Forum: The Racing Rules of Sailing
When to switch between Rule 42.1 and 42.2
Al Sargent
Nationality: United States
0
A question based on a recent on-the-water incident:
A Laser (ILCA 7, or full rig) was racing downwind in a major regatta with on-the-water umpires looking for Rule 42 violations. The conditions featured winds of 20-25 knots with large ocean swells. The sailor, an experienced Laser sailor who's won heavy air regattas (not me!) was trimming his sail to balance his boat's helm and heel in order to prevent a capsize, as is standard procedure in these conditions. He was not trying to surf but simply to keep the boat upright.
In these conditions, the Laser was moving at about 11 to 14 knots, faster than the waves. So, the sailor wasn't trying to initiate surfing but rather keeping his boat balanced so as to punch over the wave ahead and "land" on the next trough perfectly level so as not to capsize. For what it's worth, multiple sailors dropped out of this race due to the high winds.
At one point, when an umpire was close, this sailor pulled his sail in to keep from capsizing to windward, then eased to prevent his boat from capsizing to leeward, then pulled his sail in again to keep from capsizing to windward. This was done over the course of a few seconds in response to the exact wave pattern he was in.
As a result of this in-out-in mainsheet action, the umpire penalized this sailor under Rule 42.2.a: "pumping: repeated fanning of any sail either by pulling in AND releasing the sail or by vertical or athwartship body movement."
Why doesn't Rule 42.1 apply here, given that a "crew may adjust the trim of sails and hull, and perform other acts of seamanship"? We can assume that seamanship includes "not capsizing", right? Rule 42.1 states that a crew "shall not otherwise move their bodies to propel the boat," -- but as mentioned, the boat was going faster than the waves, so nothing had to be done to initiate surfing.
Put another way: when is the frequent trimming of a mainsheet to be interpreted as "fanning of a sail" (subject to 42.2.a) or "performing acts of seamanship" (allowed under 42.1)? Is it a function of how easily a boat can overtake waves?
A Laser (ILCA 7, or full rig) was racing downwind in a major regatta with on-the-water umpires looking for Rule 42 violations. The conditions featured winds of 20-25 knots with large ocean swells. The sailor, an experienced Laser sailor who's won heavy air regattas (not me!) was trimming his sail to balance his boat's helm and heel in order to prevent a capsize, as is standard procedure in these conditions. He was not trying to surf but simply to keep the boat upright.
In these conditions, the Laser was moving at about 11 to 14 knots, faster than the waves. So, the sailor wasn't trying to initiate surfing but rather keeping his boat balanced so as to punch over the wave ahead and "land" on the next trough perfectly level so as not to capsize. For what it's worth, multiple sailors dropped out of this race due to the high winds.
At one point, when an umpire was close, this sailor pulled his sail in to keep from capsizing to windward, then eased to prevent his boat from capsizing to leeward, then pulled his sail in again to keep from capsizing to windward. This was done over the course of a few seconds in response to the exact wave pattern he was in.
As a result of this in-out-in mainsheet action, the umpire penalized this sailor under Rule 42.2.a: "pumping: repeated fanning of any sail either by pulling in AND releasing the sail or by vertical or athwartship body movement."
Why doesn't Rule 42.1 apply here, given that a "crew may adjust the trim of sails and hull, and perform other acts of seamanship"? We can assume that seamanship includes "not capsizing", right? Rule 42.1 states that a crew "shall not otherwise move their bodies to propel the boat," -- but as mentioned, the boat was going faster than the waves, so nothing had to be done to initiate surfing.
Put another way: when is the frequent trimming of a mainsheet to be interpreted as "fanning of a sail" (subject to 42.2.a) or "performing acts of seamanship" (allowed under 42.1)? Is it a function of how easily a boat can overtake waves?
Comments
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I’m unsure how much dinghy experience is required to be an umpire.
However, it may be more profitable to ascertain the definition of fanning ( though qualified by moving in and out) as you may consider in that amount of wind, it is not possible to "Fan" under a dictionary definition.
Also, note the latter part of the interpretation regarding wind and waves.
Always a possibility of a bad call. We do our best to avoid them but it can happen, as someone said it is subjective and the Judge may not have seen or interpreted it in the same way.
Thus, there is an attempt here to come up with a more objective measure. For example, in a high-school regatta in light air, competitors were told that if a judge sees you jibe three times in quick succession, you will get called for a rule 42 violation. I heard many of the kids interpret it to mean "two is OK." In reality, you can violate the rule with fewer than three jibes, and you can require three for legitimate reasons.
In this case, I think the judge was focusing on the sailor being allowed one pump to accelerate onto a wave. Based on your description of conditions, it's unlikely that the sheeting/releasing was used to propel the boat (not allowed with limited exception) but rather to control the boat (which is always allowed).
With the usual caveats that I wasn't there, it sounds like this was not the right call.
In certain conditions, it's difficult to judge and draw a line between 42.2 infractions and assertive boat handling to survive. Having dinghy racing experience can only be of benefit to a judge in making better calls, particularly if they have raced the class being judged. On the other hand, skippers need to appreciate the judges' difficulties and limit attracting attention to themselves. Certain classes, where some natural handling techniques are invariably at the "yellow" borderline may want to adopt the Finn class' approach and turn off R42 issues (class rule C.1.1) after a defined wind speed (10 knots).
Michael:
Good point, it's not a question of "switching"; 42.1 and 42.2 are both in effect. That's not good phrasing on my part. As you mention, in 20-25 knots of true wind, there's really not much fanning going on in a Laser. It's about load-balancing for the exact wind/wave circumstances of a particular instant.
Anthony:
Good point about intent. 42.3 contains phrases like "to facilitate steering", "to exaggerate the folling", "to initiate surfing" -- all of which describe intent. It's unfortunate there's not a specific 42.3 paragraph that addresses "to prevent capsizing".
So, we have to assume that "not capsizing" falls under the category of "other acts of seamanship". Does anyone here disagree with not capsizing is an act of seamanship?
Tim:
Yes, having dinghy experience in high winds and big waves would give an umpire a visceral experience of how hard it is to keep a boat upright. This is especially true for Lasers; we have a downwind technique called "Arrive Alive", which sums up the situation in 20+ knots. Perhaps in the Laser class we can do more to recruit on-the-water umpires...
I was thinking about quoting the Finn rule Tim mentioned above, having PRO for Finns and sailed one a bit. Pumping the main is often used to stabilize the boat. In winds over 10 knots, the pumping is assumed not to contribute much to the speed of the boat. It's being done to control it.
I've done some OTW 42 work and consider myself basically competent but not expert. That said a few other comments:
Rule 42 on the water is usually done by observers, not umpires. Observers are usually judges (and often also certified umpires) but to my knowledge it's not a requirement. I think there's a US Sailing requirement for some R42 experience to certify as a National Judge but nothing for Club or Regional level. And I think US Sailing is looking at phasing out that requirement but instituting some kind of additional endorsement for R42.
Dinghy experience is highly valuable in being a good R42 observer. At the very least it's good to have an athlete who has experience in the class being observed to brief the observer team on what common violations look like and where they occur. A really good athlete will also point out what "yellow light" behaviors a really accomplished sailor is likely to incorporate in their technique - the best sailors will be pushing the envelope. In the scenario in the OP I expect an experienced ILCA sailor would tell the team that pumping on the downwind in those conditions is highly unlikely, probably they're just survival trimming.
If a R42 observer lacks experience and isn't sure, it seems more likely that they will not make a call when a rule is being broken, less likely that they would give a penalty incorrectly. At least that's my own experience.
If a competitor doesn't understand why they got penalized on 42, they should seek out the observer who flagged them after the race and ask for an explanation. The explanation should include which specific interpretation led to the penalty and what specific actions the observer saw that led them to apply the interpretation and penalize (and if the observer can't provide an explanation at that level they probably shouldn't flag).