[kent]

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.?