Last weeks racing was a bit of a mess. Many didn't know what was going on and it left some of the attended masses with the hump. Everyone was keen to go but lack of communication seems to be the root of the problem.

It's also a pain for whoever gets the dubious task of race officer. They have to struggle each week to work out who is racing and where they are. If something is not right then they are totally ignored. No one wants to be race officer anymore due to the hassle.

Anyone got any ideas to improve things next week?

I know it's supposed to be fun but I think we do need to tighten up on the rules and stick to any decision the race officer makes without argueing the toss.

I agree and no one should ever give the race officer a hard time - just say 'thank you' at the end of a race. Anyway, we all know that if there are any problems, they are Tony's fault :wink:

Lightwind longboard racing is much easier to administer as it happens over a larger course, there are fewer laps and things happen at a slower pace. Slalom however (discounting light wind Slalom as per the previous week) can be fast, furious and contentious. (For example, I was convinced I'd lapped SIG 3 times on thursday but he only thought it was twice :wink: ) Nevertheless, we could easily adopt a few measures which would help us all at the start and finish (in between that there is no hope)

Last year Pauline and I discussed the posibility of 2 things that could help the race officer and sailors alike. Firstly, sail Identification. It doesn't have to be sail numbers (although a few of us have them) but a simple letter, marked out in Black bodge tape, can help. (symetrical letters such as A and T are best) M for Mark or even H for Hoff :wink: (Mark and Mike will have to find other ways of distinguishing themselves although even the poorest of eyesights shouldn't get those 2 mixed up :wink: ) Other possibilities are streamers but it is often difficult to distinguish orange from red, blue from purple etc. Plus there may not be enough colours in the rainbow

Another thing that would really help is to extend the sound signals giving more time to those people who get to the start line late and say "has the hooter gone" or "is that the one minute" (usually "whats the course"). My suggestion is, as most other racing does now for a 5, 3, 1 and away or even the old fashioned 6, 3, 1 and away. This would also give more time to the race office. (For those who can tell the time, syncronizing watches before going afloat can also help)

A really useful thing woud be visual signals at the start and finish. Pauline discovered last year that, as we had last week, an onshore wind carries any sounds away from the sailors. Therefore a simple red and green flag system could be adopted. The red flag is displayed at the 6 minute point (or 5) and taken down as the green flag is put up with 1 minute to go. At the start the green flag is dropped. This does not require a second pair of hands and if people like the idea,I volunteer to make up the necessary.

A similar flag system could be adopted at the finish. I've have seen an orange flage used to let competitors know they are on their last lap. This would help people like me who loose count as early as the first lap and end up killing themselves by doing twice as many laps as necessary just to make sure.

We don't need to make this "serious" but as Phill rightly points out, many more people are racing this year and a little effort on the admin could make it even more enjoyable

PS. 2 notable words missing from Tony's report last week were "lapping" and "lapped".

i.e. "the water was lapping against the shore" and "some people were lapped - more than once"