200216

So should you protest. My opinion is Yes you should if you believe you where 100% in the right ...

Two boats have an incident on the water, both think there right and neither is prepare to do a penalty as both think they are in the right.

Yes take it to protest, that's why the systems there. (As race officer i would prefer you sorted it out on the water because general one party is not going to be happy with my findings)

So be prepared, if you are asking a 3rd party to decide your outcome, it will not be in one parties favor.

I have lost and may protests as i have won and i went into each one thinking i was right.

Sometime the official system can take hours. Many associations have tried multiply systems to try and speed it up at contests but it still takes away from sailing time.

Our club, TRSC created has created our own simplified system to take the 100's of rules down to 10 and help speed up the protest system so we can get on with sailing.

(if you going to race in regional events you should brush up on all the other rules too, but our 10 simplified rules will get you through most of it )

https://sites.google.com/site/tgarsc/simplified-club-day-sailing-rules

For me after sailing if I have been in a incident, I search around to learn what happened and which way the rules change as the incident unfolded.

What would the outcome have been on both systems, especially the fully racing rules as this is what i will use at regional contests.

Last week I overheard to sailors saying the Starboard boat had to tack at the top mark and sail his proper course ..

I went home and checked this website which i really like - Play the Rules - http://game.finckh.net/situat/tit_gbr/luvb_e.htm

You answer red or blue boat and it will tell you if your right or wrong and list all the rules on the screen as the whole incident unfolds.

The rules can change rapidly in milliseconds from being in the right to being in the wrong.

The below example shows a red "10" on the screen which shows the current Rule (or Rules) in Play.

With a detailed answer below and maybe a link or Two to a Case Studies of the findings of other protest.

So Blue did not have to tack.

However there are at least two sailors out there will think blue has to tack, so what happens when I meet them one day at this top mark and I am Blue?

Please keep that in might that Starboard roundings are messy, and we regularly do in Club sailing to get the best windward beat.

As a race officer at regional event I try not to have a Starboard Rounding as these rules make for a big mess at the top mark rounding..

Yesterday at club sailing we had a protest on a port rounding while tacking.

The incident was a starboard rounding but the port rounding example is the closest i could find

So red was not over laped at the 4 boat lenght circle, so see how blue boat started in the right with rules 12, 11 and 18.2(b,c) going for them

In a micro second blue lost everything as she changed course threw a tack.

Once blue sails are set and she will be the Starboard boat and she will be the right away boat again.

Things change so fast.

So under our TRSC simplified club rules how does this play out. Port always gives way to Starboard at the windward mark

However if overlapped the outside boat must give the inside boat room. (While giving way to any Starboard boats in the above diagram)

Note our Simplified system does not specify say how far out overlap starts at the windward mark, so please start giving the inside boat room from a long way before the mark to avoid last second collisions,

and both boats need to comunicate how they are going to avoid any Starboard boats too.

And finially a boat tacking must always keep clear and give the other boat time to react once tack completed.

So yes, by all means Protest.

But please keep it positive and upbeat

So we can all keep learning

and most importantly,

So we are all having fun on the water

And all go home happy

Graham

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse