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Yachting Australia Corporate Partner
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Yachting Australia
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Judges News
Distributed by the National Judges’ Sub-Committee of Yachting Australia ’s Race Officials’ Committee
26th issue – September 2006
Our MYA RRCs get lots of requests from sailors or others in their region for guidance on rules questions or to assist with resolving some other rules matters. It is good to find even those racing traditional large double-outrigger canoes still wish to race under the rules. Some judges may have already seen this interesting one received by YWA, which read:
“May we seek some help from the Association pertaining to the racing rules and regulations in this incident so that a decision can be made by the Association of Sport on Cocos (Keeling)
“After turning several buoys the two jukongs 1st and 2nd went to the finishing line, before they touched the finishing line about 5 to 10 metres outside the finishing line the two jukong met the 1st jukong from the left and the 2nd jukong from the right (1st jukong faced south and the 2nd jukong faced east). The 2nd jukong from the right directed full to the line, however the 1st jukong when to the south direction and tackle or turn to face the finishing line when the 2nd jukong was met to avoid from the accident.
The 2nd jukong drifted outside the finishing line and 1st jukong got inside the finishing line.”
The assistance requested by Cocos was happily and satisfactorily given. How would you have answered it? If you wish to test yourself you will need to know there was a rough sketch indicating the finishing line ran in a north-south direction and the wind was from the south-west. It must have been a downwind finish with the 2nd boat heading direct to the line from the west but the 1st boat, for some reason, coming from the north.
Here is a couple more incidents taken from our Regatta Reports
BLACK FLAG
In a black flag start one boat was forced across the line early by another boat which was breaking a rule (no damage). The boat knew she was now in the triangle in the first minute so believing she was now BFD (DSQ without a hearing) she just sailed home. She requested redress quoting Case 65 which says “When a boat knows she has broken the Black Flag rule, she is obliged to retire promptly”, but there was nothing the PC could do.
No doubt the Case 65 wording comes from the Basic Principle “when competitors break a rule they will promptly take a penalty, which may be to retire”, but surely both the Principle and the Case need to be qualified by “except where the boat believes she may be exonerated under rule 64.1(b)”
It seems a number of competitors believe that if you break 30.3 you cannot sail in the race, but the prohibition on sailing in the race only applies only when all 3 of a set of conditions exists.
The proper and sensible thing for this boat to have done would have been to protest the second boat, return back behind the line then sail the race and hope that she would be exonerated under rule 64.1(b) for breaking rule 30.3. This boat had not started correctly or sailed the course, and the other boat breaking a rule was not the cause of her failure to start and sail the course, so even if she had protested and been exonerated for breaking rule 30.3, if she had not returned the exoneration for breaking 30.3 would have done her no good.
A boat’s task of knowing she was over early and then returning would be made even more difficult by the last sentence of rule 30.3 – the RC has no need to display a recall signal.
MOVING MARKS
Six redress hearings for moving marks while boats were approaching.
What can we say?
NATIONAL JUDGE SEMINAR
Another reminder of the National Judge Seminar planned for
