Florida 300 May 19-May 22

If you do exactly that Dalton tells you to do that might happen. Worked for the other Todd.

Worked for me at the Steeplechase (the one that you were cowering in the corner and too scared to show up at). Why do you think I got him as crew? I hope your bro can do the same for you, 'cause we know your old, geritol takin' azz ain't got no game. If you'll pay your debts (unlike Tad) maybe we should put a bottle of Rum on it. I know you have decent taste in Rum, at least.None of that spiced junk, or Baccardi (almost as bad as Riccardi) crap though.

AHAHAHHA whooops!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWPVUcJsXIE#t=152

What are you using for your fpv gear. I bought a Fatshark setup a while ago, but haven't put it on anything. I'd like to use it on a flying wing, but a quad certainly would make it easier, or least easier to stay range as it's not trucking along at 100mph.

If you do a quad go big heavy and with torquey props instead of going for speed. I've got an Armattan quad that is fast and nimble but would suck for FPV.

Looks like he came up happy, so all good and high fives all around. That rocker can really get ya on dry sand.

What are you using for your fpv gear. I bought a Fatshark setup a while ago, but haven't put it on anything. I'd like to use it on a flying wing, but a quad certainly would make it easier, or least easier to stay range as it's not trucking along at 100mph.

5.8 GHZ transmitter and a 7" monitor with built in transmitter I got from China (wasn't available local 7 months ago). I have it mounted to my transmitter and powered by a LiPo mounted under transmitter.

When Ilived in Cooa Beach a short time back in '95, I sailed off Delray some.
Never before had I seen such a Graveyard of broken down, delapadated boats.
The local guru had everyone just triple shrouding each side of their boat, instead of upkeep and replacing shrouds, etc. At the time, nearly all of them had empry milk jugs hanging from the top of the mast as well.
Everyone was amazed when I sailed right by that 'guru', both of us on H16's! They couldn't believe someone had passed him, several times. It was rather easy ehwn I was trapping out, and I don't recall him even having a harness on.

Was years ago.

But I digress, sorry for the tangent, the video reminded me

I'm sure times have changed there now?

It must have made you feel good to pass Jesse, at that time he was already in his early 70s, he sailed that Hobie until he was in his mid 80s.

Sailing Instructions have been updated. The updated Sailing Instruction can be found at www.Florida300.com.

I need to order the SPOT Rentals today. Please let me know if you need to rent one so I can order it. Payment won't be needed until registration.

It is also important to fill out the online registration form. It helps us determine portsmouth numbers, contains SPOT Rental information, how many meal plans and t-shirts we need. It will also help us to expedite registration at Islamorada.

Below is a link to the form:
Florida 300 Online Registration

We already have deposits from everyone and your entry will be updated with the deposit amount once submitted. Further payment is NOT needed until registration. You can choose the

Pay Later

option.

If you don't have time to fill out the form today but need to rent a SPOT unit, please just reply to this email.

Follow Us:
For the latest updates and rule changes, please

Like

www.Facebook.com/Florida300 or Sign up for the mailing list on the www.Florida300.com.

What is the justification for a

3 minute protest

? Where has this ever been seen or used in sailboat racing before??? Should we just bring our guns to the party and have a shootout on the beach?

Also, have you read the GT300 rules top to bottom and checked the Florida 300 rules against them as one cohesive element? I.e do the rules in total make sense?? I can see a lot of deviation already, namely in the surf landing rules, who is appointing judges (the PRO, not competitors FYI) etc.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&... hdHRleGFzMzAwfGd4OjUwMWUxOTFjOGZiODlhMTM

No guns - just inflatable battle sticks and spent fluorescent light tubes....and you have 31.2 seconds to do all the damage you can.

That is a strange system and, honestly, I hate to pile on - but this is not a very serious way to handle protests. You've got two

judges

one each selected by the opposing parties. There's not an odd number, neutral, or necessary rules knowledgeable

judge

in the mix. The chances of them agreeing are pretty slim and trying to get all of this done in three minutes seems like it would be more of a circus act than a serious attempt at arbitration. It actually stands a strong chance of creating MORE tension and discourse than to solve anything.

US Sailing already has a time tested process that, isn't perfect, but it works. We're also talking about a protest that happens maybe once every two or three years in an event like this. There's a lot of energy going on to reinvent a system that already works - for a situation that doesn't happen that often. I still like the idea of having a formal protest, in a hotel room, with an on-call (phone of video) jury of rule experienced people. Settle the issue clean giving both parties an opportunity to explain to knowledgeable people...knowledgeable people discuss, and come back with a (hopefully) sound judgement with a real rules justification that is difficult to argue with.

3 minute protest is used very often in college sailing and team races. It works fine unless you have someone in the room like Sam <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />
Seriously though, we used to do it right on the finish boat, works great.

I took a quick read of SI 14, and my opinion is that it may cause more problems than it solves. Technical issues aside, populating a protest committee with interested parties is likely to result in an appeal. If the protest committee does not supply a written decision, then the appeals committee will undoubtedly send the protest back to be reheard.

If the goal is to expedite hearings, then why not simply invoke Appendix T Section C -

Expedited Hearings

?

