Average Lap races

should

   And as a Topper sailor, it's with an immense pleasure you send those Contenders back for an extra lap!  

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Black no sugar Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 04 Dec 04 Location: Somewhere between Brighton and Lancing Online Status: Offline Posts: 3941	Post Options Post Reply Quote Black no sugar Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Average Lap races Posted: 19 Feb 05 at 9:31pm
	And as a Topper sailor, it's with an immense pleasure you send those Contenders back for an extra lap!
	Lancing SC

redback Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 16 Mar 04 Location: Tunbridge Wells Online Status: Offline Posts: 1502	Post Options Post Reply Quote redback Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 05 at 6:23pm
	Sorry that's what I meant - you express it better than me. Basically by using a bit of discretion you can organise it so that nearly everybody has a sail of equal length.

Scooby_simon Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 02 Apr 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 2415	Post Options Post Reply Quote Scooby_simon Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 05 at 4:27pm
	I've actually found it usually pays to finish the handcap fleet once the first few (really) fast boats have gone thru' the line so they get an extra lap (They should catch the slower boats in front.
	Wanna learn to Ski - PM me..

redback Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 16 Mar 04 Location: Tunbridge Wells Online Status: Offline Posts: 1502	Post Options Post Reply Quote redback Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 05 at 3:59pm
	Nothing is perfect but generally speaking average lap racing means most people sail their race in the same wind as the others. In truth our good Race Officers tweak the 75 minutes to finish when the leading fast boat is about to cross or when it would make a nonsense to send the slow boats around again. So a little judgement can make an almost good system into a better one still.

catmandoo Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 16 Mar 04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 545	Post Options Post Reply Quote catmandoo Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 05 at 1:22pm
	Yes Average lap racing becomes a joke in falling breeze , which can often happen in midweek , midsummer evening races . There is nothing more demoralising than getting beaten by a boat of the same type(or dog slow other !) sailing within a handicap class on average lap time that hasn't even got close to you ,winning by virtue of being so far behind that they are stopped a lap behind you ! whilst you soldier on on a dying vespre. This scenario is recognised by some clubs,menoge associations and rules are introduced whereby the R>O recognises this situation and results are adjusted , but it can become a nightmare and most R>Os will ignore the adjustment. Another solution is to introduce a fixed period time limit after first finisher we use 1/2 an hour , so if a faster leader doesn't finish his final round after a slower boat has been finished a round behind the leader counts his last round completed within time limit, this helps above problem to a degree.This is only relevant in club racing ,most regattas do this anyway but usually allow too long a time to finish. All in all whatever you do Average lap racing is a compromise and people will loose out or gain due to "LUCK " and factors outwith their control the race winner won't neccesarily win because of their performance across the water perhaps their lack of it . Av lap racing gets more races in and less time waiting around it's convienient for those running races, but doesn't consistantly produce the best racing/results . A one design class can have enormous time seperations within the fleet , but no one in their right minds would put them into average laps. Guess as a competitor sailing a faster boat I don't really like it ! A fast boat too can win unjustly when a slower boat that had been winning (on Hcap) is shortened early and wind rises .


Contender443 Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 01 Oct 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1211	Post Options Post Reply Quote Contender443 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 05 at 12:27pm
	We do it at lancing for our early / late series plus our Wednesday night races. It works well as long as the lap length is kept to 20 or 30 minutes maximum for our slowest boats. The problems arise in light decreasing winds where our slowest boats have taken over 40 minutes to do one lap - do you send them round again? It can be hard for the race officer to set an appropiate size course. Nine times out of ten it works well. We generally use trapezoid courses for this type of racing.
	Bonnie Lass Contender 1764

Pierre Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 15 Mar 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1532	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pierre Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 05 at 11:41am
	It's done at Weir Wood as well.

Doctor Clifford Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Far too distracted from work Joined: 16 Mar 04 Location: Scotland Online Status: Offline Posts: 243	Post Options Post Reply Quote Doctor Clifford Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 05 at 11:38am
	works well for the Scotland and North of England Catamaran Class Association too. If you can set up a start line that doubles as a leeward gate, you get far better racing on a windward leeward course than a gate a third of the way up the course, as is often seen. More choices up and down.
	regards Dr. Clifford take two tablets twice daily

bigwavedave Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 04 Jun 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 944	Post Options Post Reply Quote bigwavedave Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 05 at 10:56am
	I can vouch for the success of average lap racing at Bough Beech. Works very well.


redback Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 16 Mar 04 Location: Tunbridge Wells Online Status: Offline Posts: 1502	Post Options Post Reply Quote redback Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 13 Feb 05 at 9:36pm
	Hi we've done it for years we sail on a reservior of 260 acres and we always have on the water starts and finishes at the same location. You cannot have part laps so we always set a course with a "gate", which is the start/finish line. It works really well and caters for our range of boats which include Opies and Olympic aspirants in 49ers. The 49ers often lap the Opies 3 or 4 times so you need to keep track of laps completed, but at 75 minutes of racing we hoist the shortened course flag and time the boats across the line. Generally all classes start together, and all get about the same length of race. Our computer is set up so that the Race Officer has to merely enter the start time, the sail number of each boat, the finish time and the number of laps. I can recommend it.