INTRODUCTION TO SAILBOAT RACING

A beautiful site with perfect video's! Done by US Sailing
All the basic rules explained. You can even take a test to see how well you know them.
Have a look at http://www.sailingcourse.com/racing_rules.htm.

FORMS (2)

Today another pair of forms for your PC or Laptop. These are two templates of the protest-form in Word (doc) format. PCtemplate 1 is the front and PCtemplate 2 is the back side of a standard protest form, with pre-arranged fields for all blank spaces. If you are able to bring a lap top to the protest room, one of the panel members can use this form to write all relevant information directly into the form, during the hearing.
Big advantage is that after the hearing is finished, you'll have a printable protest-outcome which can be handed over to the competitor if he or she asks for it (in writing RRS 65.2).
Also added a sheet with boat pictures which can be placed into that word document. This protest diagram kit was made by Angelo Buscemi. He explains how to use it on the first pages. Not only boats are provided but also pages with different places on the race course, i.e. starting line or leeward mark. A finished diagram looks like this:


To be as perfect as this, might take a couple of hours practice, but the result is impressive. By click-and-hold on the handles of each boat you can easely change even the size!

APPENDIX M

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROTEST COMMITTEES. With Further Advisory Notes from the RYA Racing Rules Committee
Excerpt:
When it is possible that a party may not know a member of the protest committee, introduce and name the protest committee members (including yourself) when asking for objections. At regattas with many hearings before the same protest committee, type the name of each member in 24 pt across the middle of a piece of paper and fold and tape it into a ‘toblerone’ shape to put as a name-plate in front of each protest committee member. It will speed the introductions. If a protest committee member is a Regional, National or International Judge, you might add the initials RJ, NJ or IJ to the name. While only the parties are entitled to be present, it is good policy to agree to requests from others to observe, on the understanding that they can say nothing, that they sit behind (and so out of eye contact with) the parties, and that they cannot then be called as witnesses. When a protest involves children, the presence of a parent as observer is desirable, if only so that the parent can appreciate that the procedure was correct and any penalty was appropriate on the facts found.

This piece goes trough Appendix M with commentary from the RYA Racing Rules Committee.
Very usefull information. You can find the complete piece under FILES.

E-mail test

This is a test message send from E-mail directly to my blog to see if it’s published and how. I’ll even attach a small picture to see if it’s picked up.
If this works I’ll be able to send from anywhere, even from my phone!

AC 33

If you want to read the court decision about the 33th AC, have look at: www.ggyc.org/071127_CourtDecision.pdf
The entire decision from the Judge is online at the Golden Gate Yacht Club site.
I keep thinking, any International Jury panel would have done it in a lot less time and with a 10th of the fuss and paperwork, to decide what: "having for its annual regatta on the sea or arm of the sea" means.. But what do I know.....

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MONSOON CUP

Today - November 28th - the world match tour final match race event is starting in Pulau Duyong, Terengganu, Malaysia. This event will decide the winner for 2007. They have a nice website for the MONSOON CUP.

It’s only a pity the information on the rules, how match racing is done and the video's are a couple of years out of date. I've spotted several crucial mistakes... Hopefully the event umpires are better up to speed. Have a look at the videos and see if you can find what is wrong with them.

FORMS / FORMULIEREN

I've added a new list to the blog site where I'll store the different forms in use for protest work.
First of course the "standard" protest forms you can print. Please remember that - unless it's specifically written into the SI - any paper handed in to the protest-desk is to be considered a protest, as long as it complies with RRS 61.2. Validity is never determined by the person sitting at that desk, always by the protest committee/jury. Even papers handed in hours after end of protest time, should not be refused, there might be a valid reason why the form was handed in so late. Also, once a form is handed in, a party cannot withdraw a protest, without the permission of the committee.