In my opinion,

3 minute justice

only works in very informal racing, or with a very experienced protest committee. Do you ever wonder why an

international jury

is defined the way it is, or why it's decisions cannot be appealed? It's because IJ's operate in regattas with such high protest loads that they cannot get the job done without throwing protest procedure to the wind. The jury members have to be extraordinarily skilled in order to reach the correct decision without taking the time to follow Appendix M.

There are a number of skilled judges in Florida. Why not approach them to help out?

Sincerely,
Eric Rasmussen
Chair, SAYRA Appeals Committee

I agree that the best practice would be to use the existing verbiage provided by US Sailing.

I also agree that you actually need stronger judges to properly use arbitration. And, it's not meant to replace a full PC, but to limit the number of full hearings needed. This only works if the arbitration judge is very experienced and respected, otherwise the sailors will always proceed to the full hearing, and the result is that you just added needless complexity for zero gain.

I fully disagree that IJs ignore Appendix M or

throw procedure to the wind.

The IJs I've worked with follow the same process for all hearings, and that is basically what's spelled out in Appendix M.

On a personal level, when hearing protests, I like to have the book open to Appendix M. I find that it adds a level of formality, and reassures sailors that we're following due process, and they will get their time to talk. This tends to alleviate people interrupting one another, shouting, etc.

Mike

I've umpired high school and college team racing, so no, you probably don't want to be in the room with me <img src="<>/wink.gif" alt="wink" title="wink" height="15" width="15" />

The big difference between that and this is you have pro or semi-pro judges on the finish or umpire boat making a decision, and another big difference is these rules experts see the incident in real time. At the high school level, the boat has coaches from opposing teams and a third unbiased judge. At the college level, it's professional umpires in the boats making the calls and hearing the on-the water protests.

A 3 minute shootout on the beach isn't going to work. I agree with Jake that we would be better served by conference calling/Skyping judges into a hotel room.

and THAT, my esteemed colleagues, will dramatically increase the YouTube viewer count.

Rent some inflatable Sumo wrestler suits, far more entertaining. Hobie Fleet 204 did this for a Hobie 17 Open / 16 Womens NAs a few years back. Not in place of a jury, of course, but entertaining nonetheless. Especially Mimi vs. PU...

Mike

I have been involved in a lot of

3 minute justice

hearings, but we never really put a watch on things. The idea is more that you don't necessarily need a form, which allows for hearings in an umpire boat between races. Works great for team racing.

I will disagree with Sam on two points:
1. Really no such thing as 'pro' umpires... or else I'm doing the wrong events!
2. If you are hearing a protest in a team race you very likely didn't see the incident. The only hearings are either yellow flag, or because no umpire was present.

I'm scared to comment as this is the ridiculous result of it, last time.

I don't assert that all International Juries ignore procedure. I mean that International Juries are composed the way they are so that they are able to

cut to the chase

when necessary.

I once sat in (as a silent observer) on an International Jury at the Sunfish Worlds. A couple of the most senior judges in the area were the junior members of the Jury. The Chief Judge and the Jury Scribe were International Judges from Canada. They were phenomenally skilled. With just 5 minutes (or less) of testimony from each party, and only 5 minutes (or less) of deliberation, the Jury delivered their written decision, complete with diagram, rule analysis, and ISAF Case citations. It was the quickest and most thorough Protest Committee I have ever seen.

And no, the jury did not step through the procedure of Appendix M. With the number of protests filed (98 world-class competitors in a single start) summary justice was the only way to get through them each day.

If those guys held 3-minute hearings on the beach, I'd be confident in their decision.

Eric

At National and World class team racing events, ISAF certified judges are present..they might not be paid to be on the water but their housing, food and travel expenses are covered.

And yes you are correct on the hearing. All of this is moot when pertaining to the Florida 300, as there won't be on the water judging, and there won't be an international judging team present that can wrap up a full protest in 15 minutes. It's pretty clear the F300 rule writers were searching for loopholes in the Appendixes which were created for entirely different purposes, and failed to look at the big picture. A protest in this race is likely to only happen if there was equipment damage that caused significant time lost and/or an insurance claim...you need real paperwork...it's not that hard.

We either get proper unbiased judges to form a protest committee on the beach, or we skype those judges into a hotel room. If those two options are out of the question, I like the Sumo suits combined with the light saber idea.

I had a little time this morning to drink a bit of coffee and enter the waypoints. It's more fun than reading the newspaper. I thought they were on the FL300 site, but I didn't see them. Am I missing something? I want to get familiar with the 'landing zones' before the race.

They are in the SI's: SI's

General Waypoints:
Islamorada: 24°55.125'N; 80°37.77'W
Key Biscayne: 25°41.735'N; 80°9.39'W
W Palm Beach Shores: 26°46.736'N; 80°1.881'W
Vero Beach: 27°38.026'N; 80°21.045'W
Cocoa Beach: 28°22.124'N; 80°36.112'W

Note: These waypoints are for general reference only. The actual finish line will be determined when the race committee surveys the finishing area on the day of the race.

Craig,

Any updates to the SI's? Should I throw the Colt 45 in the suitcase?

Best,
Sam

Nah! Todd has got the weapons and ammo covered. Can you make due with 10,000 rounds of 9mm and 15,000 rounds of .223? He'll probably have a years supply of MRE's squirrelled away at various hiding places along the course. You never know where you'll be when anarchy breaks out.

Are deck mounted M249s class legal on F18s?