can someone please clarify for me when or if you have water on a comittee boats anchor chain immediately after the start, this arose after my dad was comittee boat on sat and he did something strange with the anchor which resulted in the chain being just to windward of the line. i wasnt caught up in any incidents, we started in clear air and out the way. im just wondering what i could have done.

i tried to look it up in the rule book last night but my copy seems to have temporarily gone walk about.

Mike,

My understanding is that the anchor / mooring lines form part of the 'mark of the course', and as such are treated the same way as the comittee boat itself.

There may be peeps out there who have another view.

To take the thread in a slightly different direction,  what's the penalty for hitting either end of the finish line (boat, anchor warp, or pin end buoy)? A 360 turn seems pointless if you've already finished... I'm off to the RYA site for a look-see.

It's all in the rules.

31.1 While racing, a boat shall not touch a starting mark before starting, a mark that begins, bounds or ends the leg of the course on which she is sailing, or a finishing mark after finishing.

31.2 A boat that has broken rule 31.1 may, after getting well clear of other boats as soon as possible, take a penalty by promptly making one turn including one tack and one gybe. When a boat takes the penalty after touching a finishing mark, she shall sail completely to the course side of the line before finishing. However, if a boat has gained a significant advantage in the race or series by touching the mark her penalty shall be to retire.

So you need to return to the course side, do your 360 and then finish. 

Yes, because:

Rule 18 applies when boats are about to round or pass a mark they are required to leave on the same side, or an obstruction on the same side, until they have passed it.  However, it does not apply

(a) at a starting mark surrounded by navigable water or at its anchor line from the time the boats are approaching them to start until they have passed them,

That's clear enough. You can't claim water until you have passed the committee boat, including its anchor. However if you were starting in light airs and foul current, passed the boat and then drifted backwards again, at that point the anchor chain might be an obstruction.

I'm sure the Anchor line / rope itself didn't use to be part of the mark. It certainly shouldn't be - Especially on reservoirs where when the water level drops, you occasionally have a mooring rope just submerged a few metres away from the actual mark and you can't even see it

Maybe it was just the underwater part that's not part of the mark - anyone sure on the current situation?