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Waiting for the stragglers?
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Stefan Lloyd View Drop Down
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    Posted: 10 Jul 10 at 5:19pm
Originally posted by ChrisJ

"the race officer did the civilised thing and signalled a short postponement to allow the stragglers to reach the race area before the warning signal".


The racing is run for the benefit of the competitors. If a significant proportion are late, there's usually a reason for it. Postpone. This argument applies when the start line is a significant sailing time away from the launch, not from a club line.
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Posts: 481 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Late starter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 10 at 5:10pm
More often than not common sense will point the way. Competitors are sometimes inclined to wait til they see the RO and team go out to the start. So if I'm on duty I make sure that me and my team are in place a few minutes early. Not rocket science, but more often than not it works!
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Posts: 38 		Post Options Post Options   Quote SymBoy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 10 at 12:55pm
For open events it can always be difficult to predict how
long it is going to take to launch and get to the start
area, especially if it is your first visit, so a little
bit of latitude is needed. Perhaps during pre-race
briefing, a bit of advice should be given by RO.

For club racing there is little excuse. What would help
would be an earlier warning signal (10-15 minutes before)
as reminder that "this race is on time". If I hear the
first hoot whilst in the changing rooms, I know I may as
well sit out the first race....

However, at my club I have heard more complaints about
the racing being started on time than late.



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gordon View Drop Down
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Posts: 1037 		Post Options Post Options   Quote gordon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 10 at 5:31pm
Redress can only be granted to a boat who's score has been made worse "through no fault of her own".

I would suggest that the RO can get his redress in first by delaying the start when he judges that the competitors are not at fault for arriving late. For instance, I sail out of a tidal harbour. Predictions of the time at which boat's can launch are not always accurate...

On the other hand one race officer went out, started first race on time, waited 4 minutes, noted that there were no starters so closed the line. He did the same for the second and third races and went back to harbour. There he found a few competitors rigging their boats (nearly an hour after scheduled time of first gun)... Next time he was RO boats were on time.

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JimC View Drop Down
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Posts: 6661 		Post Options Post Options   Quote JimC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 10 at 4:17pm
Originally posted by ASok

Yes, but if you're on a coastal club where people have been to great lengths to set start times depending on tide availability and people still can't be on time, then I think the RO should just start and leave people out. 


I submit that should be a policy decision for the club AGM, not an individual RO making rules on the fly though. If the majority of the sailors want to start late and have a short race then why on earth shouldn't they... Who are we running the races for?
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Posts: 42 		Post Options Post Options   Quote bawbag Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 10 at 3:22pm
you can always request redress if  you don't make the start because of the race committees actions , as would the case of them not leaving sufficient time from launching to start time to get there in the prevailing conditions
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Posts: 739 		Post Options Post Options   Quote ASok Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 10 at 1:47pm

Yes, but if you're on a coastal club where people have been to great lengths to set start times depending on tide availability and people still can't be on time, then I think the RO should just start and leave people out. 

An attitute of 'the start will slip, so we can leave it an extra 10mins' just gets worse and worse.

On the other hand there is nothing more frustrating than the RO not getting to the start and set up at the published time

 

 
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Posts: 8956 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Rupert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 10 at 1:19pm
Some places make you wait to be released from the beach. If the time between release and getting all the boats launched (maybe 1 or 2 at a time) and to the start area is insufficient, this is hardly the competitors' fault. If, however, a couple of people failed to wake up and are late, you just get on with it, surely. Anything between would have to be on a case by case basis. "Start and be damned" seems a very short sighted approach.
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Posts: 211 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Captain Morgan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 10 at 1:09pm

Originally posted by JimC

Depends completely on the circumstances...

Unexpected traffic jams on the way to the club - wait.

Light airs and ridiculous time to reach the start line - wait and send the safety boat out to give people tows.

The job of the Race Officer is to provide good racing for all the competitors: its not to play some kind of schoolmaster yah boo serve you right game... If half of them aren't there then the fun of the race is diminished for the rest anyway. I'd much rather the RO waits 5 minutes and have everyone there rather than have the race/series/whatever compromised because half the competitors are missing. Its supposed to be a sailboat racing competition not a getting-up-early-and-boat-rigging competition. One person, on the other hand, well that's probably just tough.

I absolutely agree with you JimC - We had one RO who set a line about a mile away from the clubhouse, which was a beat in about 3-5kts of wind. There was about 3-4kts of tide going in the opposite direction. The RO let the stragglers in the Laser fleet start late (>10mins. after the start), but then marked other stragglers DNC, some of whom started in front of the Lasers!

Better judgement and common sense from Race Officers sound like the order of the day.
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Posts: 42 		Post Options Post Options   Quote bawbag Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 10 at 9:53am

as said above depends on circumstances .

 

but

 

I've been to many regattas that it is impossible to get to start area in time left between briefing and start , especially venues with small slip access to water sometimes you cant even get on the water in time ! and thats  with even attending briefing in pervy rubber kit and boat fully rigged.

 

but as for sunday morning hung over late arrivals (me ) tough ,thats what the discards for  innit ?

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