I would be interested to hear views on this topic.
At the start of a race for a large number of competitive dinghies the boats are approaching the start line. When the starting signal is made no boat is OCS but very many of them are very close to the line perhaps only inches away. A boat that was late leaving the shore is sailing down wind under spinnaker in an attempt to get to the start on time. When the starting signal is made the late starter is about 300 meters upwind of the start line. Should the RO make a second sound signal and display flag X ?
There seem to be two schools of thought on this. One school takes the view that as rule 29.1 states "the race committee shall......" there is no discretion and an individual recall should be signalled. The other view is that the late boat knows full well that they have not started and an individual recall may cause some of the legitimate starters to return,
It seems to me that there is a balance between the rights of the late starter not knowing when they have started correctly and the legitimate starters who may not be aware of the late boat thinking that as at least one boat is over they had better go back. Given that the whole purpose of signalling OCS is to give information to the competitors that they can use I think my view is that not signalling would give the best and fairest result but I am sure that other views are available.
"H"?. Th rule is for the line and its extensions. I was taught that the starting line extends around the earth until in runs back into itself. ie. the line is a straight line continuation from both the starting marks. A boat outboard and forward if the line is OCS, but not in an "H".
1. Is 300 meters up the course "In the racing area"? I think yes.
2. Is the OCS boat "intending to race"? I think yes.
3. If the OCS boat is not in the racing area and not intending to race, how did you determine this?
The primary function fo the RC is to ensure fair racing, The RC might know the late starter is coming to the line, but will the lead boat know it? If the first over the line mistakes the OCS call as being for him and returns to restart, he could seek redress. A good PRO responds using common sense. I PROd a race where an entire fleet started, all crossing the line within seconds of each other-and I later noticed the class flag had never been taken down-no one noticed-no harm no foul. In another similar instance, two skippers stopped and looked at me quisically poinitng to the still raised class flag-in the second case I recalled the fleet and re-started. Common sense and fairness.
As a judge, I heard a redress in which a boat started a full minute early-when the prep came down.
All sounds and flags were correclty displayed.
The RC assumed he was not racing. He was first over the finish line and when advised the RC contended he was not racing, claimed redress based on failure of the RC to call him OCS at the start. (Not sure if they recorded him OCS or DNC).
Redress was denied based on the finding that the vessel could not prove that her position resulted from "no fault of her own" or that the RC "committed an improper act or omission."
Michael Butterfield - A5 permits a race committee to score a boat DNS if she does not start. No hearing is required. However, the appropriate score in this case would be OCS if in fact the boat did not sail completely to the pre-start side of the line or its or one of its extensions and complied with rule 30.1 if it applied.
1st Commandment of Race Management - Thou Shalt Not Confuse the Competitors.
By displaying X with one sound, you are "casting the net" and you will affect the fairness of the race by instilling doubt in those boats that were close, yet started correctly.
By not displaying X with one sound, you may end up in a redress hearing, in which the requestor will be asked, "Did you know you were on the course side of the starting line at the starting signal?" As soon as they answer "Yes" the hearing is essentially over.
From Case 31:
I would not signal Xray but monitor the boat until it starts correctly or turns upwind. In the latter case, file a protest. The odds that the OCS boat will receive redress are almost zero.