Can I run a quick opinion poll on what sort of food would be preferable amongst Merlin competitors for the Saturday night of the Shoreham Open.

Option A: A proper well organised bbq

Option B: Mass take away curry from the legendary local 'Indian Cottage'

First to receive 10 votes gets it!!!

Curry all the way

has to a a ruby all the way!!!

Not fussed - but can you make sure the beer doesn't run out this year!

Can't wait for a luvverly Shorham Shandy....

Well as well OOD my job this year is to organise the REAL ALE - 220 pints of it which means one for Ross and 219 for the rest of us !!!
If we run out on Saturday I'll shorten the beat on Sunday !

Just a line to thank Alan Chaplin and co for a splendid day's racing on Saturday - going to prove what I have long felt that it it perfectly possible to run a complicated day's sailing smoothly given the right preparation.  It was a shame that Sunday was so unwelcoming, but credit to the race team for making every effort to get us afloat.  I missed the bash on Saturday night, but by the look of those who stayed it was to the usual standard!

Many thanks to all,

GGGGGGGGG

Fantastic sailing, fantastic party.

Cheers Rob, cheers PRO, cheers all!

J

Cheers chaos.  Ross, Alex and Alan.  Good stuff all round!?

That was meant to be chaps.  But chaos may be equally apt...

Hope everyone had a good time Saturday. The curry certainly seemed to go down well, will probably repeat next year. 

A big thanks to the 30 strong team of helpers at the club, without whom it would not have been possible (and my mum for making the cakes!)

I agree the weather Sunday was a shame, even more annoying that by 1 the front had passed through. Was a hard call to make, people don't like hanging around for hours, but agree Alan made the right choice!

Two more weekends until the champs, so visitors welcome to come join in club racing. First race starts at 11.

Cheers, Ross

Thanks for the thanks - I enjoyed it too .

Interesting fact - in the first race the leading Fireball ( their World Champ I believe ) completed the first trapezium only a few seconds quicker the the leading Merlin .

Alan don't say that, or the Shoreham committee will drop our local handicap from 1000 to 982!

All down to wind strength really. Last year they were lapping much quicker from memory.

my cunning plan uncovered  !!

Actually it was close last year too - there wasn't more than a minute for the whole of the first race .

WP - you answered my next question - one step ahead as always....

We raced against a meatball in an Open Handicap event at an inland venue in similar wind conditions recently and they were unable to make any inroads into our position.  As soon as it piped up a few knots, however, they were gone..  It seems to me that the speed differentials as wind increases are becoming more marked for more boats , eg when moths start foiling, when asymetrics can use apparent wind etc.  Makes the whole handicap racing scenario a nightmare.

Was it always like this or is it becoming a more common problem?

GGGGGG

Handicap racing always has been and always will be 2nd best.Level playing fields! Lowell North was right about one-design racing which glad to say is more or less what the MR is too no one yet having built a wonder boat.Lets hope they never do BUT that they do keep trying!
"The trouble with one-design sailing is the best sailor wins". - Lowell North.

I think that, whilst not a new issue, specialisation is definitely becoming more apparent.

I have the 'advantage' of having spent the sixties and seventies sailing a lot, mostly National 12', but almost always in handicap fleets.  There were designs even then which were recognised as being better in different circumstances.  Read our own MR design guide to pick up boats which are better suited to open water, to heavier weather etc.  

I then gave up sailing until three years ago, so I missed the gradual introduction of asymmetricals, carbon spars and the like.  Stepping back into a handicap fleet, I am struck by the way in which modern designs have been optimised for particular weather and even courses.  

My  club is on one of the best bits of open water in the UK but because of its location in the frozen north all normal club racing is handicap.  Half the boats in our current club fleet could not compete on a river, and need the long off-wind legs to give them their advantage.  Speed onto the plane is everything, and courses are regularly set which are two broad reaches and a two tack beat.  Thirty years ago such a course would have been considered only appropriate for catamarans.

As you imply, this begs the question, whither the PY system?  Since it will always be based on the number of results for a particular class, and sailors will choose a design which performs well on their home water, the PY will always be weighted for a design's preferred circumstances.  

Logically, handicap racing will become increasingly unattractive for visiting boats which are not optimised for the particular circumstances of the home club.  In evolutionary terms such a change should result over time in greater specialisation and less diversification.  So even less relevance to PY and fewer classes in clubs.  

The design which can cope with a full range of circumstances will risk being seen as a 'jack-of-all-trades'.  Both the trend towards specialisation and the perceived non-competitiveness of the all-rounder, suggest that the future is class racing.

Yes Bill - THE FUTURE IS CLASS RACING