European Event

[Chadders]

Come on Chris you know you want to, just get that boat out and come out to play again!8)

[Tom J (Guest)]

I'm just about to start writing the SIs for Carnac and have a puzzle that needs solving... we expect to have approximately 30 merlins, 25 scorpions, 20 ents, 15 larks and 10 12s at the event and at present there is 1 race course.

We are currently looking at a few ways round this but worst case situation is that we all have to share the course. Fortunately there is lots of space to play with but the issue is how best to do this? The simple option is to stick to triangle / sausage, set the fastest boats off first and hope everyone plays nicely... but it may not be the best option.

So... have people any preferences on what courses we sail or ideas on good way to stop the fleets interfering with each other? There is a blank canvas to work with at the moment so all ideas welcome. Different fleets can do different courses too but please remember the more marks there are the longer it will take to rearrange if the wind changes and the less popular we will be with the safety crews...

And if no one has any suggestions I'll just pick an option and no one gets to grumble about it if it doesn't suit them!

Cheers,
Tom

[John M (Guest)]

Hi Tom,
The problem that you have to deal with is that ignoring the separation within the fleets there are faster boats (Merlins) and slower boates (Enterprises) on the same race course.
The sensible thing to do is to start the faster boats first.  But they dont want to wait ages for the Enterprises to finish, and having gone a long way it is not much fun if the Ents get a short race.
We have a joint open with Larks and Fireflies at Harwich each year.
We start in PY order.
The typical course is a trapezium with a sausage on the "outer loop".
The clever bit is that the faster boats then have a broad leg to a leeward mark, but the slower boats have a tighter reach to a leeward mark thus giving them a shorter beat.
I would suggest

• 3 minute interval between starts
  
• Start in PY order (scorps, 12s and larks are very similar, suggest largest fleet goes first)
  
• Sail the course described as above (you could also do a triangle with 2 leeward marks)
  
• Potentially make the merlins do a sausage immediately and then continue with the rest of the course.
  

The only congestion issue is the windward mark of the outer loop when boats reaching meet boats coming down the reach.  Larks and 12s who have been to Harwich have already worked it out...
There is less of the issue at the leeward end of the outer loop when some boats are returning upwind but others continue to reach downwind.  However coming into the mark everyone can talk to each other and get themselves in the right place.

[Tom J (Guest)]

Cheers for all the ideas. At the moment the most popular suggestions are either a P course or some derivation of an outer loop trapezoid with everyone racing together in the afternoon. My concern over the P course is simply the potential for collisions especially with the bottle neck a gate would create so based on what a few people have said I'm thinking of the following if possible:

- a trapezopid shaped course, mark 2 at ~90 degrees to mark 1 and mark 3 at roughly 45 degrees to both marks 1 and 4.
- mark 3 is a gate
- set off at 3 minute intervals in the following order: Merlin, Scorpion, N12, Lark, Enterprise
- Merlins, Scorpions and Larks to sail 1,3,4,1,4,1,3, finish (to leeward of start area)
- Ents and 12s to sail 1,2,3,2,3,4,1, finish (to leeward of start area)
- the RO can still shorten any fleet at any point but we will also add in that not all boats from the same class need to complete the same number of laps and positions can be awarded to backmarkers at the RO's discretion to enable them to sail back to the finish area directly.

Can anyone see any potential issues / collision zones / improvements?? I realise that the 12s and Larks may arrive at mark 3 at similar times but I hope the combination of a gate and common sense should prevail... or is that optimistic?!

[grazz]

Entered, ferry booked, campsite booked, see you there!

[Crusader 3244]

Entry is Eu 200, there's plenty of camping, roughly what is cost of ferry crossing with Mondeo & trailer?

[angus]

Hey Chris come to Crammond, It might cost you a bit to brib the border guards but not Eu 200 and they will probably pay you to leave. I need a bit of competition at the back here and Ed is laying up a supply of Buckfast for the Apre sail.

[Crusader 3244]

Entry, fuel, crossing, camping and food may require a budget of @ £700 - and that's excluding cost of bier pour apres voile.
Hey Angus, thanks for the steer!
Annandale, Crammond & Castle Semple are in striking distance. and while Solway clashes with Pevensey the big guns may be doing battle on the south coast.
Could I sail to my usual standards (badly) yet maybe retrun a half-decent result for the series. .... Hmmmm. 
When is Loch doodah?

[Tom J (Guest)]

A quick indication on costs:

- ferries are ~£100 - £800 depending on route and times. Assuming you take a double trailer and 4 people it works out at about £100 - £250 each including fuel and tolls.
- we have a static caravan for £50 each for 4 nights
- entry is £85 each

Not the cheapest event but perfectly doable for £250 plus food / beer if you don't have too many other restrictions to negotiate.

[Crusader 3244]

Tom thanks, I do take your point, but fuel costs vary with where you live in the UK, and other restrictions one must negotiate rise with the distance needed to travel and/or alter with circumstance.
The quotes I returned were relatively consistent, crossings were panning out to £300+ (for two) unless I chose a route with a greater drive across France to incur more fuel costs, fatigue, and tolls.
Your costs applied to a double trailer carry two boats and two teams for the price of one. If anything you confirm my estimated budget is a reasnable ball-park figure with reasonable contingency thrown in for one team with a single trailer. The event would cost me almost as much as the boat did.
Short of sleeping a la belle etiole sur la plage I cannot see our all in costs coming in under £650 for two. But I do not know for sure all college assignments will be complete by May 23rd and that means I could book but run risks the event will be underway before we can depart/arrive.
In the unlikely event someone has booked a double combo from Manchester and has free space to offer we would join you without hesitation.
Have lots of fun, post lots of pictures, and do a write-up. Not only will we be delighted for those who chose to go, but we'll turn green with envy, m8.

[angus]

If by Loch Doodah you mean Loch Tummel it is almost always the last full week in July.

[Biniou]

I broke my mast and repared it... But if some body has an extra mast ( aluminium or carbon) for my BaggyThrousers "MissPrism", it would be nice to bring it to me. For a cheap price (Flanby took all my money!)

[Biniou]

The length of the mast is 6,50 m:X

[Tom J (Guest)]

Just a nice little milestone reached this morning courtesy of Scorpion 2030… entries are now at 100!

I know there are a couple in there who may no longer be able to make it but we’ve smashed the 30 boat target regardless and there is still time for any late additions. And if anyone hasn't paid their deposit yet please could you do so as there will be more bills to pay soon. Everyone who's deposit has been received is marked off on the entry list.

Thanks,
Tom

[Biniou]

Oups, this European event occurs the day we are supposed to vote for Europe....