Please (try to) avoid sailing/transiting through race courses

[DragonflyBob]

I’ve been a long time small boat sailor/racer and relatively new cruiser. I’m posting this thread to ask my cruising friends here to try to be aware especially when you are in a coastal area near yacht clubs of boats racing on courses relatively close to harbor entrances.

This past week, I was racing the A-Class catamaran North American championship in Pensacola. The A-Class catamaran is an 18’ foot long singlehanded boat that is capable of speeds in excess of 20 knots. The race courses were typically windward/leeward configuration with legs approximately 1.25 miles long and were set 3-4 miles from the outlet of the harbor where we launched. Several times during the event we had cruising boats that were traveling from the harbor area where we launched (by Pensacola Yacht Club) towards the outlet of Pensacola Bay (over 9 miles away) go right through the middle of our race course either under sail or power and at low speed. They all became obstructions/hazards that had to be avoided by the racers who were sailing 2-3 times faster. In some instances, racers lost places in a race taking action to avoid a close call. The most annoying incident was a 50 foot Beneteau that sailed downwind on port tack (the give way tack) right through the middle of the course towing a dinghy so it became a 70 foot long slow moving obstruction throwing out a big wind shadow. The most potentially hazardous incident was a power trawler that was going to cut through a windward mark area right as 8-10 boats were approaching it at high speed on opposite tacks. Luckily, one of the race committee safety boats waved it off before the situation caused a big problem.

This is a courtesy call to be aware. There are many cruisers who have little to no experience with racing sailboats so are probably not even looking to see if they are getting into a racing area. Most PRO (principal race officers) will set up a course where there is plenty of room on either side to stay clear so it should not create a significant diversion for non-racing boats to keep clear of the area. That was the case this past week as there was plenty of sea room on either side of the race course to avoid interference.

Thanks for consideration and being extra aware for safety and to keep everyone smiling.