It’s that time again! Let’s go racing! OK folks, you do know that this time of year is as good as it gets, wind-wise, until fall? Well don’t-cha? So dang-it-all git yer lazy butts out here and play with us! The climactic prognostications appear favorable as of today. You’ll even have a better chance of winning, as some of our fiercest competitors are off playing in the big water. In the interest of informational precision and simplicity, I will reiterate our “racing format”. To wit; On any given day we will run either ’round the buoy races or “pursuit” races as determined at the Skippers Meeting. ‘Round the buoy races will be a triangular course of one or two laps. The starting sequence will be the standard five minute countdown using horn blasts and flags from the committee boat. The sequence is as follows. Approx. 1 minute before the sequence begins a “get ready” signal will be sounded. This will be four quick blasts of the air horn. At five minutes before the start, we do a long blast from the air horn along with a red flag going up on the committee boat. At four minutes to start, we do a long blast of the air horn and the “prep” flag goes up. The “prep” flag is a blue flag with a white square in the middle. At one minute to start, we do a long horn blast and the “prep” flag comes down. The start is a long horn blast and the red flag comes down and we be racin’! Then you sail around the buoys as fast as you can and back across the starting line. Simple ain’t it? The “Pursuit” races are a staggered start race with the start times determined by your boats PHRF handicap. You sign up at the skippers meeting and get your “start” time. This time will represent how many minutes/seconds from the starting horn you must wait to go across the start line. We sail a set course that consists of sailing from a start line at the club to different landmarks on the lake and back to the club.We have a map of the course so it is real easy. When you finish all you have to do is write down on the sign up sheet who finished in front of you and who finished behind you. It is run on the honor system and allows racing without a committee boat or a race committee. The starting sequence is; about a minute before the start a “get ready” signal of four short blasts of the horn will be sounded by someone designated at the skippers meeting. One long horn blast will signal you to start your countdown to your start time. when your start time is up you cross the start line and race as fast as you can around the course and try to catch and pass the slower boats that started ahead of you while staying ahead of the faster boats that start after you. Simple ain’t it? I hope this clears up any confusion. I am trying to simplify our racing program so that everyone can come racing and know exactly what is going on. This is a work in progress so please come out and participate and help us grow our racing program. If you have any questions or suggestions please know that we will endeavor to clear up any confusion and take under advisement any constructive criticism. I may be an egotistical arrogant sob, but after many years of steady effort, Charlie has finally impressed upon me the fact that I don’t actually know it all and that it behooves me to shut up and listen every now and then and sometimes, not often, but once in a great while, on alternating blue moons I have been, dare I say it….wrong. Gimp