Inner Distance Mark

At a recent Tuesday Evening Race off Cowes I encountered an unusual racing situation and would be interested in everyone's views on the rule situation.

The start line for the race was set up for an upwind start with a strong bias (it's actually a fixed line) so it was impossible to cross the start line on starboard.  Boats were also heading into a very strong tide (pushing them away from the start line) so a boat approaching the line on starboard would be swept away from the line.  A boat approaching the line on port would be able to cross the line but still be plugging against the tide.

In these circumstances a number of competitors attempt a dip start.  They position their boats upwind and uptide of the start line (on course side) on starboard tack (position 1 below).  The idea is to be swept by the tide back down to the start line and to arrive at the inner distance mark as the gun goes.  If timed perfectly a boat arriving at the inner distance mark on starboard will have right of way over the fleet coming in on port (position 2 below).  They then tack onto port on the gun and win the start.  Obviously they have to ensure that they dip back under the line just before the gun.


Normally, the Inner Distance Mark is positioned just below the start line and a dip starting boat that arrives early is severely punished.  If they dip below the Inner Distance Mark they have to find a way to get back to the start line amongst the pack of port tackers.  If they tack and cross the line they are OCS.

My question relates to a slightly unusual twist on this dip start scenario.  Last Tuesday the inner distance mark was set a long way below the start line (determined by a transit on the sailing club masts).  The boat attempting the dip start was early and arrived at the inner distance mark with 10 seconds to go.  However, as there was a gap between the inner distance mark and the line they were able to escape the situation as shown below.  At position 1 they started their run in from above the line.  They reached position (2) with 10 seconds to go and normally they would have had to either duck under the inner distance mark (putting them behind the pack on port tack for the start) or tack back across the line (putting them OCS for the start).  However, the distance between the Inner Distance Mark and the line allowed the boat to continue their transit and dip under the line (3).



To add a final twist to this situation .... because the line is skewed and because the tide falls off rapidly inside the Inner Distance Mark the boat in question gained a huge advantage.  They were first to the windward mark by a long way.

So my question is whether on this occasion the dip starting boat started legitimately?

By the way, I'm not looking for redress - it's a friendly series and we discourage protests, however I am really curious as to how this would be heard by an official protest committee.

Many thanks.

James.

Thanks Presuming Ed

You are correct - it was the Island SC start.  We started further along the line and I had a grandstand view of the pack of port tack boats and the dip starting starboard boat.

To simplify my explanation above I left out the fact that there was interaction between the two lead Port tack boats and the dip starting Starboard tack boat.  The Port tack boats then turned back as they were OCS so the Starboard tack boat had to have been OCS at that point as well.

I do want to emphasise that my question was posted purely out of curiosity / rules fascination.  It's a friendly series and I simply thought this raised a really interesting rules question.  If anyone else who was there has a different recall of events I'd be interested to hear but please don't interpret my post as a complaint / moan in any form.  Just discussing over a virtual pint with friends who I love racing against.

The Island SC starts are unique and a lot of fun due to the line angle, strong tide and wind direction.  Five years ago nobody would have attempted this dip start but the class has become a lot more competitive now and if you win the pin end you get a huge advantage - hence a lot of us try the dip start.  Personally, I think I've made it work once in twenty attempts!

Thanks again for the explanation.

James.

Every now and then one comes across an appeal that really doesn't seem enormously helpful to promoting fairer racing... Think that's one of them!

Originally posted by alstorer make sure Distance Marks are on the line or on the course side of the line (but only just!)

Easier said than done sometimes: and consider a handicap race with Oppies and Flying Dutchmen...