This letter to Sailing Scuttlebutt editor ‘The old Curmudgeon’ from Richard Roberts was recently published in the Scuttlebutt newsletter (see link to Scuttlebutt):
“Here are my two cents on a number of race [management] issues.
I’ve been a Laser sailor since 1972 and, in our world (I know we can be
complainers), I think the biggest problem is RCs wasting time. A few years
ago, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and volunteered to run our
annual weekend dinghy regatta. I felt people wanted their money’s worth – as
many quality, fair races as you could get in. Here is what I have found
works:1. Get the RC on the water with the course set by the scheduled start time
2. Don’t waste time trying to set a perfect line – get it close and go!
3. Give them one try at a start and then move to the Z flag.
4. Give a short break between races and get the next one off.
5. Have a separate finish line (we use the trapezoid course with an upwind
finish that I learned from the Laser Master Worlds)
6. Do things with a sense of urgency – e.g. move marks quicklyThe last few years we’ve managed to get 7 races in for 4 classes over two
days and we haven’t had a tiller chant yet.