Heading up to the boat, I noticed that there were some dark clouds around. I had seen some storms on the radar north of the racing area, but their movement left me some hope that we would not be affected. Upon arrival, the wind was decent from the south.
We left the harbor and immediately hoisted sail. It was a nice tight reach to the start area. From there, we went upwind and got some numbers for the race. Upon returning to the starting area, the line was changed and was perfect. Good length, boat on the starboard side, and starboard end slightly favored. With the current pushing boat towards the line, I knew that boats would be early for this start.
This proved true in the A&B divisions. The current wreaked havoc on their start. Many boats ran the line, ran out of room, and went over early. I saw a few restart, but there was no sound signal or radio hails. The question becomes this: If I am over early and the RM does not indicate anyone over early, am I clear?
Let's look into the rules involved.
28 SAILING THE COURSE
28.1 A boat shall start, leave each mark on the required side in the correct order, and finish, so that a string representing her track after starting and until finishing would when drawn taut
(a) pass each mark on the required side,
(b) touch each rounding mark, and
(c) pass between the marks of a gate from the direction of the previous mark.
She may correct any errors to comply with this rule. After finishing she need not cross the finishing line completely.
29 RECALLS
29.1 Individual Recall
When at a boat’s starting signal any part of her hull, crew or equipment is on the course side of the starting line or she must comply with rule 30.1, the race committee shall promptly display flag X with one sound. The flag shall be displayed until all such boats are completely on the pre-start side of the starting line or one of its extensions and have complied with rule 30.1 if it applies, but no later than four minutes after the starting signal or one minute before any later starting signal, whichever is earlier. If rule 30.3 applies this rule does
not.
Start A boat starts when, having been entirely on the pre-start side of the starting line at or after her starting signal, and having complied with rule 30.1 if it applies, any part of her hull, crew or equipment crosses the starting line in the direction of the first mark.
HBRA Instructions
6) Over Early: If any boat crosses the line early, ONE short blast of a horn will be sounded and the committee will hail the yacht on VHF channel 72. If the yacht does not restart, it will result in automatic disqualification.
Cases: 31, 71,79 apply. I took the liberty of extracting the most relevant answer to the appeal in case 71.
...if it were determined in a hearing that a boat knew that she had been over the line, she would have been obliged to comply with rule 28.1 and, if it applied, rule 30.1, and she would not be entitled to redress. Had she broken those rules, she would also have broken rule 2 and failed to comply with the Basic Principle, Sportsmanship and the Rules.
I will assume as fact that the RM made no sound signal and did not hail any boats on VHF. There can only be two situations to apply the rules to.
#1 If a boat was very close to the line and could not determine if they were over early, then the procedural error by the RM would entitle them to redress and basically, they would be given a pass.
#2 If a boat knows that they were on the course side of the line at the start, then they should be scored as DSQ if they do not restart.
It is important to keep in mind that sailing is a self-policing sport. Too often, boats will foul and not accept a penalty unless protested. This is wrong. If you make a mistake, it is a responsibility of the boat to take the appropriate penalty or in this case, the appropriate action to sail the course properly. To do otherwise is breaking the rules, plain and simple.
SPORTSMANSHIP AND THE RULES
Competitors in the sport of sailing are governed by a body of rules that they are expected to follow and enforce. A fundamental principle of sportsmanship is that when competitors break a rule they will promptly take a penalty, which may be to retire.
Given the troubles in the first start, we decided to stay downwind of the start line by a wide margin. We thought that the boats in our division will not change their setups much and this will force them to be early and approach the line from an angle where they need to sail down to the line. As the time neared, we were leeward boat heading to the boat end with good timing. There was one barging boat that got in the way, otherwise it was a good start.
Off the line we were a little slow. I was trying to stay high and make sure the competition was in a position we could control. We rounded the windward mark with a couple of boats on our heels. Since the downwind leg was against the current and the breeze was getting lighter, the fleet compressed. By the time we reached the finish, the other boats were right on our heels. It almost came down to the wire. Another 1/2 mile of downwind sailing and we would have been caught.
After the race, we sailed around for a bit and enjoyed the nice weather. It was even nicer when the Devils scored three goals while we were sailing. After the race I took a picture of the new competition in C, Merlin.
Here is a shot of the sunset. It was a great night.
Going to add you to my google reader, awsome stuff. Keep it up and u have a loyal reader.
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