Phil Holliday

It is not for the International Officer to comment or have a view only to put the information before the members and gather THEIR views (as has been made abundantly clear by some members on previous occasions.). You will note that the information from ITCA/IMCA was sent out on 19th Sept 2021 and was passed by me to the MYA DCO and the web operators of both the M and 10 websites the same day with a request to publish it to the membership ASAP. I can do no more. Once everyone has had an opportunity to air their views I will forward them to the IMCA/ITCA secretaries as a collective GBR view.

As you are in Southampton you have access to several very competent measurers living in your area (Gosport, Eastleigh) as well as several situated along the M3 corridor in addition to Tony as mentioned above.

It's always good to have knowledgable input into these discussions and this topic, with the exception of myself, seems to have generated just that. As a slight aside from the main discussion I am a measurer for the M (and 10R and IOM) class and was educated in the pre computer era and didn't gain a PhD and yet I have no problem at all with the measurement spreadsheet. Maybe I am just fortunate to have had excellent training from an experienced measurer and enjoy regular sessions with a couple of other local measurers where we check each other and compare notes. But then training is a topic for a whole new thread.

This discussion from the IRSA is about battens and not, strictly speaking, sail thickness. Not to disagree with John's engineering analysis it is worth pointing out that the term "soft sail" is defined in the ERS issued by World Sailing as:- A sail where the body of the sail is capable of being folded flat in any direction without damaging any ply other than by creasing. The discussion is laid out on the M Class website so suffice it to say that there appear to be 3 options available with regard to the current batten rules for M and A class yachts. 1) Do nothing and see what happens, but this could lead to further requests for interpretation and/or protests at a major event. 2) Change the rule somehow to prevent "soft sail" material being used as a batten and bypassing the rules. A potential minefield, especially for measurers. 3) Take away the rule altogether This discussion does not apply to the 10R class as they have no batten restrictions, and where no abnormal sails have appeared as a result.

I am sure that there will be as many solutions as there are clubs! At my own club we already have a system in place for the use of the clubhouse facilities by both ourselves and the dinghy sailors. For us radio sailors we will have fixed control positions marked out central to the course to maintain 2 metres minimum separation with a maximum of 10 participants/race/heat. Control positions will be allocated before the first heat/race and then everyone will move one place before each start. To avoid problems on the start line we will utilise a "gate" system with the gate boat being whoever has been allocated a control position on the start line. This way everyone will have the opportunity to be the gate boat and to race from each of the control positions. It may not be ideal but it will get us going again as soon as we are allowed to gather in groups greater than 2. There may not be many replies on this thread but I am sure there is not a club in the country that isn't considering their way forward once we are allowed more freedom than at present.

This discussion raises two questions in my mind, 1) the phrase "alters course" implies a conscious input from the skipper, should a gust induced lift be regarded as changing course? Without accurate observing from a third party this will always degenerate into an argument with no winner 2) at what point is the ROW boat too close to alter course whilst still giving room? Again this is a judgement call where both skippers involved will have their own (differing) opinion. The reality of the situation is that the give way boat has put himself in a very vulnerable position and is trying to use the nuances of the rules to get himself out! Moral of this story - talk to each other in plenty of time and if you are the give way vessel be prepared to tack or duck whilst you still have time.