Terry Connell

Oh yes I can !!!

Brad, I have a copy of your tuning guide which I have used to ensure that my Britpop, No.47, is a winner with the original mast and settings.. But recently I stumbled, fell, broke the mast, built a new one, badly, and so lost the settings. I have a new mast on order. Merry Christmas to all.

When a Britpop is in sailing trim which part of the deck is parallel with the water line? I do not have access to a tank. In other words, where should I place a level? Fore deck in front of the mast? Cap screwed on to the pot? Knowing that, I can measure the position of a plumb-bob back from the mast or, using "Level" in a iPhone, or a bubble level, measure the angle of the mast. Thanks.

Is there a pad available to attach to a RMG winch which wil easily slide into the winch tray of a Britpop? If not please suggest a suitable material which I can cut to fit. Thanks.

Does anybody have a spare RMG 37mm sprung winch drum for my Britpop,PLEASE? I have a new one that's 32mm with which i can do a swap.

Thank you very much John. How is the start mark different from, say, a finishing mark?

There has been a discussion that if you get caught on the ground tackle of a mark technically you have not touched the mark. In other words, if you pass so close to a buoy on it's upwind or up-current side, that your boat's bulb or fin becomes caught by the buoys "ground tackle" but your hull does not touch the buoy, have you "touched" the mark and need to do a turn? Recently, at the finishing line between two bouys, one boat's skipper maintained that he had touched the "ground tackle" of one finishing bouy after he had "finished", that is that he had crossed the imaginary line that lies on the course side of the finishing marks and therefore as his hull did not touch the buoy he did not need to do a turn as he had properly finished. His opinion is that the ground tackle is not part of a mark of a course. He argued that it was "in the Rules". Is it?

The Hi-Tech servo HS-7980TH "Monster Torque" has failed in a Psycho. It was an arm winch servo. It was programmed to rotate through 180 and had it's failed voltage reduced/set at 50% . Where can I get a replacement, please? Thanks. Terry Eastbourne.

Perhaps the best way to find a good position for the jib weight is to hook the jib sail head on to something about waist height and hold the hold-down line so that the sail is tight and approximately horizontal. You can then adjust the weight so that the boom is horizontal.

My video is here. Best viewed on your TV if you have the YouTube channel on it.

This is a quote from the Rules -: Finish A boat finishes when, after starting, any part of her hull crosses the finishing line from the course side. However, she has not finished if after crossing the finishing line she (a) takes a penalty under rule 44.2, (b) corrects an error in sailing the course made at the line, or (c) continues to sail the course. Does this mean that if a boat, having crossed a line joining the course side of the finishing buoys and so finished,then the re-crosses the line in order to sail away from the fleet, for example, has NOT finished? See (c) above.

Why does a Port gybe boat have inside rights over a starboard gybe boat when the port gybe boat must gybe on to starboard tack for the next mark?

What is a Renault Man too,please?

I have a Vauxhall Insignia estate type car in which i can carry,flat or on it's edge,several IOM sail boxes.However,possibly needing to downsize and go to petrol instead of diesel do you have a suggestion for a smaller car that can carry my IOM sail box with the the passenger seat folded. Regards to all, Terry

Hello John and Darin. Thank you for clear responses to my first question. Regarding my second question.Supposing that I am clear astern and on the same starboard tack as a boat clear ahead and we are approaching a mark to be left to port and we are both on the lay line; a port tack boat attempts a lee bow tack on the vessel clear ahead of me and in so doing forces the starboard boat to go above close hauled but as he has sufficient weigh he is able to continue on starboard and round the mark.The starboard boat does not protest correctly,says something like "you shouldn't do that" and continues towards the next mark. The illegal boat is now ahead of me. Can I protest that the port boat has broken a Rule? If I see that a Rule has been broken and the consequence is of concern to my position in the heat/race why can I not make a protest or comment? Or can I?

I believe that an observer should and or must call when he notices a contact between two, or more, boats,between a boat and a mark and a boat that is premature starter.Are there any more?All these infringements should be noted in a book. Also may a competitor call when he sees a Rule infringement such as contact between boats,touching a buoy or not sailing the correct course? Thanks.

Hello all, Sorry I made an error in that I typed "stern" when I should have typed "bow" in the previous message.It makes no sense at the moment. (I can't find the edit button!)

