Yeah, but you're not going to win against guys that are posting top 3's and not getting OCS scores!

Absolutely correct. Same as going to a Hobie 16 event and Enrique shows up. Those guys can start anywhere and sail to the front (I watched Robbie do it yesterday).

As for not making the podium, it's hard to start getting conservative halfway through the regatta. He's got a decent lead over 4th place, but I'd say it's too early to start being too conservative, especially in that fleet.

Mike

http://www.photoboatgallery.net/p686725173/h33c12334#h3bb38572

1-124 are taken on 9/20
125-230 are taken on 9/21

Personally, I don't think the black flag is called for with this fleet. It's not part of the catamaran racing culture in North America.

Only once have I ever seen it used at a major catamaran event, and that was 13 years ago.

There are an awful lot of letter scores in those results.

Perfect weather for the 3 teams from the Pacific Northwest.
They have been training for those conditions all year.

A few years back,BK suggested competitors grab a beer, get out their lap tops and post the party goings on here on CS.

So, how about it? Who did what to whom?

I totally agree. I wonder how many recalls it took to break it out.

Hats off to the 2011 F18 NA's race management team! The timeliness of the race results posting sets a new standard. Well done! Really enjoyed the Kattack replays/live tracking, photos and video, as well. Many thanks!

No complaints from the competitors regarding the black flag. This is a very aggressive fleet. After the first general recall, the I flag went up. After the second general recall, the black flag went up. The race management is doing a fantastic job getting races off.

What happened to you guys the first day?

Looks like the Dinger got max speed for race 7. The carbon wonder boy ain't gonna like that. I told you that body drag thing could work for you. Next try the back flip off the top hull in a flip.

Um, wasn't PU using it at one of the 16NAs in California not too long ago?

I know we discussed it at the 17/18 event in Geneva (you, me and PU), he was saying that ISAF, Olympics and other major classes were pushing to use it more (he was discussing the scenarios of how to make it unstick with an AP, etc.).

I'm not remotely shocked, and even without being there, I know that Tom's playbook is Prep-I-Black (as Beth mentioned). I've worked with him a lot, and attended his seminars for years. Unless the line is grossly unfair due to an RC issue, you're not going to get rolling generals with him on the course.

For anyone here who isn't aware, Tom is an IRO, runs circles at the OCR, and trained the RC for the Olympics in China. I've never met anyone (other than PU and Luigi) who is more pro-sailor than Tom.

Mike

The conditions we're really gnarly on Tuesday. There was quite a bit of carnage...Broken bones and broken boats. We opted to fight another day and not break us or the boat.

The BFD is a frequent sight in international racing - we aren't preparing our teams for Worlds if we don't use it. The first time I ever saw it was at F18 Worlds in France - I had the book-smarts, but not the practical knowledge about dealing with race management controlling a line, and sailing in an aggressive, large fleet. Thanks, Robbie, for taking me there and showing me what sailing in a Worlds was about! And thanks, Tom, for bringing this level of race management to our fleet - we have a very good streak of top-level PROs going.

There was the same fleet, almost the same size (only 4 fewer boats) in Racine last year and there was only 1 general recall.

Then again, we only had 5 races in 5 days due to the light air.

I know Tom, too and I agree he is "customer focused". I'm not surprised he's gone P-I-BF - I'd probably do it too.

I'm just saying it's not part of the catamaran culture in NA. The event I saw it used at was the 1998 Hobie 16 NAs in Rehoboth. PU didn't even have a flag - he used a black plastic garbage bag.

BTW, there are some classes that absolutely forbid it (Snipes, Thistles, Flying Scots to name a few) - even on an international level.

Other classes (Etchells, Melges) use the Z flag and the I over Z successfully, along with a mid-line signal boat to control aggressive fleets. Hank Stuart and Wayne Bretsch ran a 100-boat J-22 Worlds in Rochester without a single black flag.

Bottom line: if the competitors don't mind it being used, then Tom's doing the right thing.

I also have to concure with John and Beth's assesment of the race management. The PRO told us the protocal at the skippers meeting. He told us that the current will screw with us a bit but when the black flag came out we all (most all) magically figure it out. I applaud the use of the black flag and it simply shows that the fleet is getting more aggresive and ready for worlds in 2012. Kudos to Tom and his crew, absolutly no complaints as a participant in the event.

We had a presentation from Steve Eliasen tonight to host the 2013 NAF18 Championship in Sheboygan, WI, I'm impressed by the professionalism of this outfit and look forward to the feed back from the fleet regarding this venue, it's a very exciting time to be involved with the F18 Fleet.

I remember the garbage bag well, and I agree that it hasn't traditionally been part of the NA culture. For a long time, that's what we called the black flag starts (I still refer to them as such): garbage flag starts. Maybe it's time to change...

Ding's right, with the appropriate penalty flag, it's amazing how quickly the fleet figures things out.

Don't get me wrong, Tom is definitely not a one-trick pony, and would certainly prefer the fleet to get it right under P or I at worst.

In addition to those classes (and preferences) you mention, there are many classes, Stars and Lasers in particular, that don't want to see anything other than P then straight to black. Stars lean more to black-only.

Mid-line boats are a mixed blessing. We've been using 4-boat lines with I flags at major Opti events (think 300+ boat fleets here, with round-robin starts of 80-100 per start). No generals, but a lot of delays, even with a separate finish line.

I'm sure that we've all noticed that they're also using bow numbers and a pin boat, so I'm sure that if the I-flag isn't working, there's a surge right before the start (which a mid-line boat won't fix). Tom does prefer square lines, where those of us who learned under PU prefer pin-favored; but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that the fleet is being a bit aggressive, especially in the lighter breezes...

Mike

EDIT: Was that PU at Rehoboth that year? I thought we had a guest RO for some reason.

You're thinking 2003.

I love Rehoboth! Has any place hosted more NAs?

Mike

That not a statistic I want to determine right now - and it's a pretty severe threadjack.

Back to the F18s . . . .