Bang & Back

Anyone competed in a 'Bang & Back' race?

This is where mixed classes all start together on a big course where the start line is also the traditional lapping gate & Finish line 

When the first boat completes the first lap, the race officer gives a sound signal & all boats turn round (wherever they are on the lap) & race back down the course - first back to the start line/lapping gate is the winner.

The format is in some ways similar to a Pursuit where in theory, all boats cross the 'finish' line together, but canny use of the cerebral resources from both fastest & slowest boats could be significant! Before the gun, boats will obviously want to sail as slow as possible & then dash back to the finish after the gun.

I am looking for any SIs or first hand experiences of what to write in the SIs to prevent unfair methods being used to slow down eg numerous capsizes after crossing the start line, breaking the rules every 5 minutes to keep doing turns penalties etc.

Agreed; surely you end up with all the boats hove to just behind the line (after the first lap) waiting for someone to break it and then everyone sheets in !

Sounds like a waste of time to me.

I get racing and I get sailing for fun. I don't get "light-hearted racing". What's the point? You race to win, don't you?

So in this event, if I deliberately capsize, is that cheating? What if I'm just incompetent and capsize anyway. Is that OK? How can you tell the difference?

What about not hiking hard? Is that cheating? What if I say I'm a lazy *** and I never hike hard? Would it be OK then?

What if I tack on the lifts instead of the headers? Is that cheating? How does anyone else know anyway. What if I don't tack on windshifts at all? Is that cheating?

Good luck writing your SIs - and enforcing them.