Wow!!!!
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<br>I have seen the same thing you are talking about, but not to that degree.
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<br>We used to run 2 day regattas with triangle races the first day and a 10-15 mile distance race the second day. The distance race counted two races.
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<br>Later on, we were pushed to make the distance race triangles because hot shot racers wanted more "competitive" racing. Our fleet died.
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<br>I am not saying the racing format was the only thing that caused the decline, but I do think that it indirectly aligned with the two "camps" you mentioned.
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<br>We have gotten back to our roots a bit here in Jacksonville, Florida, and managed to do what had not been done in the recent past. We now have the local Hobie fleet coming to our races on the river. The Hobie fleet is more on the social side and sails primarily in the ocean. The Hobie fleet likes the 10-15 mile distance races.
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<br>I love triangle racing, but here is why I think it is bad for our sport. Most beginners start on used boats that were designed (and some built) in the early 1970s. They were designed to sail off the beach and have some upwind and downwind capability. Most experienced racers are sailing modern 18-20' racing cat, designed to go upwind and downwind VERY well. When these two types of boats get on a triangle course, the difference is like night and day. The beginners or even experienced sailors on the Hobies immediately feel like they don’t belong. As you said, they end up finishing 20 minutes later and by that time, don’t really care if they corrected out or not.
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<br>The last distance race I did on my A Cat was against another A cat and 3 Hobie 18s. The lead Hobie stayed with the A Cats for most of the race and finished only 10 minutes later after 10-15 miles. At the finish, you had to tie your boat off to a float and run up to record your finish time. Everyone took their time and no one ran. It turned out that if any of the top 3 finishers had run instead of walked; the results would have been different.
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<br>Last weekend I took two of the Hobie fleet sailors for a sail on the RC-27 in about 20 kts of wind. We all had a great time. It was great to hear from Cindi and Paul. Although not as “technically” accurate, the two of them had a very keen feel for the boat, wind and water. I learned from them and I hoped they learned from me.
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<br>I am sorry to hear your experience has been so negative. Come on down, up or over to Jacksonville, Florida for the Gator Bowl Regatta December 1 & 2. We’ll do our best to show you a good time whether you sail a Hobie 14 or an RC-27 or anything in between. And don’t miss the Mug Race in May. The Mug Race is a 38 nm race down the St. Johns River with everything from windsurfers and Sunfish to Hobie 33 monohulls and RC-30 catamarans.
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