Een nieuwe lijst op de blog site. Daar komen de verschillende formulieren die in gebruik zijn voor protest werk.
Als eerste een standaard protestformulier voor afdrukken. Onthoud echter dat elk als zodanig beschreven papier - tenzij specifiek omschreven in de wedstrijdbepalingen - als een protest moet worden aangenomen, zo lang het voldoet aan de voorwaarden uit RvW 61.2. Geldigheid mag nooit bepaald worden door de persoon die het protest aanneemt, altijd door het protest comité/jury. Zelfs wanneer het formulier uren na het einde van de protesttijd wordt ingeleverd, mag het niet worden geweigerd. Er kan een geldige reden zijn waarom het zo laat werd ingeleverd. Ook, wanneer een formulier is ingeleverd, mag een partij het niet terugtrekken, zonder toestemming van het protest comité/jury.

RULES QUIZ (2)

Interactive and in 3 levels of difficulty. Most of you will have found this site by now.
For all new sailors and judges, you can study the rules by answering Uli Finckh's Rulesquiz

TRUTH IN THE PROTESTROOM (2)

At our annual sailing event in 2007 we had a very strange protest - a sailor came up to me on the fourth day claiming he was not aware that he had been involved in a protest and could I tell him why he was given a DSQ. This on itself is not very strange, as many protest are done under rule 63.3(b) After studying the papers I told him what the committee had found as fact and their decision. The sailor was very surprised because he wasn't involved in the hearing. On the protest form however his boat was represented by such and so. How was this possible?
After I asked the panel chairman to join us, we quickly came to the conclusion that someone else had pretended to represent his boat. Further investigation revealed that this person wasn't even a competitor but a total bystander. There was even a witness claiming to have sailed on the same boat!
After a lot of discussion in the jury morning meeting, we decided to
ask around if we could find the culprits. No luck.
We investigated the rest of the week without success.

What do you think?
If the presence of the true representative was not unavoidable and
there was no reason to reopen on those grounds, do you think the panel should?
Or should the committee find that they may have made a mistake (RRS 66) and reopen the protest on those grounds?

Give me your opinion. We asked our national Appeal Board for the answers. I'll publish them in a couple of days.

Continued in this post

SHIP SHAPE AND BRISTOL FASHION

The Port Of Bristol was once famous for importing tobacco, sherry, chocolate and .....slaves. Slave ships smelled and could bring disease. They were not allowed into port until they were cleaned and made tidy (tides are predictable and ordered). Before entering Bristol, slave ships were rigorously inspected so as to be ship shape and Bristol fashion. Even once tied up at the quay, sailors would not be allowed ashore until the vessel had slewed her yards, swinging them inboard so as not to obstruct passing ships and quayside buildings. No cock up crew was allowed ashore until each had cleared his yardarm to a neatly braced order.

In Portsmouth, floozies would come aboard naval vessels to aid ship morale. Shore leave was often forbidden for fear that pressed men (landlubbers who were forced into service by press gangs) would desert. Each morning the petty officer would shout for the occupants of hammocks to show a leg. If the leg was smooth and shapely, the lady was allowed to sleep in; if the leg was hairy, the officer turned out the hammock for the sailor to swab the deck. Hammocks were not really suited to the activities of these ladies and most preferred to work in the spaces between the guns. The gun decks also offered convenient spaces (with suitable rings) for child-birth. Children born on the gun decks could never be certain of their father and were entered in the Deck Log as son of a gun. The gun deck and the four deck rings for each canon were also useful for tying men to be flogged over a barrel. Sailors referred to this predicament as being married to the gunner's daughter, from which there was no respite.

The text above is from a piece I found somewhere on the www when I started studying for international exams.
Not only does it explain what things mean, but it gives you also some insight in where a particular word originated from. (see under FILES: Glossary of Sailing Terms)

Other sites with explanations and glossary:
http://www.sailinglinks.com/glossary.htm
http://terrax.org/index.aspx
http://www.sailingahead.com/information/glossary.htm

TEMPLATE

When I started out as a draftsman - I work at an architectural firm - we used to draw on boards with big rulers with pencils and rötring pens. You know, those wriggly building plans. On that board we also used a lot of templates for lettering and fixed symbols. I had a bag full of those in my cabinet.
Nowadays we draw only on the computer. Chasing a pointer on a 22 inch screen all day long. In the picture you'll find a credit card sized template for drawing protest diagrams. Complete with different sizes of boats, wind- and current direction arrow, marks and scales for circles. This one I haven't used yet, as I just bought it, but am eager to try out. Perhaps I'm a bit nostalgic?

