Summer 2008 - United States Snipe Sailing

Rules Quiz
Last month we presented a pair of rules
quizzes having to do with windward mark
rounding situations. Here is a third one,
involving a boat that tacks inside another,
with room to lay the mark...
Within one hull length of a windward
mark to be left to port, boat P (on port
tack) tacks to a close-hauled course
to leeward of boat S (on starboard
tack). As P’s bow approaches the mark, S remains
close-hauled and hails to P, “You have no rights!”
As S bears away to round the mark, she forces P
to bear away into the mark to avoid hitting her. P
immediately gets clear of the other boats, hailing
“Protest!” and flying a red flag as she does, and
does one turn that includes a tack and a gybe. S
sails on. After the race, P files a protest against
S for failing to keep clear of her. You are on the
protest committee; how would you decide this?
Answer:
Boat S is penalized under rule 11, On the Same
Tack, Overlapped. As P approaches S on the
opposite tack, P is required to keep clear under rule
10, On Opposite Tacks. Once P is on a close-hauled
course, she becomes the right-of-way boat (as the
P2
S1
leeward boat), and is required by rule 15, Acquiring
Right of Way, to initially give S room to keep clear
of her.
When P completes her tack within two lengths
of the mark, rule 18.3(a) requires that she not
cause S to sail above close-hauled to avoid her or
P1
prevent S from passing the mark. She did neither; therefore she did not break rule 18.3(a). Once P is on a close-hauled
course and overlapped to leeward of S, S (as the windward boat) becomes requred to keep clear of her under rule 11. By
bearing away toward P and causing P to take action to avoid her, S breaks rule 11.
P chooses to take a penalty for touching the mark. This, however, does not remove her right to also protest S. Based
on the facts, S breaks rule 11 and is penalized. The fact that P did a circle cannot be undone. However, had P not done a
circle, she would be exonerated by the protest committee for breaking rule 31.1, Touching A Mark, under rule 64.1(b),
Penalties And Exoneration.
Answers are based on The Racing Rules of Sailing 2005–2008. Dave Perry’s 100 Best Racing Rules Quizzes is published by the United States Sailing Association
(US SAILING) — 1 (800) 877-2451 or www.ussailing.org
20 www.snipeus.org
P3
S3
Wind
S2