This is my proposed course (this is like the Weston Grand Slam 2007):
1) You start between ODM and CB.
2) You leave WM to port.
3) You go between LM and ODM.
4) Repeat 2 and 3 until you get a hooter when you cross the line between LM and ODM.
This way there are few buoys to remember, you don't have to remember which lap you are on, there is choice of leeward mark, everyone finishes near where the start will be, and there are downwind finishes.
WM
ODM------------LM------------CB
Did you see this from further up the thread? It complies with your requirements and has some other benefits including being easier to move round if the wind changes and keeping the CB close enough to see what is going on and do the finishing but far enough to avoid 'mating' issues.
My reason for not wanting the 'classic' is that we had some bad feedback about it last year so we should try to address those problems:
1) If you force everyone to go through the gate upwind then it is not a good idea to allow people to go through the gate downwind. The reason we do it like we do is because the 1995 nationals had many near-misses and tactical capsizes to avoid collisions. Feedback from competitors gave us the current situation of insisting on the upwind gate and insisting that people miss it on the way down.
2) If you allow people to miss the gate on non-finishing laps then you are back to having to count laps so you know when to go through it - not popular either.
The proposed system has flexibility both on and off the wind, does not require lap-counting and crucially is an attempt to address the feedback from last year.
