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Hitting the Mark

msc1212

Member II
Last Sunday during our weekly around the bouys race I came dangerously close to touching the windward mark on the first leg. As we passed it I stood on the deck looking over the side to make sure we cleared it, which we did. The boat never touched the mark. However, we were healed over and letting out our genoa as we rounded and the foot of the sail brushed the top of the bouy. At the time the foot was hanging three feet out from the boat. Does this contact constitute an infraction. No one else saw the sail touch and not being clear about this rule I ignored it. These are friendly races and rules are often over looked but this one bothers me. Could someone please explain the rule to me. Thanks.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The Sail is connected to your boat, so yes, you did indeed touch the mark. "Been there, done that" (and re-rounded).
:esad:

We race in a lot of current on our river and sometimes the mark will come right into (!) you if you lose some momentum while trying to round...
:rolleyes:

Loren

ps: you might want to flesh out your empty bio and tell us what boat model and where you sail...
 
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treilley

Sustaining Partner
I agree with Loren. No part of your boat can touch the mark. You crew is considered part of your boat so pushing the mark away with a foot is also a touch.
 
You've gotten the "word." Touching the mark is an absolute, like being pregnant. A woman is either pregnant or she is not. There are no varying shades of gray.
The RRS are a good read. People have made entire careers out of interpreting them, however. To make things more complicated, every several years, they are modified to make them fairer or clearer--or none of the above.
Several sailmakers put out rules quizzes. They, too, are worth reading. Better to try to understand the rules in the comfort of your den than out on the race course, where a million other things are happening at the same time.
I am a writer, and several years ago I was doing a story about one of this country's better-known learn-to-race schools. It's Florida based, as am I. There were three students on a boat. One instructor. I had been racing for 25 years at the time I went through the course. On the second day, when I was first offered a chance to steer the boat, we did a series of three races. There were three boats competing, all identical. In the second race, I asked the other two students if they wanted to try a port tack start. They said it was okay for them. So we set up for a port tack start. The other two boats were starting on starboard, which meant they had the right of way. It's natural to be a little late for the start, and I hoped the other two boats would be. They were. It was close, though. We nailed them at the start and as we went by the buoy at the committee boat end, we hit the buoy's anchor line with our keel, but we never touched the buoy.
"That's a foul," said the instructor.
"No, it's not," I replied. We continued racing and won the race, the only time our boat ever won a race. The next morning, one of the officials of the sailing school showed up and told me I was "off the boat."
It is always good to know the rules. Sometimes it is not so good to know the rules better than your instructor.
Oddly, four years later, when I was in the sailing school's general location, on another matter, I stopped in and talked to one of the instructors, an older guy who was all bluster and BS. He didn't know the RRS of sailing any better than the sprout who had said, "That's a foul." And this was after I had written and published a story which included the hitting-the-mark's-anchor-line scenario.
Learn the RRS. Trust yourself. Often times the opinions you get on what can be complicated conundrums are worth just what you pay for them.
Morgan Stinemetz
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
You'd be off of my boat too, Morgan, and wrongly so because I totally did not know that a mark's anchor line is not considered part of the mark.

http://www.racingrules.org/guide/guide05.htm
(bottom of the page)

Of course, every time I've hit a buoy's anchor line I've snared it and hit the buoy too, so practically speaking it's a moot point from my experience.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
http://www.racingrules.org/guide/guide05.htm
(bottom of the page)

Of course, every time I've hit a buoy's anchor line I've snared it and hit the buoy too, so practically speaking it's a moot point from my experience.

Good point, and anywhere you race in current, whether on a river like us or in a tidal current, this can happen. Over the decades we have caught several boats with our anchor line when we were the RC boat. Their rudder would catch and then ride right into our bow... Took a while to get them loose, too. It's kind a "catch and release" program! ;)
Early on our club had to invent a way to keep boats from snagging the mark anchor lines -- using a heavy weight about 6' under the mark to act as a Kellet and keep that portion of the anchor line vertical.

Trivia: for a near-indestructable race mark, use the large (approx 3.5 foot dia) teardrop-shape red/orange fenders!

Cheers,
Loren
 

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msc1212

Member II
Rats. Not knowing the rules absolutely, I thought I was clear. Thanks for the clarification.

Michael
 

steven

Sustaining Member
do anchor lines to racing marks (other than the starting line) qualify as obstructions?
 

Chris Miller

Sustaining Member
do anchor lines to racing marks (other than the starting line) qualify as obstructions?

I don't believe so, but if you're that close to the mark you should have inside rights anyway. Outside boats need to give you enough room to round in a seaman like fasion. If you've put yourself inside the circle with no rights- that's a good lesson to learn.
Also might be worth suggesting (along with buying them a beer) to the RC to put a counter weight on the rode.
 
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