Race 11: DNF x6
Race 12: DNF x6
In these very light conditions on the water between the Veemkade and Java-island in Amsterdam the Xtreme 40's struggle to get in within the time limit. The first boat free and clear of all others, has the freedom to find every puff and can, on occasion, get ahead very far.
The time limit to finish after the first boat finishes is only five minutes.
Friday there were only one or two, but yesterday the number of boats that did not manage to get a finish place increased. Mitch Booth from Holmatro suggested in the skippers meeting to increase the time limit. The RO insisted that everybody - every skipper - should agree on the change. Specially because this would be a mid series change.
The final proposal was to take 50% of the sailed time as the time limit. For a race of 15 minutes that would mean 7.5 minutes, for a race of 20 minutes a time limit of 10 minutes, and so-on.
That would also have the advantage that even in changing conditions the time limit was appropriate. A good proposal.
But as I said, not all skippers agreed. We revisited the subject in the post-race briefing, but again no consensus. Perhaps it will be decided in this mornings briefing.
If not this event, definitely something to consider for next year.
How about your experiences with time limits? Ever been to late? Was the finish closed by the time you got there? Or perhaps you've had a request for redress about it?
Time Limit
ReplyDeleteI did have an issue with a time limit at one event, which was resolved by a Request for Redress at the request of the Race Committee.
I was chairing the F18 World championship with 160+ entries of varied ability. We were in the Qualifying series, and thus the abilities were mixed.
The wind was light and boats finished over a very long period and longer than the cut off finisher + (forget the exact time). 30 to 50 % of the boats in each flight were finishing outside the time to be scored DNF.
Boats complained they had come from Australia to Spain for the event and it was finished for them almost before they had started.
It appeared the cut off time was too short in the light winds with the varied fleet.
After a consultation with the PRO it was agreed the Race Committee would request Redress because of the finishing situation.
A hearing occurred and before the boats came ashore redress had been granted. Boats finishing in twice the original cut off time were scored as having finished in the qualifying series, with the original time being retained as appropriate when the fleets had been split by ability for the final series.
The sailors were happy, the race committee were happy, and the event went on to be a great success.