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From: Howard Hamlin
Sent: 15 march 2001
To: 505world
Subject: New Worlds Courses & Format |
To All Serious 505 Sailors,
At Durban last year, Krister
Bergstrom discussed the need to change the World’s format and courses to make the
racing more fun and more appealing to a wider cross section of sailors. So I started an
email discussion with 505 sailors worldwide and found virtually unanimous strong support
from everyone including; Chris Nicholson, Ian Barker, Ian Pinnell, Ebbe Rosen, Holger Jess,
Paul Young, Peter Alarie and many more. Here is what we all recommend:
NEW COURSE: Windward/leeward, triangle,
Windward/ leeward, Finish on the run. Use a offset mark after each weather mark to start
the run.
Have a gate at the leeward mark.
JIBE MARK ANGLE: At Portugal keep the
traditional 70 degrees. The next year switch to 90 degrees to accomodate the new bigger
spinnaker.
RACES: Two races per day, with one on the last day. Seven day series with
13 races total.
DROPS: One drop after 4 races (as now) and 2 drops after 9 races.
SCORING: Low point.
IMPLEMENT NOW: Try it at Portugal.
These changes are not unique, virtually all international and Olympic classes have gone
this way. Here are the reasons so many people support these changes.
The current World’s course is too biased towards very very big crews. Peter Alarie
was too small at 5’-10”and 205 lbs! Statistically there are very few sailors
that are big enough to crew on a 505. The problem got even worse when water bottles were
made illegal. For the good of the class and class growth we need to make changes so more
normal sized people can crew.
The existing World’s course has too
many upwind legs, which puts too much of a premium on upwind performance. This requires
big crews, years of experience and hours of two boat tuning. This reduces the number of
potential crews and discourages newcomers. Would'nt we all like to spend more time going
downwind? The solution is downwind finishes. This is easier for the race committee, they
do not have to move and another race could be started quickly.
To avoid congestion at the windward mark before each run, have a short 100 to 200 yard two
sail reach to an offset mark. At the bottom of the run use a gate so there are more
options and less of a parade.
Reaches versus Running: The current two triangles also places a premium on big crews. To
us the fun downwind starts at 12 knots when the pole is on the headstay and the crew is on
the wire. Maybe that will be 10 knots with the big kite. Compared to reaching, wire
running is more fun for the crew, more tactical, less of a parade, has more lanes and
often is faster than a mainflogging tight reach.
Having two races a day is more fun. It gives you more races to figure out the location,
conditions and get in stride. We travel too far and spend too much money to sail only one
race a day. With only one race a day the regatta is over before you know it. Having more
races puts less importance on sailing the preworld’s. So for those short on time they
could take only a week off to sail the worlds.
There is no reason to use Olympic
scoring. It is difficult for everyone and makes little or no difference in the end. They
don’t even use it at the Olympics anymore.
As Chris Nicholson says, “There is
no question these changes are absolutely necessary, let’s not draw out the debate,
make these changes now. It will only make what already is a great class, even
better.” Our current World’s format is only a guideline. The class officers can
enact these changes for the next World’s. So let’s encourage them to do so.
There is no downside to trying this out, after Portugal we can debate and change what the
competitors desire. So if you like these ideas also, email the class officers (Ali Meller
and Rob Napier) and encourage them to try out these changes at Portugal.
Howie Hamlin
505 Sailor's Opinions on this Proposal |