Hello Garry, Thanks for your reply. However,the Case B2 that you quote does not apply to the incident I have in mind as there was a protest from just one boat.Though other boats were in the melee none of them made a protest therefore the offender had to do a only a second penalty to satisfy Rule E4.3.The distance to the gate marks was so great that I doubt that any observer could have made a fair judgement. If you consider an incident where a Port tack boat touches the stern of a crossing Starboard boat so that the S boat is pushed above close-hauled and is slowed so much that the P boat gains an advantage,Rule E4.3 states that he exonerates himself by doing second Penalty-Turn. Again,I ask,what is the time interval allowed between the event and making a protest? There ia an incident shown on a YouTube video taken at Fleetwood where a P tack boat crosses a S tack boat,which ducks to avoid collision and as no protest is immediately called the P boat completes the course and wins. At the protest hearing the decision was that too much time had elapsed before a protest was called and also that it was not properly called! Cheers.

An incident occurred recently in a RC race,at a distant gate, where confusion reigned and one boat,in a bunch, was accused of hindering another to such an extent that the wronged boat emerged from the gate area in last place whilst the supposed offender was third.The accuser insisted that not only should the offender complete a penalty turn but should drop back behind the impeded boat. Rule E4.3 b states "if the boat gained a significant advantage in the heat or race by her breach despite taking a penalty,her penalty shall be an additional One-Turn Penalty." I understand that it has become common practice for Race Officers to rule that an offending boat MUST drop behind the wronged one but I cannot find a Rule in the Racing Rules of Sailing 2017-2020 book that defines this ruling. If there is such a Ruling in print when does it state that the offender be allowed to overtake the offended? Supposing that the offender is a better skipper than the other and would have normally be ahead of the offended in any heat or race. You have to stay behind for the remainder of the race? Further,what time period is allowed to elapse between an offense and a protest call? Don't you have to protest immediately stating the number of the offended boat and the offender or are you allowed to think about it for a bit. Gamesmanship is definitely not allowed! Help please.

Thank you John. Terry

Watching the recent videos of the IOM Worlds in France I noticed that on several occasions when a port tack boat was ducking under a starboard tack boat,on a beat to the windward mark,the starboard boat immediately tacked on to port as the port boat was crossing her stern and subsequently the now windward boat sailed,fell,down on the the leeward boat causing the ducking boat to make further drastic course alterations. I believe that Rule 16.2 forbids the original starboard boat to interfere with the ducking boat. Am I right or wrong please? Another point; if a port tack boat is,say,just crossing ahead of a starboard boat and the starboard boat gets a lifting wind shift can she alter her course but continue to pass astern and validly protest? If the starb'd boat had taken full advantage of the lift she could have collided. I know that she must give the port boat opportunity to keep clear but if the distance ahead is very small isn't the port boat a chancer and must take the consequences of a protest call under Rule 10? Thanks. Terry

John, Thanks very much. Happy New Year. Terry.

Two boats,close hauled on starboard, are approaching the windward end of the finishing line marked by buoys. The leeward boat is sailing so the he can sail right up to the buoy,duck under it to finish but so close that the windward boat has to sail above the buoy to avoid hitting it and so cannot finish. Is this within the Rules?Does the leeward boat have to make room for the windward boat to finish? In other words does Rule 11 apply all the time?

John, Thank you very much for your reply. Just as I thought. I've posted another query in a new Rules topic.

Merry Christmas. Mark room, I have just read this,here. http://www.uksailmakers.com/news/2016/12/23/changes-to-the-racing-rules-for-2017?mc_cid=f1c0bedf6e&mc_eid=6d18099584 Rule 18.2(d) (Giving Mark-Room) Rule 18.2(d) provides a “shut off” time for when a boat is no longer entitled to mark-room under rule 18.2(b) or room under rule 18.2© and therefore is no longer “protected” by rule 21 (Exoneration). The “shut off” time is when the boat has been given mark-room, which is when she has been given the space she needs to round or pass the mark on the required side as needed to Rule 18.2(d) (Giving Mark-Room) Rule 18.2(d) provides a “shut off” time for when a boat is no longer entitled to mark-room under rule 18.2(b) or room under rule 18.2© and therefore is no longer “protected” by rule 21 (Exoneration). The “shut off” time is when the boat has been given mark-room, which is when she has been given the space she needs to round or pass the mark on the required side as needed to sail the course, and has been able to sail close to the mark when her proper course would bring her close to the mark. Does this mean that we can finally stop skippers' practice of "wide in.close out" when rounding a mark. In a case where a port rounding boat is on port,no need to tack for the next mark but demands wriggle room in spite of being windward boat. My interpretation of the Rules is if there is room for the inside boat between a leeward boat and the mark and she hits neither,she has been given "mark room".But many skippers refuse to obey the windward rule and state that they are only asking for room to pass the mark in a seamanlike manner or that Rule 21 applies. Terry. Eastbourne.