During a race, the wind died out
almost entirely, leaving part of the fleet floundering at the leeward
mark in 2 knots of current moving down the course.
With very little momentum, our boat tacked to
give way to a starboard tack boat. In the
course of the tack, we lost all momentum—no headway, no helm—and the
current pushed us back into the starboard boat’s path.
The starboard boat changed course to avoid us,
and we acknowledged a penalty under Rule 10. (By
the time we finally got our boat back, we had fouled yet another boat,
and drifted down onto the mark—a whopping 1800 degrees worth of
turns!!!!!)
I hope that, at the
end of the season, you win the Sportsmanship Award. I've heard of
people incurring 1800 degrees' worth of turns but never of anyone
actually doing them!
We ultimately withdrew from that
race. And who can blame
you!! Enough is enough! Racing is supposed to be fun
after all.
At the end of the day, another
competitor asked me why we had withdrawn. I
explained that I was having a hard time sailing a straight line for
fifty feet, let alone sailing five circles! He
suggested that I may not have violated any rules at all—that the moment
we lost headway and helm, I could be considered an obstacle on the
course (I certainly was that!!!!), and that the other boats were
therefore responsible for avoiding me. I
can’t see anything in the RRS that suggest this. What’s
your opinion? The Rule that
I think your friend is thinking of, is Rule 23:
23
Capsized, Anchored or Aground; Rescuing If
possible, a boat shall avoid a boat that is
capsized or has not regained control after capsizing, is anchored or
aground, or is trying to help a person or vessel in danger. A boat is
capsized when her masthead is in the water.
A boat that is drifting or has lost steerage
(except while recovering from the capsize mentioned above) is clearly
not covered by this. So you were, strictly speaking, required to do
turns. However, the Rules no longer require a protest if there is
contact, and in fact, unless the other boat clearly and immediately
yells "Protest" (and flies a flag, if 6 metres plus), you are not
obligated to do anything. Like you, I am proud to say that no one has
to tell me to do my turns, weaseling out is just not an option, but in
your case, when the boats have lost steeraage way, you might apologize
for the foul and ask the other boat: "Shall I do my turns?" Generally,
sailors are good sports and will tell you to forget it, it was
unavoidable - especially if you made sure you did not push the other
boat backwards in fending off. And I for one, figure it is perfectly OK
to accept such a generous gesture from a fellow competitor (or two!)
The one-turn penalty for hitting the mark (rule 44), you are stuck
with,
however, regardless of the fact that there was nothing you could do.
The Rules definitely require that!
Sorry
if I've gone on too long - it's now 12:45 a.m. EST in Oakville, just
west of Toronto. It's been lengthy - but fun for me, since I always
like to examine the Rules and how they apply to interesting situations.
Best regards, Uncle Al.