Score 27/01 in LTW 2012 Winter Challenge

Episode 27/01 has been scored. There are a couple of late entries added.

This was an interesting exercise.
I will not post my view, because the challenge was not to find out what happened, but to see how consistent the challengers wrote. The readers of LTW can pick the one they think most came near what actually happened. As long as they are aware that finding facts out of a 43 second video is very tricky without any statements from sailors involved. That is more than obvious, after you’ve read the different facts found, the challengers came up with.

Instead of publishing the specific entries in the comments after the LTW 2012 Winter Challenge 27/01: Rolex Miami OCR 49er Crash post, I’ve copied them all in this post and commented on them as well.
That way I can add the pictures that were send in by some of the challengers.
(There are a couple of comments in the original post, but those are from non contestants and published after the deadline)

So in order to read what the Challengers send in for this episode:

Double standard?

Rule 19 deals with both “normal” obstructions and with continuing obstructions:

19.1 When Rule 19 Applies Rule 19 applies between boats at an obstruction except when it is also a mark the boats are required to leave on the same side. However, at a continuing obstruction, rule 19 always applies and rule 18 does not.

First a static picture; I’ve designated the top as situation one and the bottom as situation two.



Below the animation of the two situations with three boats sailing along a continuing obstructions end up in exactly the same situation. In both animations the boat behind the yellow boats is in trouble – she has to dump speed to avoid contact. But in both situations she’s not keeping clear under rule 12.

Yellow protests in position 5: Who do you penalize in situation one and who in situation two?
My answers after the break.

Sunday Rules Snap: Venn Diagram

Some time ago Google search turned up this diagram:

It is a visual representation of the Racing Rules, concentrated around rule 18, 19 & 20
Each circle represents a specific 'obstacle' a boat can come across on a race course and the relation it has to that boat. For instance another boat (blue), an obstruction (light green), overlapped becoming a boat that is also an obstruction (dark blue).

I came across this in Scuttlebutt (http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/11/0225/) and mailed to the one who send it in. Alas, I never received a reply, so I'm using it as if it is in the public domain.

Want to know more about Venn Diagrams: go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_diagram
I'm working on a Venn Diagram for rules 10, 11, 12 & 13, but haven't found one that is accurate enough. Perhaps some of you can have a go?


I've returned home after a uneventful flight from Dublin to Amsterdam. Looking forward in sleeping in my own bed. Tomorrow I have an Appeals Committee meeting.....and then (Tuesday) travel to Trapani.
J.

Ready for AC 34 and Extreme Sailing?

NEW KIT!

Are you ready for the future?
This question is for all PC and Jury members. Next year in the room you will be asked about the leeward and windward hull, the turning circle of a cat and - where did you park your umpire boat?

Are you ready for that?

You can be!
You will be ready with this brand new magnetic boat set.

With no less then eight (8!) catamarans, two umpire boats, five marks, a Race Committee boat and wind and current indicators. All packed in a sturdy box for transportation.
The box is big enough to house your regular mono-hull boats as well.

Specially made for easy use on a magnetic board with true to scale mainsail.

Those of you who want this tool kit please contact edmcewan ed googlemail dot com for details on price and postage.
Get them now.
Be ready.

PS: There are also several other multi-hull classes sailing today!

AC 33 | Rules and explanations – part 4

There have been a lot of comments on the match winning move of USA-17 in the second match. The tactician on the boat (John Kostecki) called a perfect lay-line according to helmsman (James Spithill) and that, together with his skill as match racer, cumulated in USA being able to round the mark first. Lets have a look at the rules involved in this situation and what SUI could have done. Or could she?

In the drawings SUI is the yellow boat and USA the blue boat. I regret I cannot draw a trimaran, but as both boats are almost the same dimension, it should be more or less to scale, nevertheless.

