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What a great day in Monterey. This would have been a perfect event for people who mostly sail in the weeknight short course fleets. Partly for the conditions and style of racing which were similar to the weeknight format. And partly because there is a lot of non-sailing stuff to do in Monterey which might be a selling point to non-sailors when making the case for a long day-trip or weekend.

There were 6 once-around races each lasting 20+ minutes. A twice around option was never exercised. There was a weather mark w/o offset and a leeward mark. The start/finish line was in between the two marks but much closer to the leeward mark. A three minute sequence was used. Standards and radials started at the same time.

The RC work was good. Getting off starts in quick succession. The RC was offering water from the start boat but I didn't see a lot of people taking them up on that.

The start line was relatively short. It was short enough that it got crowded and big fleet starting techniques like hovering were useful. There was some bumping at most starts. There were a couple of major pileups and at least one capsize. I didn't see any OCS calls.

The Monterey Laser sailors said the breeze was relatively strong for this event. I'd still put it in the "blue square" category. See previous message for link to wind readings at Monterey Wharf. The fog bank in the photos stayed off the beach and the race course, but did cover Pt. Pinos. There were some puff lanes in the middle of the course. Very close in to the wharf was light. In the club after racing, one Monterey sailor said when they go to Santa Cruz at the north end of Monterey Bay, the land is on the right with their usual breeze. So the wind bends are reversed, and they have to continually remind themselves to do the opposite of what they customarily do on the Monterey waterfront.

Going to weather, there were some very small wind waves which most of the time you didn't need to worry about. A few times I sheeted out to get through some bigger sets, but most of the time I was two-blocked (except when I overstood...). There was an ocean swell, but it was gentle enough going to weather I didn't really notice it. The swell was large enough and noticeable enough downwind that you could get your bow down and boat moving pretty good. The waves took you to the right of the leeward mark. Pretty much everyone rode the waves to the right side of the course, then some people even gybed to get to the mark.