NAC Results

Submitted by sidewalkexpress on Fri, 07/02/2010 - 11:34
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Racer's Rap

There is a lack of information comming out of the NAC's.
The results from yesterday posted this morning were completly differant from what I see at 2 pm central time.
What is going on?? something other than just posting scores would be nice!!!!
In light of what has happened this week we need to take a look at qualifying and the WASTE OF TIME IT IS.
Looking at the Challenger list there are people that don't belong in that fleet it's maybe the first time they were ever in it and not the Championship fleet.
It is my opinion that we should elect the fleet like the midwinters and dont waste 2 good days of racing on some thing that doesnt count.

FS5257

Fri, 07/02/2010 - 16:05

All kidding aside, they still might be on the water. They were on the water 10hrs Tuesday just to get the pairings.
Ron and Bill, you are both right.
To have been there for six days (starting Sat) and have one race in the bag (thur), it is a waste of money and a poor use of time.

sawyerspadre

Sat, 07/03/2010 - 14:33

By the way, are there photos? I would imagine that the wind made for some exciting photo opportunities.

Phil Scheetz
FS 4086

fs5330

Sat, 07/03/2010 - 17:01

OK, since there doesn't seem to be any other info, here is my quick synopsis of the week:

Hurricane Alex definitely screwed with the weather. This was the first June Atlantic hurricane in 15 years and even though it was well south, it generated a bunch of storms across the entire gulf coast.

Monday: Storms all day, no sailing.
Tuesday: Good first race; squall came through 2nd race so race was abandoned; two more races afterwards to complete the qualifying- long day on the water!
Wednesday: Postpone due to storms; get all the boats in the water just in time for another storm to pop up; no sailing.
Thursday: Get one race started. Major wind shifts during the race and the race committee shortened at the second windward mark. The race was later dropped because the sailing instructions specified that a course could not be shortened to less than 4 legs. Started another race in dying breeze; race was abandoned when the time limit expired. Eventually some wind came back in and we actually got off a race that counted. Another long day on the water!
Friday: One good race in the morning with the breeze dying just as the challenger fleet was finishing. Started another race in the dying breeze, but abandoned when the wind completely shut down. Waited for a couple hours for the seabreeze to kick in; at that point a bunch of boats gave up and packed up early. A light northerly filled in first, so another race was started but then the seabreeze filled in from the south during the starting sequence for the challenger fleet. The race was abandonded and the race committee did an amazingly fast job of setting up a new course a getting a race off before the 3pm deadline to make it an official regatta.

Overall BWYC did an excellent job hosting the regatta under some very difficult conditions. I have never spent so much time on the water to complete so few races, but that's part of sailing. The competition was excellent; this was probably some of the deepest talent I have seen at NACs.

As an FSSA member, one thing that really disturbed me about the regatta was that first it seemed like there was an effort to scare people off from the regatta, then the association gave Lake Norman Yacht Club an award for offering to host the regatta instead of BWYC, but never even thanked BWYC and never mentioned that Ponchatrain had already volunteered to host in the unlikely event that the oil caused a problem. I think the association owes BWYC and its members a sincere apology for this lack of class and appreciation.

Andy Carrier

Sat, 07/03/2010 - 18:03

Thank you for the summary update. I wondered about the conditions and had a desire for some insight.

Andy
FS4957

wojtase1

Wed, 07/07/2010 - 09:14

Mike I agree with you on thinking about another format for the regatta. I have attended three NACs and two came down to the wire for getting in all of the races... ..Marblehead did not really count.

There is enormous pressure on the RC to get the races done with the current set up. It would be nice if we just raced as one fleet. Other fleets have long lines to accommodate the larger fleet. It would be nice if the schedule was more relaxed to relieve some of the stress on the RC because they basically operate two regattas in only five days.

Not having the Challenger/Championship fleet would also eliminate the sand bagging accusations. Lets face it winning the challenger fleet basically proves that you are perfectly average.. ..not exactly a trophy that I want to brag about to my friends(IMHO).

If I was king of the world I would propose the following:
Monday - Practice race day (One or two races)
Tuesday - Race 1,2,3
Wednesday - Race 3,4,5
Thursday - Race 6+ and make up if needed.
Friday - could be a last ditch make up day or go home day.

In the end every NAC I have attended has been stellar. People need to have a little patience when it comes to the information because event organizers have more pressing issues to worry about and not everyone is a writer. In the future the web site will be expanding its features to support easier updates but that does not necessarily mean it will be done.