RTIR 12 - Cancelled Classes

Peliminary list of finishers, not final results. I can find no reference to a line honours board in any documentation. The only reference to line honours in the SI refers to prizes. RRS 90.2 - no SIs, no race. 

No one would have had any problems with certain classes being cancelled had it actually been too windy but realistically it wasn't and that's what has got peoples backs up. The J80 is certified to sail in winds of up to 41 knots and waves up to 13ft in 'conditions which may be encountered on offshore voyages of sufficient length or on coasts where shelter may not always be immediately available'. That is far from the conditions which were actually seen on the water. Other boats which were less seaworthy and stable were still allowed to race which makes no sense. People are expecting compensation or at least an apology/acknowledgement of a mistake because they feel that the situation was handled incorrectly and inconsistently. I can understand that they need to cater for everyones safety and make sure that they do their best to stop people from getting into trouble but most of us just think they've gone about it in the wrong way.

No because no weather forecaster in their right mind is going to risk losing all credibility by claiming to guarantee something that they cannot. Raymarine seemed to be taken on as the official forecasters for the event so I would assume that ISC would be taking into consideration what they said and that was (from memory) that winds in the 30 knot region were the max that was likely to be experienced and on the actual day of the event several other forecasters were saying very similar things. Those conditions are well within the capability of a J80. If you start cancelling events or class starts simply because there is a slight chance that forecasts have been wrong and that you might end up with nasty weather then people are just going to stop bothering to travel to events. Unless there is a significant chance that weather beyond the capabilities of a boat is going to be experienced then it should be left to the owner to decide whether they can handle it. No doubt a majority of the sportsboat crews who had entered are hugely more experienced and competent that some of the cruising sailors who had entered and were still allowed to race.

I'm completely in agreement that they were correct to stop the less seaworthy boats going out. I wouldn't be happy doing it in a SB3 in 30 knots and big seas myself. But in that case, they should have just stopped specific types of boat from racing that were likely to be a liability and get into trouble. A J80 isn't going to behave as an SB3 or 'proper' sportsboat will in bad weather.

It's definitely the wrong move to refuse entries to sportsboats. At the moment that is where a lot of sailors are heading to, the number of 30 foot+ boats being raced is in decline and it's only going to keep heading that way until people can afford it again. 

We decided on the way round that next year the boat would be entered in the ISC class as it is possible to meet the regulations still. That way you are pretty much guaranteed a race if anyone else gets one. 

I wouldn't really call the J80 a sportsboat either. It was abandoned as its own class, not a sportsboat. There were some racing in the IRC sportsboat class (a bit of an oxymoron) but they were not fitted with lifelines and are used for match racing.  As far as I know there is no such thing as an IRC sportsboat!?   

Would you like your thread shaken or stirred?