Gordon W Davies

WS Case 99 is clear - 'The fact that a boat required to keep clear is out of control does not entitle her to exoneration for breaking a rule of Part 2' It also adds 'When a right of way boat becomes obliged by rule 14 to avoid contact if reasonably possible, and the only way to do so is to crash-gybe, she does not break the rule if she does not crash-gybe' I would add that: - a right of way boat is still subject to rules 15, 16 and 17 even if out of control - although the case refers specifically to a crash gybe, the same principle would apply if a RoW is required to make any unseamanlike manouevre. Rule E2.3 allow a boat out of radio control once they have hailed 'Out of Control' to retire with no further penalty if they break any Part 2 rule. A boat cannot 'unretire' if she subsequently regains radio control. Gordon

Under RRS 44.1 A boat MAY take a penalty when she MAY have broken a rule. The penalty is voluntary and does not imply that the does has broken a rule. Taking a penalty may be an insurance policy. Another point is that both boats may have broken a rule. So, a boat may take a penalty and then protest. However there are no grounds for redress if a boat takes a penalty but is later found not to have broken a rule. The situation is somewhat different under IRSA Add. Q. Once a boat has taken a penalty the umpires cannot penalise either boat. However, if no decision is hailed by an umpire then a boat is entitled to a hearing. Gordon

For the One Metre Worlds the following text was included in the NOR: In order that a disabled competitor may be able to compete on equal terms, the race committee shall make as fair an arrangement as possible. Disabled competitors who require any form of help or special requirements shall contact (name of contact) at (email address of contact prior to entry to confirm that suitable arrangements can be made. It is the competitor’s responsibility to determine that adequate facilities are available before entering the event. This might prove useful. We did have a deaf mute competitor who competed happily, with an assistant to pass on information and make hails as necessary. Initially, it was intended to include provision for disabled competitors in rule E4.2 Outside Help. However, it was far simpler to write a separate rule, as not all elements of 'as fair an arrangement as possible' would constitute outside help. Personally I believe that the sport of radio sailing should take pride in this provision. Lastly - Charles, I wish that the Rule Book was always as limpid, with no lack of clarity, as you believe it is! There are several points that are a perpetual subject of debate. One instance is what constitutes 'serious damage'.

If I could add to John's excellent article: - Getting well clear. The boat must attempt to get clear as soon as possible after the incident, and continue attempting to get clear. Attempting to get clear may mean slowing down or stopping, luffing well above the course to the next mark, or bearing away. Continuing to sail at the same speed and direction as the other boats is not attempting to get clear. - Whilst the boat is getting clear, and until she starts to take her penalty, she is not subject to rule 22.2. Other boats, for instance those overlapped to windward or those clear astern, may be required to keep clear of a boat attempting to get well clear. However, a boat that interferes with another boat while sailing to get clear, when she has an alternative, does not sail to get clear as soon as possible. A boat starts to take a penalty when she is clearly turning to carry out a tack or gybe. For further details see IRSA Case Book P5 and P6. Gordon

From a racing rules point of view: - the standard World Sailing wording is 'Each participating boat shall be insured with valid third party liability insurance with a minimum cover of __________________ per incident or the equivalent. There is usually a reasonable excess on most policies - €500 would be common in Europe. This means that in most circumstances a competitor who damages another boat will have to 'do the decent thing' and make good any damage. However, if you, on port, collide with and sink a brand new all carbon racing machine sailing on starboard the policy should cover this. This seems only reasonable when a new boat can represent several months take home pay. - RYA prescriptions on rule 67 mean that the protest committee has no part to play in issues of liability of claim for damages. The protest committee merely decides whether a racing rule has been broken. Most countries have similar prescriptions. - most disclaimers of liability have no effect whatsoever. Which is why the RYA recommends that the disclaimer is replaced by a Risk Statement (see page 115 of the current RYA rule book.This policy is slowly spreading world-wide. Gordon

A simple idea that would work. I would be in favour. Gordon

Should boats that have multiple certificates have a different sail number for each certificate? This would avoid the temptation for a Marblehead owner of one hull with 3 certificates switching between the 27 rigs that he can potentially register. IRSA Technical Committee, who proposed the changes, have issued explanatory notes. Personally I have not studied the new rules in detail yet - to avoid confusion when I am at events. I once spend a morning team racing umpiring with a highly respected umpire who was working to next years rules that he had been working on - very disconcerting. I still have 3 big events this year. Gordon

