Sounds like this will be a great event. Congratulations for creating such excitement in this relatively new format. There are some things that organizers should consider if you wish the event to continue to grow into something even greater.
I would recommend forming a small committee of experienced race organizers to determine all specifics with respect to the competition. It is never a good idea to vote for rules. You do have a good resource in Tampa with Steve Levine of Water Sports West. He could certainly provide you with recommendations for a starting procedure.
While I understand that this is a fun event, rules will help to avoid any confusion and insure that everyone is having a good time. I personally feel that any mass beach start in this race is going to be a poor decision. Given the likely wind directions for the start, any beach starting procedure including a rabbit start is going to be problematic. Combine the complications of beach tangles with the desparagy of starting position spread over quite a long distance, this is a really bad idea. The only reason that it worked last year was simply that the wind was exactly off shore from the starting point. In effect this would be fine (very similar to recommendation below), but this will not be the case along the beach.
I tend to disagree that the race will be won by any large margin. The reason for any margin last year was due to the wind dying 3 miles from the finish. Before the change in velocity, the top 3 places were with in 20 seconds from each other and the finish would have remained very close. This is not a long race and will be quick to finish.
I would recommend the following:
Down wind timed sequence water start between a pole on the beach and a large buoy on the water. The line between the pole on the beach and the buoy needs to be as close to perpendicular to the wind as possible. If anything, place the flag on the beach slightly up wind, making the buoy on the water slightly favored for starting. This will keep people further from the beach and allow for some great photos. The nice part about a water sequence start is that more competent riders can be competitive on the line and those just looking to cruise will be able to hang back a bit and not jeopardize other starters.
Place a tall poll with a colored flag on the beach
Set a large buoy on the water, set with good sized anchor
Set the line approximately 150 - 200 yards in length
Start Sequence:
At:
6 min. 30 sec.: prep signal (several loud blasts from horn)
6 min.: start of sequence (1 loud blast and display of white flag)
4 min.: white flag down (no sound)
3 min.: red flag up (1 blast from horn)
2 min.: red flag removed (no sound)
1 min.: yellow flag up (1 blast)
30 sec.: yellow flag down (no sound)
START. Green flag up (1 sound)
This differs slightly from racing rules to insure a bit more time for novice kiter's to organize them selves.
Due to the number of racers, I would say to DSQ all early starters. This will insure a good start and no individual recalls. You will however need a provision to call back all racers if too many are over early to identify. A restart would then need to be run.
This may sound difficult, but I assure you that it is not. 1 mark, 1 sequence, 1 start. Great photos and less chance of injury, tangles, etc. It would really be best to do the same for the finish, but with the line only being 20 yards long. See you at the Party!
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