Barry Chisam

I suppose if you are going to say anything make sure it is very loud so it becomes information freely available to all competitors.

In a local full size regatta a competitor tried to protest the comittee. His argument was that several boats were ocs at the start. The sail numbers were hailed but his was the last to be hailed and claims he was disadvantaged in that he had to sail further to return and re start correctly.

The way Prada looked Patriot really will have to produce some Magic to win 4 of the next 5 races.

Almost certainly there is predictive software that could calculate if boats were likely to cross safely. I doubt any of them would be able to take into account the speed changes involved in gusts, the sailing angle changes of both boats due to windshifts and tacticle decisions. The Mk 1 eyeball coupled to the human brain (well some) is still probably the best computer for this situation.

I personally would rather have a scruffy patch rather than take any chance of one lifting and the possibility of a sunk boat.

We have to beat this thing down to a manageable level first and hopefully we can all do our thing next year. Beating it must come first especially because so many of our members are elderly.

It would not be part of the Hull under ERS nor is it a permitted IOM fitting.

Hi Trev Ime afraid I never did have any set up notes being a far less competent skippers than most that do. Always have been a seat of my pants sailor and have never had any measurements or notes to go on. My general rule of thumb is to set a boat up so it handles well. A boat you are fighting round the course will rarely be a fast one.

The stuff I use comes from a local welding supplies place. They stock all sorts of stuff including the 1 metre length rods. But apart from that Sails etc have 1.8mm stuff. http://www.sailsetc2.com/store/index.php/wire-1130.html

David one of the problems would be that if a boat had different colour panels it can often make a very effective camo effect and make reading sail numbers difficult. We used to have a member who made his own sails from clear material. With clutter and other boats behind him it was impossible to read his numbers. But I believe this is legal.

Speaking as a fisherman who spends a lot of time looking at a float I can safely say that for most of the time the best colour to see is black.

You might like to give this group a try. http://www.vmyg.org.uk/

Prabably a Tony Abel 6 Metre Dolphin. Heres the only pic I could find

If protesting a boat for not sailing the course should this be done after the race has finished? Until then a boat has not sailed the wrong course and protesting them would surely be outside assistance giving them a chance to correct the error.

And we wonder why some potential members are put off by the rules.