This was a subject of great debate. There was strong feeling that one digit numbers were confusing for hails - particularly when there were multiple boats OCS. I am not convinced that there is an ideal solution. Regarding other rule changes - family members attending an event in company with a competitor may now be considered as support persons and are thus subject to the Racing Rules, in particular rule 69 Misconduct. This means, for instance, that a spectator who berates an umpire or observer for a hail (or lack of hail) may be sanctioned by the Jury. Gordon

John, I would agree with most of your analysis. However when you say 'But by not hailing for room to tack, she is making an implicit decision to pass astern of Green,' I would not phrase the comment in that way. By not hailing for room to tack Red indicates that she will attempt to keep clear of Green not by tacking but by: - attempting to cross ahead; in which case Yellow must give her room to do so - bearing away astern; in which case she must give Yellow room to do likewise - slowing down (a much neglected tactical measure but in this case it might well be a good tactic as it leaves Yellow in a difficult situation) Small details perhaps.... Gordon

Q1 Redress can only be given when a boat becomes entangled and as a result retires. In this case boat was able to continue in the race. No redress. Q2 No, she must retire as a result of the initial entanglement Q3 Yes, going up or down would be a significant advantage in the heat or race. Rule E4.3 refers to penalties taken at the tile of the incident. Significant advantage is evaluated after a boat has taken the required penalty. If after taking a penalty a boat is ahead of the infringed boat this usually means that she has gained a significant advantage... especially on the last leg near the finish. The one proviso is that the infringed boat is being sailed in a seamanlike way (and not, for instance, stuck in irons because she has chosen a rig that is too big) Q8 Under E5.1c the observer reports unresolved incidents. In his report it would always be helpful to include information regarding the positions of the 2 boats after turns have been taken. When sailing under IRSA Addendum Q the observer and umpire can decide that a significant advantage has been gained. Gordon

John, Your question 1 is an open question. The answer will not be yes or no. I would predict that the answer to question 2 is that rule E4.3 b applies as interpreted by Q&A Q&A 2013-022. The keep clear boat ceases to have a significant advantage when she is clearly last in the heat - which is not that much better than DNS. Gordon

Unfortunately judges do not apply what a rules was intended to do, or what it looks like the rule may be trying to say. We are pedantic creatures and we apply the rule as is written, unless we find an authoritative text that inteprets the rule differently Rule E3.7 is clear: if the race committee informs a boat that she has broken rule 30.3 then she shall immediately leave the course area. If the race committee does not inform her then she does not need to leave the course area. For the Q&A to allow the boat shunted across the line to sail on the race committee must NOT tell her she was BFD. I would be grateful for any feedback at events in which the RC adopts the policy of not hailing. Interestingly, there does not seem to be a rule that obliges the RC to hail. Gordon

There are disadvantages in not getting a BFD boat off the race track. If they are permitted to sail on they can interfere with other boats (even if they do not break a rule in doing so). Most sailors would prefer the BFD boat not to be there. There does seem to be a case for experimentation There are several ways to resolve this issue, each of which may have unintended consequences. Gordon

Having taken more time to think this through, a boat that has been shunted over the line on a Black Flag start cannot return and restart. Rule E3.7 requires her to leave the course area as soon as she is hailed by the RC. Maybe, a very 'on the ball' Race Officer may decide not to hail the 'shunted' boat. So, unless this happens, at the very best the 'shunted boat' could only be exonerated from being BFD and be scored DNS. Gordon

I had not made the connection.... well done It would be worth writing this up as a case for the IRSA Case Book as it is something that happens quite frequently. Gordon

There could be another way of dealing with this situation. In big boat sailing the penalty for OCS and BFD is the same. It is HMS that introduces a different, higher penalty for BFD. It would be possible to change HMS so that BFD was scored the same as OCS. Boat B is required to continue taking turns until she no longer has a significant advantage. As B cannot be scored worse than A, and if she finishes she will still have an advantage over A, she should retire. Gordon

If a boat clear ahead changes course in such a way that the boat clear astern is not given rule to keep clear then the clear ahead boat breaks rule 16 and should take a penalty. The keep clear boat must manoeuvre promptly, which includes the time needed by the competitor controlling the boat to analyse the situation. and react accordingly. Gordon

