theoretical race category question

[01_Anna]

Kerenza,
If you actually check the club website NoR for the offshore races, (the ones used as qualifiers), does state Cat3 explicidly.

The NoR for the Club series etc. does not mention the cat. that is true, but one can assume being a: "short, daytime races in sheltered waters"....it is Cat4 as already mentioned.
Regardless of the tide/wind/swell conditions.
My guess we will get a "race cancellation" email soon...

 

[Kerenza]

I only mentioned as if it is then it may affect the Category.

Barry is a safe haven (2 hours before LW will get you there easy enough and it's deep enough to get any yacht behind the breakwater). Cardiff, yes deep keels may drag through mud to get into the outer harbour at LW but there's places to seek refuge without tieing upto a pontoon in pretty much any wind direction using the mud banks as a break water. Once they're covered you'll have enough water to get into the locks.

I don't think this forum is the place to discuss minutiae of our tides. If you would like to start a new thread on the Bristol Channel forum I will gladly give you all the claculations I have used and not bore other readers.
Barry is a red herring, you cant be there at 2hrs before LW. with the race start time. Even if you were transported in , how many boats can cram in to the entrance channel, everything else dries.
You might get a boat or two in front of the Cardiff port lock gates, sometime after LW. if there is enough in the fairway.
Consider the swell and the present harbour siltation levels. It's a 13.2m tide with 0.1 at LW if youre lucky. (Monday is negative). I ploughed in recently with a 3m tide and flat calm.
3m is predicted at 1610.

 

[Yellow Ballad]

I'm sorry if I've touched a nerve or rubbed you up the wrong way. There's no need for a new thread, calculations shouldn't be needed.

What I was saying was if you started a race 2 hours before HW and you stuck your nose past the Ranie and couldn't get back behind Penarth due to the tide pushing you down channel, you could get into Barry before the tide turned if you decided to retire. If you were down channel and after a few hours of beating into it you threw in the towel the apparent wind would be brought right down with 7kts of boat speed and 3 kts of tide heading back up. We're talking about a 4/5 hour race in 25kts on decent boats with crew, the whole fleet wouldn't retire and if they did there should be questions on if the race should have been run at all. If the course was in the shelter of Penarth you can find somewhere to anchor whilst you wait for water in the lock, yes it may not be comfortable but you're not in the middle of the Irish sea in a F8.

My reply was to point out that there are places of refuge if that made a difference to the category.

Seems Flaming made it clear but at the end of the day whatever the cat the race is it's down to the Skipper to make the call on if they want to head to sea knowing the conditions and sailing grounds.

I think that is unnecessary for a race designed to be a day race in an Estuary. Cat 4 is where I would be in terms of OSR requirements.

 

[Kerenza]

All correct on a neap tide.

 

[01_Anna]

I don't think this forum is the place to discuss minutiae of our tides. If you would like to start a new thread on the Bristol Channel forum I will gladly give you all the claculations I have used and not bore other readers.

It is not boring, it is actually quite relevant in the whole context of present discussion.
But...are you not taking those races a bit too seriously?
At the end of the day, it is just an excuse to go out and sail....

 

[Muddy32]

Rule 4 is the cop out, but races are categorised for both the safety of the boats and the gear they should be carrying and also how "serious" the waters are.
It doesn't take account of the forecasts.

 

[01_Anna]

Just as I thought, race cancelled.