Looper

Figaro?

Please stop putting quarters in the dum-dum machine.

Plenty of wind about a mile offshore.

10-12 boats.

The trapezoid course for an SE course is out there, all others have been pulled. CCYC opted to do this course as it takes about 20 minutes of commute to the course out of play and utilizes marks that are lit. On the CCYC circle it's almost completely dark by the time boats start and the trapezoid marks aren't lit.

Well, hopefully he goes back into hiding until the next time he decides to write an analysis of a MOB or wants to shame volunteers on SA. On second thought, don't.

He takes pryde in his posts.

You are absolutely right. I am unable to tolerate the actions of those who choose to publically criticize the volunteers whose goal it is to promote, support and build our sport. It might be best if you took a moment to think about a time in your 60 years of sailing when you did something great to grow sailboat racing. Go do that instead. Otherwise, you are just part of the problem.

In looking at his post history there aren't a lot of crotchety guys that have 60 years of racing experience, access to a 35-40ft "sport" boat and receive the CCYC mailing list. I've got a very short list of who I think it is.

I was there (on Sunday, not Saturday) on the signal boat. A best practices approach is a 6:1 ratio sailing boats to motor boats. This is the industry standard as well as what many local youth programs go off of for Chicago Lake Michigan dinghy sailing. With the numbers that were on the water, this event was well within the range of what could be deemed "Safe". Mechanical failures happen, breakdowns, etc and the scope of those incidents cannot be predicted. That said, this was a national championship...with what was expected to be national championship level sailing. Having competed in other dinghy national championship events I can attest that the following is generally assumed when competing: 1. You able-bodied and know your limits for what conditions your abilities are able to sustain. If you have no business being out there, you don't go. 2. You are on your own (there is no expectation from the OA for safety support, gear storage, tows in/out of harbor, safe keeping of water and lunches, or anything else). If you want assistance, charter/bring a support boat and hire your own support. 3. The OA will provide assistance in the event of emergency such as medical, injury, or other extreme instance that requires assistance. 4. If you receive assistance from the OA or your own support this is considered outside assistance and you are required to retire from the race. As such, most OAs are programmed to stay away unless the situation deems it absolutely necessary. My guess is that whomever the critics are in this thread have little or no experience as to what a dinghy national championship actually looks like and what is considered "the norm". Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it. With regard to the PRO statement, there were a lot of rumors being circulated at the event. The (volunteer) PRO never quit, was never fired, nor did she leave. There isn't a story there. Sorry. I'm happy to discuss this further with anyone in-person over drinks. I'll buy. PM me if you want to take me up on it. I'm done here.

Dude, maybe it's time you be a race chair for a major event. “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.” Mahatma Gandhi

I never said that it was. I also acknowledged the local Chicago "rookies" who chartered and borrowed boats and did little or no training/prep prior to a national event. It's probably safe to assume they were a portion of those who were inverted as well. Throughout the year only about 4 or 5 V15s sailed actively and consistently in Chicago. Oddly enough, they were the ones near the top.

Actually it was the participants that referred to themselves as such in casual conversation before and after racing.

I'm going to speak very generally as I was not with the event on Saturday when the capsize event happened. I do not have any first hand knowledge about the capsize. The winds for this event were sub 20 knots throughout however with direction out of the NE on Saturday and ESE on Sunday it made for some nautical Lake Michigan waves. About half of the participants traveled in from flat water sailing venues or were V15 rookies that were chartering boats for this event. This recipe lead to a national championship fleet that had several that probably had no business being out there. I don't actually know if the capsized boat was a CCYC V15 fleet regular, or if it was an out of town boat. What I do know is that it's the skipper's responsibility to determine whether or not to go out and ultimately for their own safety. I overheard that the R/C provided assistance as soon as possible. As far as I know, nobody was injured and it was just a matter of a skipper and crew that couldn't right the boat in the sporty conditions, which lead to a tow to the flat water harbor to help them get it up. After regrouping on Saturday and knowing conditions were not going to be any better on Sunday, the decision was made to post an amended course diagram that included less marks, thus requiring less R/C work and providing more time to act as safety boats. Sunday's conditions were about the same, seas were 5-7ft. There were a couple capsizes but again, par for the course given the conditions. Participation attrition occurred mainly because boats were getting pretty tired and started to head in. After 4 races and a 24 boat fleet depleted to 8 still racing, the event was ended.

I cannot comment on Saturday's events as I was only on signal on Sunday. The on the water rc assets were signal, mark set, line set, and an on the water judge.