Update: You can buy this template from John Doerr (download a page with his Retail Items here)
Update: 2011/02/25 No longer available (Link removed)

HOLLAND REGATTA NIEUWSBRIEF

Kreeg vandaag in de mijn mailbox de eerste "Holland" Regatta Nieuwsbrief.
Blijkt dat Breitling al na één jaar afscheid heeft genomen van het evenement. Ben benieuwd hoe de Regatta volgend jaar gaat heten.... Oh, in 2008 is het evenement vanaf woensdag 21 tot en zondag 25 mei.

COLOURED WINDWARD MARKS (2)

In New Zealand they can do one better! Not satisfied with 3 windward marks they use 4 in the New Zealand Match Racing Championship. Click on the picture to read the relevant SI.

ISAF (1)

Learned a new abbreviation tonight. "NAIU" which stands for: "Newly Appointed International Umpire". ISAF informed me in a mail today that the grouping criteria are based on performance when acting as an International Umpire. NAIUs have not acted as IUs yet, and therefore the grouping criteria cannot be applied. For that reason I'm "ungroupable" until November next year.

IU's are grouped in one of three categories: group 1, group 2 and ungrouped. There's a short paragraph in the Umpire's manual about this grouping:
"The grouping system divides international umpires into groups that reflect their competence in top-level match racing events. The system was introduced to facilitate the process of selecting appropriate umpire teams for the events that ISAF appoints umpires to (listed in regulation 18.12) and to provide a basis for developing individual international umpires."

Hopefully the ISAF can get me a place into a Grade 1 event next year, but it they are now in the last stage of the appointments, so no guarantees.....

RULES QUIZ

One of the best rules quizzes I've seen on my Internet travels can be found HERE. Done by UK Halsey Sailmakers. They update the quiz regularly with new situations. The trick of course is, to first write out your own facts, before looking at the answers.
Very good animations!


Als je een Nederlandse site wilt bezoeken die ook met geanimeerde plaatjes werkt, kijk dan naar de site van Henk Plaatje. Elke maand een nieuwe test en uitleg over nog veel meer, ook BPR.

TRUTH IN THE PROTEST ROOM

I'm currently trying to find out more about body-language as a means to determine if someone is telling the truth in the protest room. I found a page with a few pointers

Most of us use unconsciously the signals someone sends trough his/her body to tell if we trust or like a person. If he or she tells the story what happened on the water we credit not only the words, but also the way they are expressed. At least I know I do.

And all a protest committee has to do, when told two different stories about an incident, is to decide who to believe and who not. There’s no burden of proof.

In a lecture I gave to a group of national judges recently, we had a heated discussion about this. Some in the group were very adamant that this should not be a factor in believing what was said, while others used body-language as a means to pick up on a lie.

I'll try to find out more and will get back to it in this blog - perhaps even talk to someone who does interviewing or interrogation as a profession.

COLOURED WINDWARD MARKS (1)

At the Ladies Only Match Race 2007 in Hamburg, where I was participating as an umpire some weeks back, the Race Management tried something new.
On lake Alster, in the centre of the City, they have a lot of wind shifts. The saying at the Hamburg Sailing Club is: "When someone opens a window in one of the hotels along the shore, the direction of the wind will change"

To be able react quickly to each shift they laid out 3 top marks in different colours. (green, red and yellow). Together with the preparatory-signal a coloured flag was shown indicating which mark for that match, was to be rounded. They could change for each match without any time loss. The mark boat could even change the position of a mark without waiting, just by only towing the one which was not in use for that particular match. And a RC-boat could indicate a change of top mark at the gate, if needed.

