(From the left) Dess (Flying Shadow), Peter (Laser One), Carlota (Bandit IF), Macz (Bandit IF), Neil (Bandit IF), Trauemer (Shields Class), Ellion (Shields Class), and Lampoon (Shields Class) during the pre-start countdown for the small boats portion of the North Sea Open Regatta, on Wednesday, January 18th, 2017. Photo courtesy of Win.
This weeks North Sea Open Regatta featured a new course from Julia (juliasalzano Resident) and another great spectator turnout. The sims themselves behaved well with only one DNF recorded in each race. Spectators were abundant at the committee boat dock, in the Breadnut region, as well as along the beach in the Eden Albatros region, on the Poseidon Centre Spectator Pier in the Eden Puffin region, and along the shores of Lighthouse Isle in the Ziziphus region.
The small boat fleet, racing on the newly created NS-CCW course courtesy of Julia (juliasalzano Resident) and with a USB card created by Win (win.enfield), was comprised of a split majority of four Shields Class and four Bandit IFs. A Dolphin Moth, a Quest Melges-24, a TMS Flying Shadow, and a TMS Laser One made up the remainder of the small boat fleet. The fleet got off to a great start as a majority were across the start line as 31 seconds ticked on the race clock. Lucy, in her Melges-24, was across first at 00:00:02. Carlota, in her Bandit IF, was next to cross the start line at 00:00:07. Peter, in his Laser One, was across the start line next, at 00:00:12, followed by myself, in my Dolphin Moth, at 00:00:13. Macz, in his Bandit IF, was next to cross the start line 00:00:15 followed by Dess, in her Flying Shadow, at 00:00:19. Moon, in his Shields Class, and Gryfin, in his Bandit IF, were both across the start line next at 00:00:31. Neil, in his Bandit IF, was next to cross the start line at 00:00:33 followed by Lampoon, in his Shields Class, at 00:00:39. Traeumer, in his Shields Class was next across the start line, at 00:00:47, followed by Ellion, in her Shields Class, at 00:01:44. I quickly sped to the front of the fleet, in my much quicker Moth, as Lucy, in her Melges-24, settled into second. Dess, in her Flying Shadow, was right on her Lucy’s stern for most of the course. Peter, in his Laser One, fell in right behind them. Traeumer and Moon, both in Shields Class, made some moves to pass the slightly slower Bandit IFs in the fleet to fall in behind Peter. Carlota, in her Bandit IF, fell back from her great start time as Macsz, also in a Bandit IF, made a move to pass her. Lampoon and Ellion, both in Shields Class, were towards the rear of the fleet with Neil, in his Bandit IF, following up in the rear. Unfortunately Gryfin, in his Bandit IF, crashed and recorded a DNF. I held the lead at the front of the pack, however I rounded the 5th course mark counterclockwise instead of clockwise and followed the string back to the mark to round it correctly (commonly referred to as “the string rule” or Rule 28.2*), losing valuable time in the process yet still crossing the finish line first. Lucy was the next to cross the finish line, in second. Dess was next to cross the finish line followed by Peter, Traeumer, Moon, Macz, Carlota, Lampoon, Ellion, and Neil.
The big boat fleet, racing on the North Sea Olympic Course (Long), was comprised of a majority of four Wildwind RC-44s. A Trudeau 12 Metre, a TMS Ushuaia, and a Wildwind Open 60 made up the remainder of the big boat fleet. The entire fleet got off to a great start as everyone was across the start line as 13 seconds ticked off the race clock. Peter, in his Trudeau 12 Metre, was across the line first at a perfect 00:00:00. I was across the line next, in my TMS Ushuaia, at 00:00:02 with Lucy, in her Wildwind RC-44r, right on my stern crossing the line at 00:00:03. Moon, in his Wildwind RC-44r, was next to cross the start line at 00:00:08 followed by Traeumer, also in a Wildwind RC-44r, at 00:00:09. Dess, in her Wildwind RC-44r, was across the start line next, at 00:00:12, followed by Gryfin, in his Wildwind Open 60, at 00:00:13. Dess, in her RC-44, jumped to the head of the fleet, followed by Gryfin, in his Open 60, Traeumer and Moon, both also in RC-44s. Lucy was racing with the incorrect USB course loaded and abandoned the race on the first leg, recording a DNF. Peter, in his 12 Metre, fell in just behind the quicker Wildwind boats, with myself, in my slower Ushuaia, just behind Peter. Dess held her lead till the finish, crossing the finish line with line honors. Gryfin was across the finish line second followed by Traeumer, Moon, Peter, and then myself.
*Rule 28.2 quoted from 2017-2020 World Sailing Racing Rules of Sailing
“A string representing a boat’s track from the time she begins to approach the starting line from its pre-start side to start until she finishes shall, when drawn taut,
(a) pass each mark on the required side and in the correct order,
(b) touch each rounding mark, and
(c) pass between the marks of a gate from the direction of theprevious mark.
She may correct any errors to comply with this rule, provided she has not finished.“
You will find this rule pretty much word for word in almost every yacht clubs rule set.
More photos after the results, courtesy of Win.
Race Director: Petra
Wind: SW (225°) 18kts
Note:
Did Not Finish (DNF) = number of finish +1
Did Not Start (DNS) = number of start +1
Today’s winner was Peter (PeterSailor Resident), with Cryptic (Cryptic Resident) second, and Traeumer (traeumer66 Resident) in third place. Congratulations to all of you. Thank you to everyone who came to sail and spectate.
Race Note:
Gryfin was unfortunately disqualified during the big boat race for failing to complete a penalty turn after committing a Right of Way violation.
Macz (Macz Murfin) and Dess (desspaa Resident) both finished tied with 10 points. Rule A8.1 of Guidance on Scoring under Appendix A to the Rules of Sailing is used to break this tie:
“If there is a series score tie between two or more boats, each boat’s race scores shall be listed in order of best to worst, and at the first point(s) where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favour of the boat(s) with the best score(s). No excluded scores shall be used.“
| Skipper | Best Finish | Next Best Finish |
| Macz Murfin | 2 | 8 |
| desspaa Resident | 3 | 7 |
With the race results rearranged in best to worst finish order, per A8.1, the tie breaks in Macz’s favor with having a second place finish over Dess’s third place finish as her best.
Carlota (Carlota Dufaux) and Lucy (LucyInTheSky Afarensis) both finished tied with 11 points. Rule A8.1 of Guidance on Scoring under Appendix A to the Rules of Sailing is used to break this tie:
“If there is a series score tie between two or more boats, each boat’s race scores shall be listed in order of best to worst, and at the first point(s) where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favour of the boat(s) with the best score(s). No excluded scores shall be used.“
| Skipper | Best Finish | Next Best Finish |
| Carlota Dufaux | 3 | 8 |
| LucyInTheSky Afarensis | 5 | 6 |
With the race results rearranged in best to worst finish order, per A8.1, the tie breaks in Carlota’s favor with having a third place finish over Lucy’s fifth place finish as her best.
Gryfin (Gryfin Goldshark) and Ellion (Ellion Melodie) both finished tied with 18 points. Rule A8.1 of Guidance on Scoring under Appendix A to the Rules of Sailing is used to break this tie:
“If there is a series score tie between two or more boats, each boat’s race scores shall be listed in order of best to worst, and at the first point(s) where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favour of the boat(s) with the best score(s). No excluded scores shall be used.“
| Skipper | Best Finish | Next Best Finish |
| Gryfin Goldshark | 6 | 12 |
| Ellion Melodie | 8 | 10 |
With the race results rearranged in best to worst finish order, per A8.1, the tie breaks in Gryfin’s favor with having a sixth place finish over Ellion’s eighth place finish as her best.
North Sea Racing 