Maxprop wrote:
Snipes have made a comeback of sorts, but they are a far cry from what they
were in the Seventies. There were nearly 20,000 registered Snipes by '75.


Sure, back in the "good old days" they were the biggest
class in the world. Lot of good sailors keep a Snipe handy
for the big regattas. I know of a couple of people that race
Snipes along with two or three other classes.


No, that should NEVER be a factor. A Race Committee, or a Protest
Committee, can NOT simply DSQ a competitor without a hearing on the same
rules of order as a protest by a competitor.


That's precisely what happened. Someone protests a competitor for using
kinetics--the word was "ooching" in the instance in question--and the race
committee convenes a post-race hearing to determine who was right. The
politically-aligned sailors always won, in my experience.

To some extent, that's always true isn't it? Life is a
popularity contest.



Protest committees occasionally hand out weird decisions... I can recall
being DSQ'd for being hit by a windward boat who felt that I was in his
way... it wasn't worth an appeal.


Why? Were you that far behind? g

No, I was racing in a different class (beach cats) and had
not done well enough for contention of 1st, and I already
had a big enouogh pile of 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc trophies that
I'd begun throwing them away (in fact I've moved twice since
then and tossed out quite a few more). I didn't really care,
just made a few sarcastic remarks later to the individuals
concerned who should have known better. The guy who
protested me was a former champ in this class who was
failing miserably at a comeback and was PO'd.




Quick story: I was shoved against a mark during a rounding by a boat over
whom I clearly had rights. He knew it too, and smiled at me when I
protested him. I did my 720, lost six positions, regained three while he
won the race. Before the hearing, one of the old yacht club regulars asked
me, "Heh, heh, do you really think you can get a decision over Lew, heh,
heh?" I said, "Hell yes, he was clearly in violation of rule # such and
such . . . ." I lost.


Well, that's bull**** and it shows the minute "good ol' Lew,
heh heh" sails somewhere outside his little frog pond.

What frosts me is when such shenanigans go on at the big
events. In a major Lightning championship I was in (for the
record, we did not bring home any silver from this one), Mr
X forced his way into a mark rounding, at a gate no less,
not only hit the mark but it literally went under his boat's
hull, also ramming two other boats in the process and
fouling one's rig... Mr X was DSQ'd by a protest committee
and then had his finish mysteriously reinstated the last day
of the series.

A few years later, this guy won a big championship, and at
the dinner I asked a few people who were at this foul-up if
they remembered when Mr X sailed over the bouy and they said
hell yes, and re-told the story loudly. Mr X got very red
faced but did not say a word. I've been told his kids refer
to that big trophy as "the one Daddy got by sailing over a
mark." Personally I think that's good enough revenge.

DSK