The only disadvantage we experienced was that the sailors had something extra to remember. And of course sometimes they didn't and rounded the wrong one. But overall the sailors were very positive. Time loss between flights was less and no races had to be abandoned because of shifts.

I’ve seen systems with two top marks but never with three. Maybe something to consider for your next match race?

UPDATE: in this post

SPEED & SMARTS

Speed & Smarts is a newsletter by David Dellenbaugh for racing sailors.
Many useful how-to tips to race faster and smarter. From tactics to rules, from reading the course to rounding marks. You can subscribe to the magazine or read some of the articles on-line. Very good, also for race officials.

VRIJ BLIJVEN

De definitie uit de Regels voor Wedstrijdzeilen
Veel gehoorde uitspraken in de protestkamer:

• “ Ik heb de andere boot toch niet geraakt?”
  
• “ Hij hoefde niet af te vallen, ik kon er makkelijk voor langs”
  
• “ Zijn punt kwam aan lij zo dicht langszij, dat ik niks meer kon doen”
  
• “ Als ik had opgeloefd was ik te vroeg over de lijn geweest”
  

Deze uitspraken hebben allen te maken met het begrip vrij blijven uit de Regels voor Wedstrijdzeilen. Blijkbaar zijn er over deze definitie nog veel misverstanden. Eerst maar eens de letterlijke tekst uit het regelboekje:

Vrij blijven: Een boot blijft vrij van een andere als de andere zijn koers kan zeilen zonder de noodzaak van uitwijkende handelingen en, wanneer de boten over dezelfde boeg een overlap hebben, als de lijwaartse boot in beide richtingen van koers kan veranderen zonder onmiddellijk in aanraking te komen met de loefwaartse boot.

In elke verhouding tussen twee boten is er één die voorrang heeft en één die vrij moet blijven. (Ik laat de beperkingen uit regels 14 t/m 18 even buiten beschouwing)
De definitie is geschreven vanuit het standpunt van de boot met voorrang. Deze moet kunnen zeilen bijna alsof de andere boot er niet was. Het eerste recht van de voorrangsboot zit in “zonder noodzaak van uitwijkende handelingen”.
Op het moment dat de boot met voorrang het gevoel krijgt “dit gaat niet goed- ik moet iets doen” is de noodzaak om ontwijkend te handelen al bijna aanwezig. Een paar seconden daarna zal de boot met voorrang al handelen. Hij voelt de noodzaak. Op dat moment is de andere boot volgens de regels NIET vrij gebleven en overtreedt hij daarmee al één van de vier voorrangsregels. Zolang die noodzaak er niet is blijft de andere boot vrij. Natuurlijk zal niet elke stuurman die noodzaak op hetzelfde moment ervaren. De een heeft nu eenmaal een betere “boothandeling” dan de ander. Toch is de regel geschreven met – het voordeel van de twijfel naar de boot met voorrang. In een SB-BB protest moet de BB boot aantonen dat die noodzaak er absoluut niet was. Als daar twijfel over is, zal de SB-boot het protest winnen.

Aanvullend daarop heeft de boot met voorrang nog een voorrecht. Bij twee boten die een overlap hebben en die vlak naast elkaar zeilen zal de lijwaartse boot nu niet direct de noodzaak voelen om ontwijkend te handelen. Hij is immers niet direct in gevaar om geraakt te worden. Daarom is in de definitie ook opgenomen dat hij moet kunnen sturen – naar loef en naar lij – zonder onmiddellijk in aanraking te komen met de andere boot. Anders zou door de nabijheid van de andere boot, de lijboot als het ware gedwongen worden rechtdoor te varen en dat is een beperking die niet past bij een boot die voorrang heeft.

