Bob thank you for the thoughtful reply. We were the first boat to cross the shortening mark and at the time we had 4-1/2 knots of boat speed. I would be hard pressed to shut down a race where boats are making that speed on the prediction of it shutting down when it was already supposed to be dead. There was no rhyme or reason to the day and it was anyones gamble - RC just happens to get the brunt end of everyones hindsight. No one likes struggle bussing in light air in the heat but I personally dont like shortening a race that is intended to be a distance race and sometimes that just takes more endurance and patience. I call it sailboat racing and we should all be so lucky to enjoy it. Very few races are ideal and hard calls will always have to be made. C'est la vie.