This is what happened (as far as I can reconstruct from videos):

Picture: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross.png
GIF- Animation: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross.gif
Boat Scenario file: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross.xbs

Position one
SUI to windward and a little in front; USA to leeward approaching on the lay-line.
SUI is keep clear boat either under rule 12 or 11

Position two to three
USA tacks from Starboard to Port a couple of boat lengths above the lay line. SUI continues.
USA is now keep clear boat under rule 10


Position three to four
Boats are four or five lengths apart. SUI is crossing USA.
USA bears away slightly to gain speed and to discourage SUI to go for a dial-down.
USA is still keep clear boat but SUI must give her room to do this IF she changes course, which she does not.

Position four
SUI has crossed in front of USA and starts to luff to go into a tack above the lay-line
USA has full speed and keeps clear.


Position five
While SUI is slowing in her tack, USA passes to leeward of her and luffs to her higher course to fetch the mark.USA becomes right of way boat initially by SUI tacking (rule 13) then as leeward boat (rule 11) en then as clear ahead boat (rule 12)

Position six, seven to eight (a little later)
SUI has completed her tack and is gaining speed. She's slightly to windward but clear astern of USA
USA gained five or six boat lengths in the stretch to the mark and enters the (4 hull-lengths) zone clear ahead of SUI. She's now not only right of way boat but also entitled to mark-room



What could SUI have done to prevent USA from gaining the upper hand?

Put yourself on the big Alinghi 5 Catamaran and convince Brad Butterworth and Ernesto Bertarelli what to do:

Option 1:
Between position two and three you could have gone for a dail-down. A risky move, because by changing course you are subject to rule 16 and have to give USA room to keep clear, but perhaps it can be done.
You have to set this up, knowing boat-speed and manoeuvrability of the other boat as well as your own. Since this was only the second time these boats raced (against each-other), I would not blame you if you have serious doubts about having that knowledge.
Best outcome of this move would be, to be able to force USA back into a tack. Then you would be able to sail on to a position where you wanted and tack first to go to the mark.

But even if the second best thing happened - that is USA being able to bear away quickly enough to keep clear of you - there would have been a big chance that USA could no longer fetch the mark. As soon as the cross was done, go into a tack and gain the upper windward position (making sure you fetch the mark yourself.). If USA must tack again (and again) to round the mark you will be long gone and in front.
If USA is able to fetch the mark, you are no worse off. You needed to give him mark-room and now you will have to do that also. At least you are still close by.

Picture: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross Dial down.png
GIF- Animation: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross Dial down.gif
Boat Scenario file: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross Dail down.xbs


Option 2:
Tack below USA.
You want to try to get a lee-bow position. There are two drawbacks: Tacking that low would mean that you do it barely on the lay-line, perhaps you are even not yet on the lay-line. With that shifty wind and still 2 miles to go, you might not fetch the mark. And secondly there's a big chance that USA - with her superior speed - simply would pass to windward and roll you.

Picture: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross Lee-bow.png
GIF- Animation: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross Lee-bow.gif
Boat Scenario file: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross Lee-bow.xbs



Option 3:
To tack in front of USA. Now this move is even more riskier. The distance between the boats and the fact that - like in all cats - tacking takes an eFFing long time, would make it highly likely that while your are tacking (and are keep clear boat under rule 13) USA would have to take avoiding action. And even if you manage to complete your tack - i.e. turn your catamaran on a new close hauled course - then rule 15 would kick in and you would have to give USA initially room to keep clear. No doubt a Yankee flag from USA would follow and for you a great risk of getting penalized. That would make this a match-losing move. Another penalty on top of the one you already had, equals loosing the match (bar acts of God)

Picture: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross Front tack.png
GIF- Animation: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross Front tack.gif
Boat Scenario file: AC33 SUI-USA M2 Layline Cross Front tack.xbs


You can be sure that all these three options have been anticipated by USA-17. JS&TK will take advantage of every possibility that you open up for them.

You choose, there's no more time.
USA is luffing to tack.....


Next time in AC 33 | Rules and explanations, reflections on the rules for Race Committees, Organizing Authority and Interested Parties. Or was it about the Bounty?

Stay tuned.
.

