Course Diagrams

World Sailing uses a system of assigning symbols to courses (course signals) comprising combinations of letters and a single digit. The letters occur in four groups: course type, finish type, course modifer. At most one letter occurs per group and the groups have a specific order. The digit always occurs last and specifies the number of beats required to sail the course.

Course designations

Course type

L windward/leeward course with a leeward finish
M windward / leeward with a leeward finish with starboard mark roundings (commonly used for match racing)
W windward/leeward course with a windward finish
I inner loop trapezoid
O outer loop trapezoid
T triangular course with start and finish in the middle of the beat
X any other course

Finish type

R course with a reaching finish after a port mark rounding
G course with a reaching finish after a starboard mark rounding
S slalom finish
L leeward finish (used for triangular courses only)
W windward finish (used for triangular courses only)

Course modifier

A course with an offset mark at the windward end

Thus an LRA2 course would be a windward/leeward course with a reaching finish and an offset mark at the windward end with two windward legs. However, different courses may have exactly the same designation. For instance, an L course might have a gate or a single leeward mark. Another way of saying this is that many course features lie outside of the course symbol system. This is generally a good thing as it means that a race committee can use a small set of course letters and competitors do
not have to remember many fine distinctions in course designations.

These conventions cover only some generally used courses. Specific courses arise for several reasons, for instance, unusual race format types, class rules and local conditions. For instance, the Optimist class has a particular trapezoid course designated IOD.

© (2023) Robert Woodbury.
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Courses used at CORK

Name

 

Course Designator Course Description Download

CORK Kiteboard

 

 

X A kiteboard course.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

CORK LAH

 

 

LAR A windward leeward coursse with an offset mark and a reaching finish.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

CORK L FINISH GATE

 

L A windward leeward course with a gate and a direct finish from the last mark.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

CORK LH

 

LR A windward leeward course with a reaching finish from the port gate mark.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE CORK OPTI GREEN

 

 

G A course for the Optimist Green fleet.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE CORK OPTI TEAM

 

 

OT A course for Optimist team racing. Very similar to a general team racing course.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE CORK TH

 

 

TR A triangle course with a variant finish.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE CORK WASZP

 

 

X A CORK course for the WASZP class.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE CORK YOUTH TRAPEZOID

 

 

IO A general trapezoid course specifiying both inner and outer loops.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

Windward Leeward Courses

Name

 

Course Designator Course Description Download

COURSE L
(BASIC)

 

 

L A basic windward leeward course.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE L
(FINISH LINE)

 

 

L A windward leeward course with a separate finish line.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE L
(GATE)

 

 

L A windward leeward course with a gate.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE L
(MID-COURSE FINISH)

 

 

L A windward leeward course with the start and finish line mid-course. It can be difficult to record finishes with large fleets and multiple starts.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE L (MOST SIMPLE)

 

 

L The simplest possible windward leeward course. Suitable for club races with few starts.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE W

 

 

A A windward leeward course with a windward finish.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

Winward Leeward Courses with an Offset Mark

Name

 

Course Designator Course Description Download

COURSE LA 

 

 

LA A windward leeward course with an offset mark.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE LA GATE

 

 

LA A windward leeward course with an offset mark and a gate.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE WA GATE

 

 

WA A windward leeward course with an offset mark a windward finish.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

Windward Leeward Course Marks to Starboard

Name

 

Course Designator Course Description Download

COURSE M

 

M A windward leeward course with starboard mark roundings. Often used for match racing.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

Team Racing Courses

Name

 

Course Designator Course Description Download

COURSE OPTI TEAM 1

 

 

OT An alternative course for Optimist team racing.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE OPTI TEAM 2

 

 

OT An alternative course for Optimist team racing.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE OPTI TEAM 3

 

OT An alternative course for Optimist team racing.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

Trapezoid Courses

Name

 

Course Designator Course Description Download

COURSE I

 

 

I A generic inner trapezoid course.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE ILCA 

 

 

IO The ILCA trapezoid course specifiying both inner and outer loops.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE ILCA I

 

 

I The standard ILCA class inner trapezoid.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE ILCA O

 

 

O The standard ILCA class outer trapezoid.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE IO

 

 

IO A generic trapezoid course for both inner and outer loops.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE O

 

O A generic outer trapezoid course.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

Triangle Courses

Name

 

Course Designator Course Description Download

COURSE TL

 

 

TL A triangle course with leeward finish.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE TW

 

 

TW A triangle course with windward finish.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

Boat Specific Courses

Name

 

Course Designator Course Description Download

COURSE FORMULA KITE 1

 

 

X A course for kiteboards.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE FORMULA KITE 2

 

 

X A course for kiteboards.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE IOD

 

 

IOD The Optimist class trapezoid course.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE IQFOIL DOWNWIND SLALOM

 

 

TP1 A slalom course for foiling sailboards.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE MOTH

 

 

L A course for Moths. Note windward gate and wide gates.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE SAILBOARD SLALOM

 

SL A sailboard slalom course.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE WASZP

 

 

T A course specifically for the WASZP class.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

COURSE WASZP CHAMPIONSHIP

 

 

C The WASZP championship course.

With mark roundings

Without mark roundings

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