There were indeed a large number of starts under black flag in Foster City. This was one of the few negative aspects of the event. In reply to your questions: 1. In order to give redress the PC would have to establish that A's score was made significantly worse, through no fault of her own, by the actions a B that resulted in B being penalised under rule 2 Fair Sailing, or penalised or warned under rule 69. 2. Under what rule would A protest B for 'unfair advantage' other than rule 2? Under E4.3(b) a boat can take additional penalty turns. If A is BFD, B ceases to have a 'significant advantage once she is in last place in the heat after taking one or more penalties. The gentlemanly reaction would be to retire, but there is no rule that requires competitors to be gentlemen. Gordon

Port hand rounding, boats approaching on a run on port. Inside boat is windward keep clear boat entitled to room to sail to the mark. How much room is she entitled to? Room to sail from where she enters the zone to a position alongside he mark where, in a seamanlike manoeuvre she would begin turning to round the mark. If boats are overlapped then the width of this "corridor' would be the distance from the windward side of the hull, or the forestay on a swing rig, to the leeward end of the boom when the sail is trimmed in a seamanlike way . This may seem like a lot of space! If in order to keep clear of a leeward boat the boat entitled to room is obliged to sail outside this 'corridor' then she has not been given mark room. If, in the course of keeping clear she is obliged to touch the mark she would be exonerated under rule 21, and can sail on without taking a penalty. In the case of the outside boat, she was behind all the boats inside her. If she breaks a rule she should take a penalty that restores her to that same position after the penalty. With the proviso that whilst she is taking her penalty the other boats are being manoeuvred in a seamanlike way. If the other boats are unable to continue in the race, then the outside boat's penalty may be to retire. Gordon Gordon

It is considered best practice in big boat sailing to ensure that the zones do not overlap. This is to prevent conflicting entitlements to mark room. If the gate marks are too close together then a boat will have room at one mark and not at the other, and boats may not intend rounding the same mark! I would suggest that, where possible, RS gate marks are more than 8 hull lengths apart. A gate is well laid when an equal numbers of boats round each mark - easier said than done, especially when the subsequent beat is one sided. It may be necessary to give considerable bias to one mark in order to split the fleet. Gordon

If I may be excused for being pedantic (again): Rather than stating " In this case, the ahead boat is entitled to luff up to their proper course and the astern boat must keep clear or she breaks R 18.2.b and 18.2.c" It is better to point out that Yellow: - is right of way boat throughout - firstly under rule 12 and then rule 11. Therefore Green is obliged to keep clear. - Yellow was clear ahead at the zone. She is entitled to mark room (rule 18.2b). The only practical effect of this Yellow as RoW boat is that while is sailing within the mark room to which she is entitled she will be exonerated under rule 21for any breach of a rule of section A, rule 15 or 16. In other words she can change course rapidly and Green must anticipate that she will do so as Yellow rounds the mark - if the next mark is a reach then Yellow can luff above the course necessary to sail to the next mark as she rounds the mark, however once she sails above that course she is no longer protected by rule 21 An important concept - the principal effect of rule 18 is to impose additional limitations on a RoW boat that is not entitled to mark room, she cannot exercise all the rights she would have as RoW boat because of these limitations. These limitations give the keep clear boat entitled to mark room limited entitlements as she sails to and around the mark. Gordon

I would agree with Lester, one boat retires = incident resolved. If A had not retired then the Race Committee could have protested. On the incident itself - the statement that A and B were sailing at the same speed close-hauled does suggest that B had completed her tack and accelerated up to close-hauled, which would imply that A had been given room to keep clear Gordon

Questions: How long after B reached a close-hauled course did contact occur? Was A given room to keep clear? Why did race committee not protest the unresolved incident? A can take a penalty (retiring) and still protest. Taking a penalty does not mean that A accepted that she broke a rule. Gordon

2 points there: - If a keep clear boat entitled to mark room has room to luff when sailing to the mark or rounding the mark then she is probably taking more room than that to which she is entitled - the entitlement to mark room exists until it is no longer needed, that is that the course of the entitled boat is no longer influenced by the requirement to sail to the mark or to round it. Even if one of these requirements still exists, any entitlement to room under 18.2(b) ceases if the entitled boat passes head to wind or leaves the zone, and, in addition, rule 18 as a whole ceases to apply when neither boat is in the zone. Gordon

It is important to appreciate that E2.3 only applies to boats that have lost RADIO control. The rule gives the out of radio control boat protection from breaches of RRS, which is why boat is deemed to have retired. A boat that has been declared out of radio control is unable to continue in the race - that means that she is disabled and rule E1.3c applies and other boats shall, if possible, avoid her. A boat that broaches is not out of radio control. The most probable reason, as they round the leeward mark, is that they have sheeted in too fast! Gordon