Update for Boats Scenario (2009-10)

News from Thibaut: The new version of Boats Scenario is released:
Go to Boats 200910 Released for download;

Hello Everyone!
After some longer time than usual a new version of Boat Scenario knocks at the door. This version brings:

• Toggle for Path display
• Flags on boats
• Bubbles to input text
• and thanks to our contributors translations for Spanish, German, Swedish and French.

The tool is available for Windows, Linux and Mac as usual.
Furthermore, you may still use your old files with this release and people can read the new files on the old versions (without the display for the new features of course).
If you think that Boat Scenario may benefit from a translation in your language, please do not hesitate to follow the procedure described in another post.

Special thanks to the following people that contributed to this release:
Tom Björkholm, JP Cordonnier, Georg Ehling, Luizo Ferrandiz, Modesto Fernandez Vasquez, and Lisandro Perez Meyer.

Enjoy sailing!

.

Links on Monday: Boats and VOR Request for Redress

Just to let you know I've returned from Denmark yesterday - were I attended Spring Cup 2009, a match race event in Middelfart - very late. I've tried to catch up with mails this evening and just have time to write a short blog post before looking for my pillow....

Thibaut send me a short mail and announced on his website developments with his diagram program "Boats": He writes: A small teaser so that you know what's cooking for next version of Boat Scenario. Next version already has:

• Tabbed view to have multiple scenarios open
• Trimmable sail angle
• optional laylines drawing
• Printing support including PDF generation of the formatted call
• Overlap lines
• and the Export of an Animated GIF

Looks very cool and the GIF is certainly very good for presentations.

Next: Tefefonica Blue seeks redress
From the official noticeboard:
Request for Redress
Boat Requesting Redress: Telefonica Azul ESP 12
Represented by: Bouwe Bekking

Telefonica Azul claims that the Race Committee and/or Organising Authority made an improper action or omission by locating the start line and 2nd passing mark of the course (mark d) in an area where at least 1 uncharted shallow area existed.
Telefonica Azul hit one such uncharted shallows that was 0.23 nm from the start mark (and 2nd passing mark) of the course, prior to the start of Leg 5. Furthermore, the Race Committee and/or Organising Authority failed to supply a port with adequate depth to allow Telefonica Azul back into the harbour. This resulted in a 3 hour delay in getting back to the marina to begin
repairs resulting from the grounding. Delays due to the grounding and the delay in returning to port resulted in Telefonica Azul starting leg 5 approximately 19 hours after the start signal.
This delay had direct impact on Telefonica Azul’s position at the New Zealand scoring gate and at the finish.
Signed: Bouwe Bekking, 29 March 2009

Remember rule 62.1? A request for redress shall be based on a claim or possibility that
- a boats score in a race has been made significantly worse,
- through NO fault of her own
- by an improper action or omission of the race committee or organizing authority

The jury will need to find answer to each of these conditions before it can award redress;
Was the 19 hours loss significantly to have influence in the scoring? Or were there perhaps other contributing factors?
If the shallow water was uncharted, how can the sailors expect that the RC could know about that? Is it the responsibility of the RC to send out a sounding-chart mapping boat of the start area? Is this an omission, for which the PC can be blamed?
Should the OA have provided harbour access with sufficient depth for returning boats ? Could that be seen as an omission?
Is hitting something under water something the sailors could have avoided? Was it close to shore and could logically be deducted that something might be there - even only a reasonable assumption?

If all these questions lead to a redress: what should that be?
For instance if the Jury award redress for 19 hours. The delta between Green Dragon (28/03/09 18:15:40) and Telefonica Blue (29/03/09 03:55:00) is 9 hours 39 minutes and 20 seconds. That would make TB 4th instead of 5th!

I'll keep you updated or you can look for news on the VOR-site.

Protest Diagram Kit | v2.0

Angelo Buscemi send me an Email with an updated version of his Protest Diagram Kit. It's a word document with pre drawn boats, marks, zones and sunder, which can be used to create diagrams on protest situations. I've posted about his efforts in this post: Forms (2)

In his mail he writes: No major changes – I just added a three boat length zone and updated the instructions for those who use Microsoft Word 2007.

