UH has a great three mile triangle course we do a few times a year. Keehi lagoon is a per WWII dredged triangle formed for seaplanes to land with three one mile legs. It is all flat water except for the leeward turn where there is a one mile fetch upwind. The wind funnels down usually over 20 knots with two foot chop. Sometimes the Eagle Rays move the turning marks for us at a rapid pace though. Our other long course goes out to sea and then there is very large surf to deal with as well as a few very big fish. A great idea for a last race of the day. I'm sure there are some other venues outside of the East Coast that would be great too.
On Sun, Aug 26, 2012 at 2:31 PM, Legler, Ken <[email protected]>wrote: > College sailors and race managers, > > After running this idea by a number of agreeable people, here is an idea > worth trying. At any event other than championships and intersectionals, > make one race per division a longer race with some interesting legs. Such > courses could include a long windward leg or long reach leg to create a > more interesting race. > > Here are some possible examples depending upon wind direction and strength: > At Maine Maritime a long downwind leg around the rotation dock. > At Bowdoin a long beat out toward the ocean and back. > At Vermont a long leg out into the middle of Lake Champlain. > At Tufts zig-zag reaches in heavy air. > At MIT or Harvard a bridge to bridge leg. > At Roger Williams a course through the bridge at slack tide. > At Salve Regina lots of possibilities. > At Yale out into the Sound or up the shoreline and back. > At Fordham part way across to Long Island and back. > At Navy up to the Severn River bridge in a NW or SE wind. > At St. Mary's going well up river or down river. > At Old Dominion a giant triangle. > At Charleston under the bridge at slack tide. > On a river a really long W-L if winds parallel the river; a wide butterfly > course in cross winds with three shorts beats and two long reaches. > At any site the usual W-L but then turning toward the rotation site and > going as far as a fair wind allows. > > And so on, you get the idea. > Yes, it should count. Reaching on a long leg is a good test of sailing > skill, not a parade. Most important we should do this because it is fun. > It is also a challenge for the race committee to pick a great course and > diagram it in the morning so sailors can figure it out without any > confusion. It is also a challenge to pick a course that is fair, > challenging and about 20-30 minutes long instead of the exact same standard > W4 of 15-18 minutes every single race at every single regatta. > > In short, setting and sailing long reaches is becoming a lost skill. > Racing on a long reach once in awhile can be really challenging and fun in > any wind speed. There is some reaching in the Olympics and plenty in > distance racing. > > Enjoy, > Ken Legler > Tufts Sailing Coach > > > > ________________________________________________ > icsa mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=icsa > Unsubscribe: Send a blank email to [email protected] > ________________________________________________ icsa mailing list [email protected] http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=icsa Unsubscribe: Send a blank email to [email protected]
