Worst Falmouth Week Ever!

POFSA as the organising body for the regatta, have a duty to run a safe and professional race organisation out in the Bay for the competitors, whom have all paid good money out to race and should be expect to get it. There is plenty of clear water out there, so why do we have to dodge shipping whilst racing?

The less said about Sundays mind and bum numbingly boring race the better. Once again the results for that days racing were published very late that evening, but if you ask someone to do them you'd better make damn sure that she knows how to do it before the event! Thank you to the two ladies who eventually managed produced them on behalf of Helford.

To be fair to the Bay Race Officer I'm told that he didn't write the set courses for the week but they were just shocking, with absoloutely no imagination whatsoever. Still at least by Friday he ignored the printed instructions and gave everyone the racing they were clamouring for all week.

The race officer who started a race, where the 1st mark was laid just off to windward of the bow of a vessel raising it's anchor, fails to give instructions to the officials on a saftey boat in the vicinity of the said mark regarding the directions to the competitors and then intimates that it's all racers fault for not keeping clear! Not very professional .A ten minute postponment could have been considered prudent by some. And whoever subsequently let the protest committee pass the ruling that they came to, following an out of time(allegedly) request for redress, should be embarrassed to say the least. Where were the findings published? Not on the regatta notice board - allegedly!

Ashore, where was the focal venue for the sailors this year?

The regatta tent was kicked out of the Surfy Dude Pizza Plaza, because of the complaints from the neighbours who bought a property/business beside the event square or was it due to financial gain by Carrick D.C? It's not called the EVENT SQUARE for nothing. I hope that POFSA made loads of cash from that deal because if not they've failed to look after the interests of the sailors - young and old. Carrick certainly won't let the tent make a reapperance at the expense of their Pavillion venue where the price of drinks took the ****. Remind Carrick that it's Falmouth regatta week for sailors, visitors welcome, and not just the drunken lowlife.

Bring back the tent on the lawn by the Greenbank Hotel for the sailors. Have different styles of race courses to provide variety and be more flexible in where they are started out in the bay. Lay marks well clear of the shore and local conditions where the wind should be more predictable for all competitors.Lay proper marks that visibly stand out, not an old length of downpipe hiding in the swell and only seen when you fall over it!  Fax the results ashore immediately from the committee boats and pay someone to produce them in time for the prize giving.

Oh, and can someone do something about the weather!!!!!!!!!

I really dont think that anybody is blaming POSFA for their actions with the result of this stupid actions from mindless sailors, in my opinion the situation was handled quite correctly.

What people are trying to say is, why is the coarse in that part of the bay when they know there is to be shipping movements? whats up with Gerrans bay! a mile east of Black Rock.

On many occassions now, regatta's are needing to make alterations for shipping movements, this has to happen for the ports finacial benifit and the good of Falmouth, so knowing these movements are taking place move the race area to accomadate this to avoid any such reacurrances.

Gary Denning

So come on POSFA, here is your chance to air your opinion! We are all waiting for you to put your point over to us.

On another matter which i forgot to add earlier, THE CHAMPAGNE RACE. How can you advertise and put in the race instructions i believe, 6 bottles for winning boat, 2 for second and 1 for third place!!!!

It was decided, 2 bottle for 1st place,(FINE) 1 bottle for 2nd place(fine) and 0 for 3rd place(DISCRACEFUL). with 15 or so bottles left over for a Porche Boxster outside the Watersports Centre! What happened to these i ask myself??? or was they returned to Marks & Spencers??

polp

Let Falmouth Week return to its normality

Gone are the days of great racing, good prize givings and fantastic evenings spent in the tent,drinking, talking to race officers and competitors of the great days racing we just all had, climbing the marquee poles and getting told off by some great big muscle man, giving away all the Red Stripe to every competitor that RACED.

Whats it all about now-a-days? MONEY but to whom and what for?

Over the years, since POSFA has been involved it has just got expensive and unrealistic to what Falmouth week is all about, i think its just a case of forgetting the very point of Falmouth Week.

I have lived in Falmouth all my life and sailed now for nearly 30 years. I can remember the tent for competitors and even Customs House Quay with greasy poles great evenings entertainment everywhere, Falmouth was just a buzy place with everybody in great spirit.

What do i hear now? People moaning about how much it cost for a drink in the PAVILLION!!! People moaning about how poor race management was, the race coarse are!

To be fair to POSFA, it is very difficult to set racing coarses right everytime, we all get things wrong from time to time.

On my boat we have not competed now for over 3 years in Falmouth Week, not because we dont want too, its a case of how can you justify taking a whole week off work for 2 hours racing a day. We all know that in Falmouth during August, its always around 1400hrs before the wind has set its mind up what it is going to do, so we start races at mid day, all thats achived is people get frustrated!!!!

Come on POSFA give Falmouth back its GREAT SAILING ability and make it worth while to visiting yachts persons and locals, or ask the local people what they want??? intead of worrying whats in it for Carrick.

As a business person of Falmouth i can tell you now, this is the worst Falmouth Weeks takings ever! in my trade i hear numerous competitors moaning every day, even some whom can not speak out aloud as they may wish too.

Please give the sailors back great racing as we know you can, plus OUR tent, not the Pavillion, who's ever idea's that was needs stringing up. Maybe concider starting racing later in the day to avoid shifting winds and giving local business men time to sort their businesses out in the morning before starting sailing in the afternoon, or just giving the competitors time to get over their bad heads from the night before!!!

Falmouth Week can be one of the best events in the yachting calender if only somebody looked at the potential that Falmouth has got on its door step!!!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, wake up to whats going on before you lose it ALL!!!