Sunfish racing: Distance between marks?

J

jsimmons248

Member
When setting up a course, what is the distance between the marks for a windward/leeward or triangle course?

Where can I find information on setting up a Sunfish course?

Thanks!:)
 
jsimmons248 said:
When setting up a course, what is the distance between the marks for a windward/leeward or triangle course?

Where can I find information on setting up a Sunfish course?

Thanks!:)
Click to expand...

It all depends! Is it a club race or a serious affair and what is the wind strength? Club races maybe as short as 15 min. Regional championships, Nationals etc. should have courses that take an hour or so.

Especially for club races, you can set up a course and adjust accordingly after the first race. You can also ask somebody to sail the course ahead of time. Or at least the windward leg.

 
Personally, I prefer VERY short courses. Permits many races, mark roundings and tactical encounters. Unbelievable how these sorts of races improve your boat handling and tactical awareness. Great to have a couple of hours of this sort of thing with a postrace gathering to discuss, argue and hopefully help one another understand exactly what happened.

Also fun to mix up courses. Some times once around, twice around, just to the weather mark and back or even throwing in a reaching mark once in a while.

Having short courses makes it easier to move marks if the wind shifts.

Most importantly, if you have really pooched a start or a particular race for whatever reason you have an opportunity to restart and as is so often the case, make the same mistake again.

If you have a really short course the committee boat could even video tape much of the action making the post race discussions even more entertaining.

When in doubt, make the courses shorter than you think you should.
 
Depends on the size of the sailing area, small lake, large lake or open water.

On Creve Couer Lake (small) in St Louis, (club race) we set up about the same size triangle course each time and sail 2 mixed fleets (divided by Portsmith #), staggered start, with Thistles, Lasers, Sunfish, Capri's Catalinas, Mirrors, Y-Flyers, Precision 15s and more. The faster fleet does 1 complete circut plus a windward/leeward leg, the slower fleet just one circut. On drifter days (very light winds) it can take an hour (or more), good winds about 15-20 minutes, High winds (15mph+) lots less.

Over at Carlyle Lake in IL., (much larger) the course is longer (multiple courses superimposed with the same start/finish line, staggered starts for different classes) and with decent winds can take 45 minutes to an hour. Everything from E-Scows to Windsurfers, San Juans, Thistles, Y-Flyers, Flying Scotts, Snipes, Buccaneers etc.
 
Here is the minimum guidelines I would use for distance between marks (specifically distance from the starting line to first mark):

1/4 mile for beercan/night races
1/2 mile for fleet racing
3/4 mile for championship events
1 mile for regional/national/world events
 
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