Sailing the course.

I was the race officer concerned and wish to reply to the various contributors . The fault is with the wording of Rule 28.1 in that it states that "... she may leave on either side a mark that does not begin ,bound or end the leg SHE IS SAILING " (NB not SHOULD be sailing ). There is no doubt that the boats concerned were consciously sailing from the spreader mark to mark 3 ( read the report on the phantom web-site ) and hence mark 3 becomes the mark at the end of the leg the boat is sailing and in order to correct their mistake the boats would have had to unwind from mark 3 . I have written to the RYA suggesting that SHE IS SAILING is replaced by " she is required to sail by the sailing instructions " and that a similar change should be made to the touching a mark rule .

As to communicating with the errant competitors I believe that just aa a competitor should communicate promptly with one who is to be protested so should the PRO .

My submission to the RYA is too long for this forum but it has been vetted by a barrister and the legal logic is sound . If anyone is interested in the full version e-mail me at a.chaplin700@gmail.com

Originally posted by merlingrey I was the race officer concerned and wish to reply to the various contributors . The fault is with the wording of Rule 28.1 in that it states that "... she may leave on either side a mark that does not begin ,bound or end the leg SHE IS SAILING " (NB not SHOULD be sailing ). There is no doubt that the boats concerned were consciously sailing from the spreader mark to mark 3 ( read the report on the phantom web-site ) and hence mark 3 becomes the mark at the end of the leg the boat is sailing and in order to correct their mistake the boats would have had to unwind from mark 3 . I have written to the RYA suggesting that SHE IS SAILING is replaced by " she is required to sail by the sailing instructions " and that a similar change should be made to the touching a mark rule . As to communicating with the errant competitors I believe that just aa a competitor should communicate promptly with one who is to be protested so should the PRO . My submission to the RYA is too long for this forum but it has been vetted by a barrister and the legal logic is sound . If anyone is interested in the full version e-mail me at a.chaplin700@gmail.com

 

Fortunately we apply the logic of the racing rules, in which any word not defined by the rules is used in it's dictionary definition not the tortuous logic of the legal profession.

It doesn't matter what the sailors are thinking, once they have rounded a mark they are on an leg to the next required mark. They may take any roundabout route they wish

The sound signal when crossing the finish line is mere convention and has no meaning in the racing rules. Giving a hoot does not signify that boat will not be penalised or protested by the RC. Personally I think this needlessly occupies on of the committee boat crew.


A case can be made out for giving a loud signal when the leading boat finishes as this sets the countdown rolling for the time limit after first boat.

A hoot, or a bell in the case of Whitefriars for all but the winner, is a polite way of telling a sailor that he can go in for lunch now, or that he can cease working so hard, or whatever. Just an acknowlegement that he exists as a competitor, really. Silence will cause more work for the RO, as people come over to find out if they were OCS, or something, or just to ask "have I finished?".