With Worlds in Long Beach, CA this September the New England F18 fleet has decided to get an early start to the season.
Our first regatta isn't for another month and a half, water is still around 45 degrees and the air temp is between 45-55.
Bristol Yacht Club (through F18 fleet member Ken Madsen) in Bristol, RI has graciously extended an offer to the Norheast F18 Fleet to store our boats and hold training sessions out of their club every Sunday of this month.
We will be hitting the water at 11AM with 9 boats scheduled to attend!
We will be there every Sunday rigging at 10AM and sailing at 11. No set time to come in, we will debrief in the yacht club afterwards.
Bob Merrick, Olympic 470 Silver Medalist and top F18 sailor will be coaching the first two Sundays.
If you're interested in getting into the F18 fleet come check us out, we're very friendly! If you have the appropriate gear (drysuit and etc) we would even be happy to take you for a quick spin.
Our fleet averages 20 boats per regatta during the summer and we grew by at least 4 boats this winter!
For more info or to come check out our training go to the fleet email group, join and send us an email: Eastern Area Google Group

Also check out our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/F18-Summer-Series-Eastern-Area/412621292537

Should be a great weekend!

US sailors would be well served in practicing the Worlds course. We don't reach much 'round here, but the twin-wire spin reach on the top and bottom of the course of an F18 Worlds shouldn't be sailed for the first time at the event. Get familiar, or get rolled.

The course for the F18 Worlds in Long Beach is known as a trapezoid...with windward, leeward, two reaching legs and separate start/finish lines. See the attached links for course diagrams. There is a "inner loop" with a gate option and an "outer loop" without. Better start practicing now

http://raceadmin.ussailing.org/Assets/Race+Admin/Race+Officers/Course-Diagrams/Trap_Inner.jpg

http://raceadmin.ussailing.org/Assets/Race+Admin/Race+Officers/Course-Diagrams/Trap_Outer.jpg

John Bauldry
USF18 Northern Area Rep
Hobie Wild Cat USA194

I can't make much sense of the inner trap diagram. If you round the starboard side of the gate do you still go around the windward mark as the diagram shows for rounding the port side of the gate? I love the outer trap course.

Yes you do. Using the numbers from the above diagram, the inner trap would go:

Start
Windward mark (#1 left to port)
Leeward gate (4G)
Windward mark (#1 left to port)
Reach mark (#2 left to port)
Second Leeward (#3 left to port)
reach to finish

Trapezoids are great for multiple big fleets because you can send the first start on the outer loop and the second on the inner loop and the fleets will never see each other. Allows for safe racing for multiple large fleets. We did the inner/outer courses at Laser nationals and the reaches are definitely an area where large gains and losses can be made.

We will be practicing the reaching up here in the NE, and hopefully we can run the trap course at a regatta or two this summer.

Looks like the Inner Loop course would be: S-1-4G-1-2-3-F

sm

Thanks.

Absolutely. Unfortunately we don't get to sail Traps much because they take a lot of effort by the RC to keep square (lots of marks). Can't wait for training this weekend!

Apparently there was an F18 training event in Virginia Beach today :-/

Thankfully nobody was killed (so far)

Traps are used by Optis all the time. Weird the first time you see one, but very straightforward and easy to get used to. I've been pushing (here) to use them when you have big cat regattas, with everything from Waves to F18s on the same course.

They aren't really "hard" to keep square, but do require a lot of (very good) mark boats. Timing of the fleets is the main thing. It's easy to get stuck with a mark that needs to be moved, but can't, because there is a fleet coming to it.

Mike

OK, two quick question for you Trappers:

1. why the out of sequence numbering? Why don't you number them exactly as you would round them, ie. call 4G 2G instead, and then your two should be 3, and the last mark would be 4.

2. From the drawing, it looks like that 'reach mark' is going to be too high to cary the kite? Is that the intent?

Or is it just not drwan to scale, so to speak. ie. will you always be able to fly the kite after you turn at the "1" mark, to the next mark? Or is it supposed to be a twin wire high reach for speed, then turn down at that mark and set the kite?

Timbo...

Not drawn to scale but it gives you an idea of what a trapezoid looks like. The reaching marks are not set square to the wind but set lower. Mark placement is at the discretion of the RC but should be set to allow a hot spinnaker reach...something of a lost art here in North America.

Time to brush up on the old high school geometry class

John

Sounds like fun, I always like a high, hot spinnaker reach, that's why I got a spin cat!

BTW, I got an A in high school Geometry, wihtout even studying much. What you have drawn in no way resembles a true trapezoid...that's why I was wondering what the real intent was, of the 'reach mark' and where the marks would be placed, ie spin up or down on the reach.

Oh, and why not number them so you turn them in sequence, from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4, instead of 1 to 4 to 2 to 3?

Miss Camp (my HS Geometry teacher) would be pissed!

Damn Timbo,
Your starting to sound like a F-16 sailor.
How about a rhombus course in your honor?

Timbo...

Didn't do the course drawings...blame it on the race management section of USSailing

John

Ahhh, yes, the Rhombus!

I LIKE IT! http://www.mathwarehouse.com/geometry/quadrilaterals/parallelograms/rhombus.php

But...that's too close to what we are already doing...so I'm thinking...OCTAGON! http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/36100/36138/octagon_36138_lg.gif

But with rules like Thunderdome; Two boats enter, One boat leaves!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmRAiUPdRjk

Better sharpen up those spin poles, boys!

Here's a quick reminder of what a good, sharp spin pole can do for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGaZ-PO7sY4

I may be an idiot but I don't get it.
Any chance someone could do the whole thing on one chart?

Will 3 and finish be under 4 and start?
start will be just under the gate?

And...Who's on First??