nothing in the definition of obstruction concerning the timing of the start??

Well an obstruction is ALWAYS an obstruction. Don’t hit it! There are RRS rules that give boats the ability to avoid them, even if they don’t have rights (room).

But these turn off on the run up to the start. When does that begin? Great question. No one has a definite answer. The rule I quoted above is all the RRS says. In breeze, maybe 30 seconds. In light airs, it could be a minute or more. Depends on your speed to the line.