The Zone.

Originally posted by JimC Like a lot of these angels dancing on a pin questions I suspect the answer is simpler than its portrayed. The only time the inside boat doesn't get mark room is if one boat was clear ahead when she reached the zone. Yes, the zone magically expands when the longer boat overtakes the shorter boat. But so what. The boats are overlapped. The shorter boat reached the zone when the longer boat got closer to the mark.

I think you're uncharacteristically counting angels mate, but I don't mind having a go.
Yes, I was being a bit sloppy. The zone doesn't change when one overtakes the other, it changes when one is closer to the mark than the other, but it matters not, they are overlapped, and the rules don't distinguish between overlapped A slightly ahead and overlapped B slightly ahead anyway.

So when does a boat reach the zone? Now, I submit that there is no definition of reaching the zone, the definitions states a boat is in the zone or not, and she's in the zone when any part of her hull is in it.



So, in the L diagram the zone is the blue circle. No boat is in the zone, so no boat has reached it. In the R diagram a second later the orange zone applies, both boats are in the zone, so both boats have reached it. So that's the point at which clear ahead, clear astern applies. They reached the zone when the zone expanded.

If you really want to dance on pins, if you consider boats gybing downwind that must gybe to make the mark, then it is possible to imagine blue being clear ahead and entitles to mark room when orange becomes closer to the mark and the boats have reached the newly expanded zone.



But really, its not any different from any other situation where a boat clear ahead is further from the mark. The fact that the zone expanded doesn't seem to me to change anything.

Actually the more complicated situation, it seems to me, is if the shorter boat becomes nearer to the mark, and the zone contracts such that neither boat is in the zone. But in practice that's still pin dancing, because if the boats are overlapped there isn't a problem, and if they are not overlapped there probably still isn't a problem, and in any case there's always 18.2.e

Edited by JimC - 12 Jan 20 at 10:49am

Reminded me of an incident some years ago on Lake Garda, Oppi race going on, when a fleet of performance sail boats steamed through middle of Oppi race. Vaguely recall performance boats were German.

Originally posted by Sam.Spoons Just a related thought, new rules next year and somebody mentioned that they had seen a reference to changing the overlap/finishing requirement to be hull only rather than, as at present, hull and appendages. I haven't come across anything like it but does anybody know if there is going to be a change?

So it does appear they are going to change the 'overlap' def to hull only. Should discourage assy boats from barging in at a leeward mark