One of the problems is that coaches, particularly
on the college, level aren't making sure the
sailors understand the rules. One of the coaches
I hired was sailing in one of our fun races. He
was continually pumping upwind in about 5k. I
pulled him aside later and told him he was
breaking rule 42. He and another college sailor
told me that their coaches had told them that
pumping was ok on the basis of 'once per wave'.
Neither of them had a copy of a rule book (kind of
dumb in my opinion) so I pointed out 42.2 and 42.3
Yeah, once per wave, but not beating and only if
surfing or planing is possible.
S.

"Maxprop" wrote in message
.net...
: I sailed Snipes in the early 70s. The SCIRA
rule book, at that time,
: prohibited "ooching, sculling, pumping, rocking,
and any other kinetic
: movements which might give the competitor an
unfair advantage." I never
: roll tacked in a race, but did so all the time
while just day sailing the
: boat. The Snipe roll tacks as well as any boat
I've sailed, which is
: probably why Snipe sailors all do it these days.
:
: They're just now beginning to crack down on
: kinetics. And in my opinion, the Laser class
: overlooks more kinetics than any other class.
:
: When I began to sail Lasers in '72, no one was
roll tacking except me and a
: few others from fleets in and around Detroit and
Indianapolis. (I can't
: honestly say what was happening out West or
East, however.) Other skippers
: used to ask me what I was doing, and I was
always happy to oblige with info
: and instructions on how to do it. Unfortunately
one of them was a district
: officer who took my information back to a
national meeting at which kinetics
: were deemed "unfair." The following spring I
sailed in a regatta on the
: Detroit River and was DSQ'd in a race for
roll-tacking. I still won my
: class, but that race was my throwout. Lucky for
me it was my second to last
: race, because I did poorly in the last race
after being told I'd be DSQ'd if
: I roll tacked even once. ****ed off, I sold the
boat, and three years
: later everyone was roll-tacking Lasers. The
national big wigs must have had
: a change of heart, or at least decided they'd be
unable to stop something
: that everyone was doing by then.
:
: You
: can always spot the Laser sailors when they
: sailing in another class. They're the ones
: ooching, sculling, pumping, torquing, and roll
: jibing every 30 seconds. Interestingly,
they're
: also the ones not getting along with their
crew.
: Kind of explains why they single hand.
:
: Actually it's that they normally single hand
that makes them unable to get
: along with crew. After single handing for a
year or so, I found it
: frustrating to go back to having a crew (my
wife) who couldn't read my mind.
: It was simply awful to have to vocalize
intentions and instructions again.
: After dumping the Laser, I bought another Snipe
and regretted it for the
: entire season. Sold it in the Fall. It was
either that or face the
: prospect of divorce. g It was a good
decision, because we've been married
: for almost 35 years.
:
: Max
:
: