Not long ago, most of our college dinghy courses began with a triangle.
Nowadays they are mostly Windward-Leeward. Though I certainly hope we
retain reaching, especially on windy and even some light and shifty
days, racing on windward-leewards is a good thing.
To make race management a little easier, here are some course
designations which could become standard:
Course Description
3 Three legs; windward, leeward, finish to windward
4 Four legs; windward, leeward, twice around
4G Course 4 w/offset and gate
5 Five legs; W-L-W-L-W
6 Six legs; W-L, three times around
TW Triangle, windward (old course 4)
MT Triangle w/start & finish in the middle
G Triangle, W-L (old course 5)
O Triangle, W-L-W (old course 6)
MO Triangle, W-L-W, w/start & finish in the middle
N Team Racing course
Here are some less frequently used courses:
Trap Trapezoid w/split start/finish for multiple fleets
Box Like the trapezoid but w/beam reaches (team racing?)
HA Harry Anderson, set like an MT with an extra leg
Windward, reach, beam reach to start pin, then L-W.
1 Practice course, one leg to finish line or dock
2 Practice course for small fleets
Z W, followed by three reaches for really windy days
Additional thoughts:
Courses 4, 4G, 5, and 5G have become the most common courses but variety
can be challenging and fun, providing competitors are not confused and
the courses are set well. Gates are hard to set, particularly in deep
water, in shifty wind, and by inexperienced personnel. Gates are best
in major regattas when the fleet is even and you have the personnel.
N courses are also hard to set with seven anchors. Although all team
race majors use the N, minors do not have to and TW works fine and is
easy to set. The trapezoid or box w/split start-finish also works well
for team races, especially w/many starts, except for one thing; eight
anchors are required.
The Harry Anderson course is really exciting on windy days but the reach
mark should be way out there. Yale is not the only venue where this works.
When three divisions are on the water at once (some Navy and KP events)
the Trapezoid w/split start-finish near the middle helps keep the
regatta moving along.
The Z (zig-zag) course is almost never used in regattas but it could be,
particularly in windy minors. How about Z-W-L? After all, one of the
main objects is to have fun.
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