Angelo gives permission to freely use and distribute this file, in conjunction with volunteer efforts to support and promote sailing and sail boat racing. Thanks Angelo.

Here's the download link: Protest Diagram Kit v2.docx
And a Word 97-2003 version: Protest Diagram Kit v2.doc

Picture this | 2

Returning to last weeks post where I asked to draw a picture of the facts stated, Brass send me this mail:

I deduce that the bank is on the boats' port side, because if it was to starboard and K became overlapped between the bank and R on Port tack, then R would not be able to luff into K.

Have I got that right?
I think that that sort of context information, which takes 'a thousand words' is what diagrams are really useful for.


My only question then is: When K became overlapped between R and the bank, was there room for K to pass between R and the obstruction?
If Yes, R (Right of Way boat, RRS 11) was obliged to give K room to pass between R and the obstruction (RRS 18.5), and R was obliged to give K room to keep clear when R changed course (taking into account the closeness of the obstruction). K ended up in the mud, indicating that she did not have room to keep clear, there was contact, indicating that R did not give room to keep clear and that it was not reasonably possible for K to avoid contact. There was damage, so R is not protected from RRS 14. R breaks RRS 16.1, 18.5 and 14. DSQ R.
K breaks RRS 11 but K is compelled to break the rule by R failing to give her room. Exonerate K.

If No, when K becomes overlapped inside R, as well as being obliged to keep clear by RRS 11, K is also obliged to keep clear under RRS 18.5. HOWEVER, R is obliged to give K room when R changes course (RRS 16.1) (taking into account the closeness of the obstruction) and to avoid contact (RRS 14). K breaks RRS 11, and 18.5. DSQ K. R breaks RRS 16.1 and 14, DSQ R.

Brass

In the list of facts I stated there where two missing:
One was found by Brass in his answer. The space between the shore and K at the moment R established an overlap.
The other is: What was the distance between the boats when R got the overlap.
If that was too close, R broke rule 15 and K may be exonerated for 16.1

According to the diagram drawn we have to go with Brass' first set of conclusions.

Picture this - or - how to paint a thousand words

In last weeks Look to Windward Q&A, I made an appeal to draw a diagram based on Alastairs facts.

Two people responded and one of them send me a diagram. I think the rules analysis was pretty much covered in the comments these two made, but I am disappointed in the lack of drawings I received. Surely you make diagrams in the protest room? And sailors too, you need to be able to accurately draw what the situation was?

Here's the one Brass send me, made by TSS:


He started by drawing out the information given in the case and quickly discovered that he needed some additional information.
- How far from A was B when B became overlapped to leeward?
- At what point did B cease to change course towards the wind?
- Between when B became overlapped to leeward and when the contact occurred what changes to course or speed did A make?

Because he made the effort to translate the facts into a diagram, these questions arose. I'm not saying that these would not have been asked without a diagram, but it makes it so much easier to find them. Facts are something that has happened, so you must be able to draw them in a picture. And the picture is not complete without all the facts.
If you train yourself in drawing a proper diagram, you will discover that finding the right questions becomes much less of a burden.

So, in order to give you another opportunity, I've made a list of facts found and ask you again to make a diagram. I'm deliberately leaving out a few, so include your questions with the drawing. I'm not going to answer them, you will have to make do with what is posted.
If you're not happy with that - go 'either or' and make two diagrams.

You can use any method you want, TSS, Word pictures or penciled and scanned. Send them to the blogs mail and I'll announce "the winner" sometime next week.
Good luck!

In a valid protest the following facts were found:

• Rainbow 200 on a broad reach on starboard tack, and Kwadraat 77 also on that reach on starboard tack sail, along a (grassland soft) shore.
• The shore makes a slight curve
  
• Virtually at the same moment both boats gybe on to a port tack.
• At the time of the gybe Kwadraat 77 is 2 meters clear ahead of Rainbow 200.
• After her gybe Kwadraat 77 leaves a gab between her stern and the shore.
• Rainbow 200 sails into that gab and calls for room to pass.
• Kwadraat 77 responds by luffing and there's contact between the boats which results in damage.
• Both boats hit the shore and get stuck.