The Racing Rules of Sailing
Hitting a mark but not rounding it
If I hit a mark, then drift off downwind, do I need to actually round the mark or just do a 360 and continue towards the next mark
Created: 26-Mar-06 12:07
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Sailing the course includes the string test which must:
- pass each mark of the course on the required side and in the correct order
- touch each mark designated as a rounding mark.
According to your description you have neither passed not rounded the mark!
You need to keep the definition of Sail the Course in mind. It says :-
Sail the Course A boat sails the course when
So you need to pass the mark on the required side. If you had touched the mark and managed to round it on the correct side, then you do your one turn penalty and move on.
wouldmight win every race!- you have to mind to not touch the mark again.
- the bigger turn radius will increase the time to complete the penalty
- according RRS 21.2 you have to keep clear of all other boats while taking the penalty. Such a breach can trigger a 2 turn penalty.
I have seen so many Optimist sailors who got into bad situations, because they wanted to turn around the mark and broke plenty of other rules meanwhile.
Hans I agree with your point. Just making the point that you could do both the penalty turn and round the mark together.
In the 1969 RRS (Rule 52) the option of (if the mark was in navigable water) of re-rounding the mark was introduced.
The 1977 RRS introduced a 360 degree penalty if the mark was not surrounded by navigable water, but retained the re-rounding requirement if it was.
The One Turn Penalty for all mark touches was introduced in the 1989 RRS.
Case 108 of WS Case Book gives examples of a boat taking the one turn penalty in case she happens to touch the mark. The diagram from the case 108 is appended below.
When looking at the 2 Grey-hulled scenarios on the right, it almost appears Grey is getting a free ride .. basically doing the penalty with little or no tactical cost. Depending upon the scenario, competing boats (AND the grey-boat themselves) should consider whether or not such a boat gained a significant advantage.
Logically, as the time impact decreases for a penalty ... the possibility of advantage increases.
For instance ... let's say for the top-right scenario ... that hitting that mark made the difference between ducking a starboard tracker and passing and rounding in front of her ... that's something to keep an eye on.
If a boat gains significant advantage by her actions, then 44.1(b) requires the boat to retire. For eg, if there is a fleet of starboard boats coming and instead of ducking and loosing a number of places, if a port tack boat tacks, touches the mark and then does her penalty and continues to sail. In such a case, there is a significant advantage to this boat. Her penalty is to retire in such a situation.
As i suspected, you NEED to ROUND the mark. This incident occured in a near drifter with some adverse tide. My crew said just do a turn but I insisted that we had to ROUND the mark. Absolute mayhem at the mark, some boats using engines to stay clear of others ( no advantage no issue ) we did eventually round it some 20 mins later after first touching it. Crew not happy - I WAS.
Again, thanks. Phil