Barry, you keep contradicting yourself. You say on a triangle, or on a reaching leg, the only tactic is "trying to get clean air". Then you say on an "open course (WL I assume), "if a competitor is on top of you, you can jibe away". Isn't this the definition of "trying to get clean air? Your logic is a bit twisted , I think.
Tactics are tactics, regardless. Skill at sailing a reach is still sailing skill. If you can't seem to pass anyone on a reach, maybe you just need more practice. I know I do.
The Portsmouth numbers are derived from actual data, and one of the listed assumptions on page
http://www.ussailing.org/portsmouth/index.htmreads as follows : "boats have in almost all documented cases sailed on courses including the three basic sailing angles: beating, reaching and running". If you know this has not been the case with races where someone has reported data to the Portsmouth Committee, you need to be sure that it is noted with the data.
A lot of the negative comments about B mark concerns the angle it is set at relative to A (or C, if it is at leeward end of course). This can be addressed at a club, division, fleet or class level by documenting the correct shape of the course in some kind of RC manual. In years past, the Tornado class rules actually mentioned a 70-90 degree angle when describing the preferred race course. Just as windhsifts can ruin a perfectl good WL course, same can happen to a reaching leg. But at least there can be guidance to RC about the desired position of the mark, relative to wind direction.
