I often feel challenged when bearing away/setting the spin after rounding the windward mark and am looking at a variety of boats on/near the port layline. There is no offset mark, so their layline tends to run fairly close to my intended course.
These boats aren't taking my stern. They are trying go by within inches of my sides in a potential head on scenario. As I steer lower, they tend to steer lower which doesn't help alot. Because of mark fixation, they don't want to tack away. I fear the puff that causes me to bear down hard when they are several boat lengths ahead and only a foot to leeward.
I talk to people about it, but haven't been able to convert the world.
And you never will. Suicide port is just too much of a tatical advantage. What you never want to hear from someone on suicide port is "I'm close hauled I have the right of way". Those are the people we need to find and correct.
When an offset isn't used as starndard operating procedure it just leaves me scatching my head and to quit using it because people keep skipping it is just dumb.
Ah that was refreshing.
