Hahaha. You and Shannon could share an office. That would be fun. For me.
A dead downwind race is going to take a lot longer, and I'm betting there will be fallout at the Delray Checkpoint when people realize that. I disagree ... I think the way it was last year would be a lot easier for people who've never done it before, and even people who have. Can't remember if you did the Tampa Race ... probably ... but the first half was a sidewinder, and then the coast changed to a deaddownwinder. Most (normal
maybe not you) people thought the first part was easy, but thought the second half was grueling.
I'll do it either way ... but funny you should mention it, which board to use is now my biggest issue. I finally got my board from Jeff Kafka, and I LOVE it. I've been doing ENE sidewinders on it, and it's awesome and I was all set to use that. However, I did a dead downwinder last Friday and it did not go well AT ALL, and now I'm thinking I'd be better on a twintip. (The guy going downwind with me on a twintip smoked me.) I can jibe ok on straight tacks when not under pressure, but there's no way I'm going to be jibing on this race. I'd love to hear your thoughts on why a directional would be better for this direction.
(I've also been practicing going directly upwind, and am REALLY looking forward to the course racing seminars you mentioned in another post ... I'm know I'm not getting the max out of my board that I could, so I hope you give a speech about that
)