The wind is fairly predictable in San Diego compared to most locations around the world. The wind is from the South to west quadrant almost 100% of the time. A typical day starts with very little wind in the morning filling in from the West midmorning, and building until the early afternoon, and then decreasing again in the early evening. The normal wind speed is 8 to 12 knots. It is very unusual to have too little or too much wind, in fact, almost unheard of compared to most places. I don't think we have ever had a day with too much wind and only a few times when there hasn't been enough wind to race. When the wind is from the West the right is generally favored. With a West wind starboard tack takes you further offshore where there is generally more adverse current. When the wind is from the South the boats are more spread out over the course with the left usually being more favored. The current off the west coast runs from north to south. On the race course the current sometimes has some effect normally running south and stronger further offshore.
The 1993 Star North Americans was a fairly typical regatta for San Diego conditions. The wind was very similar all week long. The wind ranged from 6 to 10 knots but usually was 7 to 8 knots and was from the West. The current was sometimes running as much as 1.5 knots at the windward mark which is more than normal. There were a few times where the hard right didn't pay but most of the time the right was favored so it was important to have a good start and good speed. The race committee would favor the port end slightly so the fleet would be spread out over the line. If you started at the port end it was important to be able to tack right away which was usually difficult. Boats starting at the boat gave away a little initially but it usually paid off by the time the right corner was reached.
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