Re: Heineken Regatta Question
Zanshin
2 hours ago
I'll be on one of the committee boats again this year, with the best seats in the house for the races
Apart from the biggest boats, who travel faster and further and have marks at places such as Anguilla or Tintamarre, all of the boats will be turning marks close to Simpson Bay and Philipsburg. See page 9 of
Sailing Instructions 2023 for the map from last year.
The race officer for each class gets up before sunrise on the race days and, armed with wind, waves, weather reports and the speed ratings of the boats in each class, will compute the best race courses. The goal is to make it fun and challenging (not just windward-leeward) but keep the times around 2-3 hours per race. It is a both a science and art to do this; there's safety aspects about not crossing courses or having head-on potential at the marks or finish. All this means that the courses for each race can be changed until about 10 minutes before each class starts on a race. And the second set of races on each day are set after the race officer looks at the result of the previous one.
All this means that nobody can know with confidence which of the many turn points are going to be used. If you are on a spectator boat with a knowledgeable captain, he or she will know which of the course marks are most likely to be used. The only guaranteed places are the start and finish lines (the finish is separate to the starts at the Heineken).
