McDougall Cruiser Regatta Oct 26
Date
Location
Old Hickory, TN, 37138, US
Notice Board
This colorful regatta series was initiated by HIYC in 1968 to honor the club's "Adopted Scotsman," Thistle skipper John McDougall: a Harbor Islander who was instrumental in organizing and promoting sailing in Nashville. It was he who purchased the land on what would become Harbor Island. John constructed a concrete causeway from the mainland for the purposes of developing a residential community prior to the lake being filled. No doubt, he also dreamed of a permanent location for he and his sailing friends. We at HIYC owe a great debt to this man; because without John and that fortuitous notion, HIYC would not be in existence. The McDougall Cruiser Regatta has four PHRF Fleets: Heavy A, Heavy B, Light Displacement, and C Fleet (Jib and Main only)
This year's McDougall is bigger and better! Included in registration is one HIYC racing T shirt, and breakfast. The trophies are REALLY nice engraved bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon, in the true spirit of John McDougall.
Additional t-shirts can be purchased in the Shop area of the Regatta Notice Board. Link here.
Request for Hearing- Protest Type
Protest by Race Committee against Boat
Transcribed Protest Description
“Race committee gave contrary instructions for leward[sic] mark verbally. The committee stated the mark was past Sam’s 100 meter[sic] from the boat dock. Dang rounded Mark “B” on the chart which is not past Sam’s and could[sic] have been designated as the leeward mark- the committee instead said past Sam’s. Smokler texted but did not post coordinates to Mark “B” but never designated “B” or stated GPS @ skippers meeting. “
Participants
William Hoffmeister - Ninja (Protest Submitter)
Cody Hall- Regatta PRO
Brian Smokler - Regatta Race Committee
Jeff Sonsino - Regatta Chair
Mark Smith - HIYC Race Chair
Bruce Richards- Consultant
Timeline (all times CDT)
2024-10-26
0900 - Brian and Cody Leave Dock in Whaler to visually describe and GPS locate race marks
1035 - Skipper’s meeting
1130 - Light A Start time
1320 - First finisher
1500 - Awards
1530 - Protest filed (with vitriol)
1702 - Willie asks to rescind his “fuck you” via text message
2024-10-27
1304 - Cody responds to Willie’s protest via text
1308 - Willie recommends a form of redress via text
2024-10-29
1722 - Willie emails another request for redress
2024-10-30
0936 - Cody responds to email explaining the RC is deliberating
1700-1930 - Cody consults with Mark Smith, Brian Smokler and Bruce Richards assembling a virtual protest committee
2024-11-01
1130 - Report and Findings published for review with Protest Committee
2024-11-03
1004 - Report shared with Ninja
Contributing Factors
In order to avoid speculation about marks and their whereabouts, PRO made an effort to visually confirm and GPS identify the race marks.
During the skipper’s meeting, as the PRO began to describe the racecourse, William interrupted and opined that government marks are confusing and open to interpretation. Sailing Instructions (https://d282wvk2qi4wzk.cloudfront.net/N3JTuLoNUc_doc_1709925184130) state that government marks are able to be used at the PRO discretion. William was instructed by PRO that GPS coordinates are available, and visual confirmation acquired.
PRO (Cody Hall) gave the following instructions (upwind == upriver on this day)
Windward mark is the first red channel marker after Lindsley’s light.
Leeward mark is the green channel marker in the middle of the lake parallel to Sam’s.
After William’s comments, a variety of non-authoritative voices speculated about mark locations, using common but unreliable references (a.k.a. “B”). PRO reiterated the simple instructions and avoided the use of common but unreliable references to “B”. The cacophony led to William’s further confusion, and resulted in incorrect statements in the protest form.
The following quotes from the protest form were never stated by the PRO.
- “The committee stated the mark was past Sam’s 100 meter from the boat dock”
- "The committee instead said past Sam's"
- "... never designated "B" or stated GPS @ skippers meeting"
PRO shared GPS coordinates with concerned boats (Ninja and Leaf) via text message.
Acknowledgments
PRO failed to quell the uprising in the skipper’s meeting
PRO failed to post GPS coordinates to the notice board, but did announce their availability and sent them to concerned boats.
Decision
Due to PRO failures, redress is awarded in the form of separate fleet scoring. Light fleet consists of Dang. Light* fleet finishes Ninja, Leaf, La Difference, Crazyhorse (in that order). Ninja is the winner of Light*.
Future Considerations
Deliberating.
Cody Hall502.592.6165
On Tue, Oct 29, 2024 at 5:22 PM William Hofmeister <whof@ultrasmallfibers.com> wrote:On Sunday I filed a protest with the Race Committee asking for redress over confusing course instructions. The Race Committee left the scene and there has been no resolution to the protest.
Most of the fleet sailed and extra 1.3 miles. The GPS coordinate course is about 11 miles.
I would propose a 10% adjustment to the time of the boats that sailed the longer course.
William Hofmeister, Ph.D.
Founder and CTO
Ultra Small Fibers, LLC
Fellow ASM International
Adjoint Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN 37215
615-429-9545
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Shop
Click here to purchase McDougall Cruiser Regatta Oct 26 merchandise.