Weersomstandigheden, boottype en alle andere omgevingsfactoren zullen invloed hebben op de afstand die boten onderling houden. In een zeerace met hoge golven is dat anders dan tussen twee J22’s op de Braassem. De definitie is juist geschreven zodat daarmee rekening gehouden kan worden. Als de definitie was geschreven met een bepaalde afstand – bijvoorbeeld een halve scheepslengte – zou dat in veel gevallen als teveel en in andere gevallen als te weinig ervaren worden.

Als boten elkaar raken heeft de boot die moest vrij blijven al een regel overtreden VOORDAT er contact was. Hij is daarvoor al niet “vrij gebleven”.

Protest Conclusion & Decision Wordings

In the Jury room we all struggle with getting the protest done quickly. But we do want the writing to be accurate and clear. Jörn Richter and Pat Healy started a file a couple of years back, with "standard" wordings, you can use for writing conclusions and decisions, based on the Racing Rules for Sailing. I've added to this and made a Dutch translation, so has Eric Mehlbaum. Adriaan Bauder has made a German translation in the beginning of 2007.
The file can be downloaded HERE (version 5)

Example conclusion:
Rule 17.1: X established a leeward overlap from clear astern within two lengths of Y and while remaining overlapped, sailed above her proper course without passing astern.
Rule 17.2: X, not on a beat to windward and within two lengths to windward of Y, steering a course to leeward, sailed below her proper course and did not gybe.

If you have improvements or can make a translation please contact me and I will publish the "upgraded" version.

Bewoordingen voor Protest Conclusies en Beslissingen
In de Protestkamer willen we allemaal het protest snel afhandelen. Maar we willen ook dat de feiten, conclusie en beslissing accuraat en helder op papier komen te staan. Jorn Richter en Pat Healy zijn een aantal jaren geleden begonnen om voor de conclusies en beslissingen standaard bewoordingen uit de regels voor wedstrijdzeilen te verzamelen. Ik heb toevoegingen en een Nederlandse vertaling gemaakt samen met Eric Mehlbaum. Adriaan Bauder heeft begin dit jaar (2007) een Duitse vertaling opgesteld.
Het bestand kun je HIER ophalen. (versie 5)

Voorbeeld conclusies:
Regel 17.1: X verkreeg een lijwaartse overlap vanaf vrij achter, binnen twee romplengtes van Y en, terwijl de overlap bleef bestaan, zeilde boven haar juiste koers zonder achter Y langs te passeren
Regel 17.2: X, niet op een kruisrak en binnen twee romplengtes van een lijwaarts sturende boot Y, zeilde beneden haar juiste koers zonder te gijpen

Als je verbeteringen hebt of een vertaling neem dan contact op met mij, dan zorg ik voor de publicatie van de "upgraded" versie.

KWS Regelcursus 13/11/2007

Voor all deelnemers aan de KWS Regelcursus 2007-2008
Hierbij mijn lijstje met de samenvatting van de Protestprocedure:

Richtlijn Protestbehandeling

• partijen op de hoogte? (mededelingen)
  
• kopies aanwezig?
  
• alle partijen aanwezig? Anders RvW63.3(b)
  
• bezwaar tegen een van leden?
  
• VASTSTELLEN GELDIGHEID:
• Voldoende gegevens op form? [RvW61.2 of 62.1]
  
• Op tijd ingediend? Zo niet goede reden? [RvW61.3 of 62.2]
• Was protesteerder betrokken bij incident? [RvW60.1(a)]
  
• Protest geroepen en vlag gezet? [61.1(a)]
  
• protesteerder op de hoogte gebracht? [63.5]
  
• JA: ga door; NEEN: ongeldig verklaren
  
• verhoor: eerst protesteerder dan de tegenpartij [63.6]
  
• gelegenheid elkaar vragen te stellen
  
• daarna vragen van protestcomiteleden
  
• zekerheid in verhalen voordat getuige(n) worden oproepen
  
• beslissing over het horen van getuige is aan partijen
  
• andere relevante verklaringen
  
• slotverklaring
  
• stel feiten vast / maak een tekening [63.6]
  
• bepaal regels die zijn overtreden en conclusie
  
• baseer beslissing op vastgestelde feiten [RvW64]
  
• breng partijen op de hoogte van feiten en beslissing [65]
  

Print bovenstaande lijstje en plak het achter in je Regelboekje, dan heb je altijd de procedure bij de hand.

