Saturday, May 20, 2006

Racing Rules Question

Interesting situation that arose while I was doing race committee for our Wednesday night Sunfish fleet this week ...

You win the race, clear the finish line and start heading back downwind for the start of the next race. Then you see that you are heading straight at a couple of boats still racing. They don't need to change course to avoid you, but you do sail within a couple of boatlengths to windward of them so you certainly affected their wind.

Have you broken any racing rule? If so, what should you do about it?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rule 22.1 If reasonably possible a boat not racing shall not interfere with a boat that is racing. You have interfered with the other boats through your wind shadow. However, without knowing the water you are on, how could I answer if it were reasonably possible for you to have avoided this?

Anonymous said...

Not sure about the specifics, but I remember quite distinctly getting a DSQ from a champiuonship Opti regatta many years ago down in Florida after I, and a slew of other boats, headed back down to the start area after finishing. We did not interfere with the wind of finishing boats, but we were disqualified anyways. That stunk, and I have always been pretty paranoid about not doing that ever since. Another time, also racing Optis, this time up in Hamilton Ontario, two brothers (who I shall not name here) went back over the line to team race a friend of mine from Detroit so that one of the brothers would have a better chance of winning the regatta. It was truly an unbelievably low class move, and the brothers almost got booted from USYRU as a result. I felt that they should have been booted...having raced against those two for a number of years at a high level, I had felt that way before that incident.

Anonymous said...

Buy them a beer when you all get back to shore. That would be the moral thing to do!

Tillerman said...

To answer agraham's question - it certainly was "reasonably possible" to avoid interfering with the other boats.

Fuff said...

No. However, if staying out of their way risks spilling your drink,don't bother.You can always find an excuse at a protest meeting.

Mummified said...

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Tim Coleman said...

I had one of those strange 'who has the right of way' moments the other day. I was finishing a race, close hauled on port and crossing the line but heading directly towards me and only a boat length away was another boat still racing towards the leeward mark, he also was on port tack but running before the wind.
So before I crossed the line, he was windward boat and should keep clear. But what happens as I cross the line? (I was right at one end of thefinish line so I couldn't tack).
In fact what I did was tack quickly and I just caught the end of his boom on my shroud.
I concluded that he was in the wrong anyway and should have kept clear.

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