Gulf Coast Start... very important
 

I just thought that i'd toss this one out there as there will no doubt be a pretty competitive fleet at the event this year.

I think that in general all of the down wind races have a pretty bad track record of pulling off a good start. I even remember when it was in the bay and everyone left 3-5 minutes before the start because people got too far down wind and Jay couldn't call them back.

Nearly all the races that I've attended have the same problem. I'd offer 1 simple suggestion to avoid over early starters this year.

I'd recommend that you place a "hard one minute rule" into your start sequence. I.e. you already have a start line, but what you really need to insure is that everyone is behind it at the start of the race as there is no effective way to call back racers once they are off.

So... let's say you have a 5 minute start sequence. 1 minute before go, no riders should be allowed to be south of the line. Any riders caught south of the line 1 minute before the start is DSQ. Encourage riders to get out a bit early or start from the beach if they can not stay up wind.

Ideally, I'd like to see this set up in all down wind races where boat support is limited and a recall is not going to happen. This is a proven and simple way to address this situation. You can amend and address this at the A.M. riders meeting. This will greatly help to avoid confusion and controversy. Any thoughts from Gebi, Mike, Sean, etc.?

Very good points Kent. Last years race start was a epic fail on my part. Not having a watch and ended up starting the race 10 minutes early when a lot of people were still setting up or in the bathroom (Sorry Sexton).

We are doing everything in our power to have a safe and effective start this year. I will take your words of wisdom and hopefully put them to use this Saturday.

-Chris

that's funny. i didn't hear about your start issue last year. the fact is that it is a problem that is easy to fix with a 1 minute or black flag rule. while the start time remains that same, anyone over the line 1 minute before the start is out. pretty simple. see you sat.!

Kent. Completely agree that starts have been a bit chaotic in the past.

2 Years ago, Jay was concerned we were gonna lose the wind and just was itching to get it going.

Last year, well, Chris also got itchy.

The forecast are all over the road right now, good news is we have plenty of wind in the forecast to work with this weekend, I think it is going to come down to direction to run the course.

With that said, it would be helpful for all riders to have a watch and sync them at the skippers meeting so everyone has a pretty good idea of when the flag and horn are going to sound.

Have considered having a ski at the start to point to act as a barrier and also get things off smoothly, but really don't want to have a ski in pounding surf.

Points well taken, and we are spending alot of time and thought this year on the start sequence and making sure it goes smoothly and fairly.

Killer. The main point is the the sequence shouldn't give a good idea of when to start, but an exact time.

In a race there are only 2 things you have to do right and that's the start and the finish. It's easy to do by employing standard procedures from kite, windsurfing, and sailing race starts. Let's do the 1 minute rule and run with it. It's also very important to enforce the line 100% if we want it to get better in the future. As I said before, unless you have a viable provision for a recall, the 1 minute rule must be used.

Looking forward to seeing you guys on the water and getting some ride time in after the race. Bada Bing Bada Boon!!!