Rule 42

Originally posted by timeintheboat I recall a Supernova (fully battened main) a year or so a go where the was a trial with on the water judges who I  think we getting in practice for something bigger and a few got pinged for trying to get the battens popped - not happy bunnies.

That wasn't me, and I wasn't there, however at that time I (in my Supernova) was nearly taken to protest at least twice for trying to pop the battens across. The CA forum had a bit of discussion about what constitutes pumping/popping back then. I too was lead to understand that one pump (soley to get the battens across) was acceptable.

I could be very wrong here, but I vaguely remember the Supernova CA saying that they would allow up to 2 pumps for this purpose.

I was particularly annoyed at the time when I was critisised for "pumping" as it was by a catamaran sailor... Cats seem to spend every tack pumping their mains to get their battens to pop (though the speed gain in such cases would be negligable anyway).

Some classes have a long top batten and that can be a reet swine to get popped. The same classes suffer from a few who apparently always need 2 or 3 or more attempts - with vigourous rolling and wafting of sail / pumping of the boom. Significant forward propulsion results - clear breach of R42 but hard to prove unless most of fleet gangs up on them - but then everyones doing it - just to different degrees.

Problem area - beer is clearly best solution.

Originally posted by gordon Doing this once would not break rule 42.2(a).

If you're not having a good day it can take two or three attempts to get the damn battens across...

Lets assume someone protested me.

Facts found (and agreed) are that I had three gos at getting the battens across, after the first two the sail returns to the same (wrong) shape it was before, but that the boat trim etc was so disturbed by this that the boat was not moving as well as it would be if it were sailing normally with the sail correctly trimmed, but some sort of vague impulse from the fan effect was discernable, if not what one would expect from a committed paddle stroke.

Edited by JimC

Originally posted by Jon711 Let's put another thought into the mix.... If I tack from starboard to port and the battens don't pop.  The sails will still technichally be set up on starboard, while the boat is on port.  What tack am I on??

See the Definitions

Leeward and Windward A boat's leeward side is the side that is or, when she is head to wind, was away from the wind. However, when sailing by the lee or directly downwind, her leeward side is the side on which her mainsail lies. The other side is her windward side. When two boats on the same tack overlap, the one on the leeward side of the other is the leeward boat. The other is the windward boat.

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

Except when sailing by the lee or directly down wind the tack a boat is on is determined by which side of her hull is away from the wind.

 

Only when sailing by the lee or directly down wind are her sails taken into account, and then the tack the boat is on is determined by the side of the boat on which her mainsail lies.

 

Note that it is the sail, not the boom that counts:  the boom may be across the centreline and the gybe may not yet be complete.  To make the call, umpires look to see when distinctly more than half the sail is across.  The sail can cross while the top batten remains inverted.

 

On the Lark when the battens don't pop, grabbing the spinnaker pole holder on the boom (or the mainsheet block) and giving a short sharp tug will sort them out.

We won't sail on the Thames or do the Merlin De May trophy seriously - it can be won without leaving the Thames - because we keep seeing pumping rewarded with a trophy rather than penalised. We have pointed it out to the race officer but the culprits were his clubmates. It's impossible to sail AND take video evidence so we haven't protested but one day ....