Scott Vernon wrote:

How big a circle should a proper donut be?

Scotty

I donut know. Ask a cop, they're the experts.

To Scott & Tad,

For what it's worth; The practise of setting the boat up to sail
unattended in lazy circles was developed by the NE Schooner Fishermen.
It is called "LADYBUGGING"

This was told to me by Bill Garden, the designer of the Gulf 32. He was
a schooner sailor. He used it to wait for daylight before entering a
unknown harbor. That what he said the fishermen did.

He set his boat up with just the main sail, sheeted off into a loose
upwind tack. The helm was put down to sail a circle.

I've used it often, when we would have more than one race in a day. We
have six fleets, with six starts so there was a lot of waiting, It's a
pretty good technique to hold position away from other fleets starting
but ready to go when it is your turn. I furl the head sail and Ladybug
with the main. It keeps the Jenny off the stay as in hoove to.

It works OK for a Sloop/with main. Scott, with a furling headsail you
can almost get dizzy You may want to bring the helm up a bit, but not
enough to sail away from the circle and start heeling

Ole Thom