The Racing Rules of Sailing
Can a Coat "Unfinish"?
Red and Yellow are approaching an upwind finishing line. Red crosses the line (1).
Red turns downwind to sail back to the Club and opens a suitable beverage (2).
Yellow, close hauled on starboard tack (1 - 2), luffs to avoid Red (3) and hails “Protest!” (4).
Red immediately acknowledges her error (4), takes a Two-Turn Penalty (RRS 44.2) and crosses the finish line again (6).
After (2), Red has finished and is no longer racing. When she fouls Yellow (3) and takes her penalty, then under (a) of the Definition Finish she has now "unfinished" and Yellow's protest is not upheld.
Am I missing something? I also noted that before 2021, Red's only available penalty was to withdraw.
Red turns downwind to sail back to the Club and opens a suitable beverage (2).
Yellow, close hauled on starboard tack (1 - 2), luffs to avoid Red (3) and hails “Protest!” (4).
Red immediately acknowledges her error (4), takes a Two-Turn Penalty (RRS 44.2) and crosses the finish line again (6).
After (2), Red has finished and is no longer racing. When she fouls Yellow (3) and takes her penalty, then under (a) of the Definition Finish she has now "unfinished" and Yellow's protest is not upheld.
Am I missing something? I also noted that before 2021, Red's only available penalty was to withdraw.
Created: Today 15:55
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If the rule she breaks is only RRS 10, then she can take a RRS 44.1 penalty and cross again.
So use Case 148 to determine her racing status, then rule(s) broken, then if 44.1 is avail.
Thinking about Red loosing the boom between 1-2 and then seeing where she is at 2 with the line bisecting her hull .. at pos 2.5, Red might have just cleared the line .. and that's likely when Yellow initiated her avoidance. One might say it isn't clear that Red cleared the line until pos 2.5.
On the other hand if she's still on the finishing line (and really quick with the beer opening) when she fouls Yellow, then the rest of the story plays out as shown. She hasn't finished because the definition Finish says, "However, she has not finished if after crossing the finishing line she
(a) takes a penalty under rule 44.2, ...".
As your title suggests, that clause "unfinishes" Red. While she's sailing downwind to get well clear she's no longer racing, but when she begins to take her penalty she's racing again and has not yet finished.
That's kind of my point. Once Red clears the finishing line the first time, she no longer meets the definition of racing, but if she then sails in a circle twice (and meets the other requirements of rule 44.2) and crosses the finishing line again, then her path in total would seem to meet the definition of Finish at (6) and she can avoid retirement or disqualification.
Why isn't RRS 44.1 available to her if she broke RRS 23.1? It's a rule of Part 2, no?
Overall, I think that Red broke both RRS 10 and 23.1.
The dictionary definition for clear is:
: unhampered by restriction or limitation: such as
clear passage
staying clear of controversy
keep clear of the boundary
In the OP, the rules of Part 2 (in this case 10 and 23.1) will still apply throughout as I think there is no doubt that Red is still 'sailing in or near the racing area' and she has 'been racing'. As Rob points out, the two-turn penalty is only available to boats that are racing and so the determination of whether or not she has 'cleared the finishing line' is the critical point. If she has not cleared the line, then she breaks rule 10 and can take a two-turn penalty and finish a second time. If she has cleared the line then she breaks rule 23.1 and her only option is to retire.
Using the last point of certainty principle, you would assume that she has not cleared the line until you are certain she has cleared the line. In this case, I would fall on the side of 'has not cleared', that she breaks rule 10 and not rule 23.1, and take her finish as the one after she did the turns.
I am not sure that Case 148 is all that helpful here as it doesn't give any criteria for what it means to be 'clear of the finishing line'.
The notion of 'unfinishing' is very similar to the notion of 'unbreaking' rule 16 when a boat breaks rule 16 by altering course and not giving a boat the room to keep clear but then continuing to alter course to give that room. It is the recognition that there is a time element to some of our rules.
I like the concept of "unbreaking rule 16" in the situation you describe.
In this case, it seems to me that allowing the boat to "unfinish", take a Two-Turn Penalty, and not have to retire or be disqualified fulfills many purposes of rule 44:
1. Proportionality. The punishment fits the crime. The farther away from the finishing line where Red breaks a rule of Part 2 (rules 10, 23.1, or both), the more severe will be her penalty in the extra time and distance that she has to sail in order to cross the finishing line again.
2. Basic Principle - Sportsmanship and the Rules. A boat that realizes that she has infringed a rule can make amends.
3. Self-Policing. No need for the Protest Committee to convene.
It seems to me that with the current definition of "Finish", if a boat breaks a rule of Part 2 in the racing area, it's a good thing if she can take a rule 44 penalty and not be forced to retire or be disqualified.
John