FIRST POST

This First Post is the text from my "old" website; If you want to visit use this linkSome of the files I've also included in the files-list (upper right). The rest is still available on the old site.
Update: 18/12/07; Don't visit unless you want to be directed back again.
There's nothing there anymore, I've "cleaned out the closet" so to speak.

RACING RULES OF SAILING; STUDY MATERIAL
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04/05/07
Removed some files (part of) on the request of the author.
I hope to receive some alternatives.

22/09/06
It has been some time, but I’ve received some feedback from “students” which has prompting me to do something about the site.
A Turkish Judge wanted to know the answers to the Test-Questions in my posting from 09/12/05 (see just below).
I’ve put them in a small file which can be found (removed)
Remember, these are my “best guesses”, there is no definitive answer given…

Good luck to all students for the upcoming seminar in Belgium..
JMS

09/12/05
I’ve scanned a couple examination TEST questions from 2004:
1. Test-Questions as they are used on a seminar (pdf-file)
2. Two more questions in the same style (doc) with my answers

01/12/05
In the last couple of years I’ve studied the rules intensively, firstly to become a better judge, but also to pass the International Judges examination. The ISAF judges seminars are great but the candidate who wants to pass, needs to have his or her homework done beforehand.
One of the factors which make the examination particularly difficult is the language-barrier, for al those who don’t speak English as a mother tongue. So being able to read test questions and understanding quickly what is asked and what is not, is an essential skill, because there is not enough time to reread. And the examination time is two and a half hours….
I’ve suggested in the evaluation after my seminar (in October 2004) that the ISAF should make available some “practice- questions” for candidates who want to attend, by publishing them on the ISAF-site. But until now nothing materialized. It’s difficult to make good questions for the examinations and always there are not enough, but still.

I’ve made a shortlist of files I’ve gathered in the years and making them available to anybody with access to the Internet. I’m also planning to scan my seminar papers and publishing those as well.


At the moment these files are available:
RRS 2005-2008; Official Rules from the ISAF (link)

1. PowerPoint presentation Rule 18 Workshop; a new approach (ppt-file)
2. How well do you know the new 2005-2008 racing rules of sailing, by David Dellenbaugh (word-doc or link)
3. US Sailing Judges Workshop study questions (pdf-file)
4. RRS2005 compared to RRS 2001, all the changes highlighted if you make revisions visible (word-doc)
5. Glossary of Sailing Terms (htm-page)
6. 100 ISAF Study questions (word doc)

Also a list of links to useful or interesting sites:

1. A very good interactive rules Quiz, by UK-Halsey Sailmakers (link)
2. Yacht racing Site with useful info including a glossary of sailing terms (link)
3. 2005-08 RRS Rules Quizzes - Test your knowledge and understanding of the 2005-08 Racing Rules of Sailing with these Rules Quizzes. No.1 - Answer
4. All about Team racing rules with PowerPoint presentations (link)

I try to work on this list at least once a week, so please check back now and then. And if you are preparing for the IJ-examination try to contact the other candidates and start a study-group. It was a great help in my preparations. I’ve passed the exam and ISAF approved my application in November 2005. And don’t hesitate to E-mail if you have questions.

All files have been found searching the Internet, have been submitted by the authors, or have been written by myself. If someone does not agree on the use of his or her material on this site, please send an E-mail to rrs-study@home.nl and I will promptly remove the file.

Good luck in your studies,
Jos
____________________________________________________________________
In case you are wondering why there are 'older' posts then this FIRST POST, the explanation is simple: I parked some permanent pages with information or link-lists before this one. You can mostly reach them with a link on the home page. Or they are TEST posts, to be used as archive or backup. Sometimes it is easier to copy - paste from a post, with the HTML-code already written, then start again from scratch.....

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