Oppostie Gybes, leeward Mark

Unfortunately for damp freddie judges apply the rules as written not as damp freddie wishes they were written!

Rules 16 and 18.4 give no rights to a keep clear boat - they impose limitations on a right of way boat.

There is an order of precedence in Part 2 of the rules:

Rules of Section A ALWAYS apply and they define which boat is keep clear boat
Rules of Section B impose limitations on the action of the right of way boat
Rules of Section C imposes limitations on the action of a right of way boat at marks and obstructions, and may give limited entitlemnents and exonerations to a keep clear boat

The key thing to remember is that having mark room on its own only entitles you to a very limited corridor to sail to the mark. You can only do a tactical rounding at a mark (wide in tight out) in the presence of other boats IF you are right of away boat. However ROW way boat must still (until they are at the mark) comply with rules 15, 16 17 and 18.4.

A tactical rounding is not necessarily "good sailing" - it is "good racing" - which is far from being the same thing.

18.4 only applies in limited circumstances - limiting the rights of an inside overlapped right of way boat. 18.4 ceases to apply when boat ceases to have right of way and 18.2a or b applies.

Gordon

Hi Gordon

Thanks for this - I was unaware of C2.4 13.2 and that is really interesting.  It seems a shame to me that 13.1 and C2.4 13.2 arn't included as definitions in the glossary and generally applicable.

David

 

Edited by asterix

Surely in the ISAF case book, case 75 gives you enough
explanation gordon.

http://game.finckh.net/reg_gbr/cases/case75.htm

Although not with kites the principle is the same.

as another example of where the rules could be clearer, the rules do not define what a 'gybe' is, and so given:

'Tack, Starboard or Port A boat is on the tack, starboard or port, corresponding to her windward side.' and

Mark-Room Room for a boat to sail to the mark, and then room to sail her proper course while at the mark. However, mark-room does not include room to tack unless the boat is overlapped to windward and on the inside of the boat required to give mark-room.'

it is not actually clear if '...room to tack' includes room to change tack by gybing.  The problem is that Tack is defined as an adjective but seems also to be used in the rules as a verb.

 

Edited by asterix

I agree with the good advice given by Gordon above.  I also think damp_freddie is seeking to sail in a way that would at best only give a very marginal benefit but which in practice might not actually be beneficial or successful on the water. 

Having said that, I would make an observation that the current rules do not describe sufficiently well what is meant by 'sail to the mark' - as is evidenced by this debate, by the apparent need to clarify the requirement to sail 'straight' to the mark 'in a narrow corridor', and by other similar conversations I have heard at my club.