Bermuda Starts

[brianpickton]

What do people think of Bermuda Starts?

For those few who might not have heard the term before, this refers to starting the fleets in reverse order with the slower boats being started first. At DYC this would make the order of start D,C,B, and A.

There have been some complaints from C and D boats that they don't like finishing so late, and would like to be able to get to the club house sooner to enjoy the post race festivities. From the A and B boats I have heard that they don't want to be rolling over the slower boats all evening. I wouldn't think this would be much of a problem since the four fleets get 4 separate courses most Wednesday nights.

But wade in, and tell us what you think.

[Kaila]

What do these A and B boats do in a regatta? Same thing rolling over the smaller boats. Even on Wed. nites now, these A & B boats do roll over on us. Look at last night with the A & B & D fleets. the Basin is only so big. I think that in the Fall series reverse the starts because days are going to get shorter.

[brianpickton]

First you should know that Bermuda starts have my support.

At my old club Bermuda starts were the rule for Wednesday nights, which had the desired affect of getting the small boats around the course first. Now with the order of start we are using ( A,B,C,D) and by setting progressively shorter courses for each of the fleets in turn I had hoped to alleviate the problem especially for the D fleet but without success The D-fleet and the C fleet, especially on light air nights, still frequently finish well behind the other fleets even though I am setting the shortest courses possible for them.

I would suggest that this needs to be addressed by yourself and the other skippers who want to see a change through Strong representation to the race committee through the fleet captain, Mr.Rhyno.

[CoolBreeze]

Bermuda starts, along with separate courses may have some merit. Should minimize the "rolling over" effect.