Protest kit for Multihulls

NEW: LTW Protest kit for Multihulls

There are quite a few situations where the facts are difficult to find if you cannot picture the setting with the appropriate hull shape. With that in mind and the growing number of catamaran events I have - again in cooperation with the DMTRA- developed a Protest kit for Multihulls.

The first kits already have been ordered and sold, but I still have a few in stock and have ordered more to be produced.

This set has the same properties as the other P-kits, so again with a "cut-out" sail on both sides to change tack and a small but powerful magnet in the centre so you can use them on a magnetic whiteboard.

The Multihull set consists of: 

• three numbered blue boats (1, 2 and 3);
• three numbered yellow boats (1, 2 and 3);
• three numbered green boats (1, 2 and 3);
• three numbered red boats (1, 2 and 3);
• one Race Committee vessel in red, for starting and/or finishing vessels;
• two rubber boats in silver, for umpires and/or wing;
• three marks, in red;
• an arrow indicators in red (wind, current, tide, or whatever);
• all in a sturdy box, with room for more. (the box is padded on the bottom - if you take that out, both the multihull - and the fleet race kit fit inside this one box)

 

The production costs are a little higher than for the Fleetrace kit, because of the additional material. The factory price depends on the square area. Price for a Multihull set is €95,- (including VAT.)

(Since shipping/posting is so varied, that price is exclusive of shipping costs)
But the box fits (even with a padded envelope) in the mailbox, so it shouldn't be that expensive.
Somewhere around € 10,- depending on the weight and distance. Shipping to other continents is more expensive - around € 24,-
Paypal seems to be the easiest and most economical way to pay. transaction cost are about 3.5%to 4%

Just send me an email with your contact information and shipping address, I will quote you a total price and we can work out the details. Please use ltw-regelservice at home dot nl, and I'll get back to you ASAP.

J.

Match Racing with a Leeward Gate

Perhaps for some of you not completely new, but for a lot of sailors and umpires it still is: a new course configuration in Match Racing. Specifically, the use of a Gate instead of a single leeward mark. I myself first encountered this set-up last year, in a German National MR championship in Berlin. And this year we use it locally at the Team Heiner Spring Match Racing 2014 series in Lelystad. I like it!

When is the Alpari  WMRT going to use a Leeward Gate?

I've uploaded a couple of papers written by Dave Perry, - 4-time US Match Racing Champion, 2-time Congressional Cup winner & Chairman, US Match Racing Committee - about the subject. I agree
with his rationale and assessment one hundred percent. You can find the links at the end of the post.
He writes about:

1. The race course in match racing should provide the most opportunities for the trailing boat to pass the leading boat while still maintaining a fair test of skill.
2. A well set gate opens up the game tactically for the trailing boat, and gives them some options that can increase their chances of passing the leader
3. The race course configuration should be whatever provides for the best game for the competitors and spectators / media

And:

The leading boat has the advantage of being able to choose which gate mark to round; the trailing boat has the advantage of being able to choose to round the same mark as the leader, or not. This makes the game much more interesting for both boats, and makes rounding behind the leader much less disadvantageous.

When the trailer rounds the same mark as the leader (which they are forced to do with a single leeward mark), they have two not-great choices: stay on the same tack and sail in the disturbed air and water of the leader; or tack (often when downspeed after the rounding). The problem is usually that the leader will tack with the trailer, ending up in a very strong position to start the second beat.

With a second mark to choose from, the trailer will normally round the other mark than the leader did, starting the beat in clear air and water, and out of phase with the leader. This opens up far more tactical options for attacking and trying to pass, or stay close to, the leader.

In the German Championship last year the outcome of the Matches was never clear until at least the second upwind mark. Because of the gate the trailing boat - if not too far behind already - had a fighting chance to get back in the game. Some sailors grumbled - they had to sail that much harder to stay in front, some sailors loved it - they could get past the leading boat. The match got more exciting and not boring in the second half, as you see with a lot of matches.

Of course everybody has to figure out what the best attack and defence manoeuvres are, with a gate. But once you do, the game gets more interesting.

As an umpire I had no trouble using the rules around the gate. We had to find the best position for our rib, but that was sorted out quickly - just trail the boats going trough.

I'm uploading a video a friend made in the TH Spring Match Race. This was shot during in the semi-finals on board of an umpire boat.

The trailing boat takes the left hand gate mark and immediately gets clear air and out of sinc with the leading boat. Instead of having to follow....

Perhaps you'd like to try this in your local Match Races? In the second paper there's some advice on how to re-write your NoR and SI's to do this.

Let me know how it goes!
Next step: Windward gates?

J.




Papers by Dave Perry:
Tactics at Leeward Gates in Match Racing.pdf
Use of Gates in Match Racing.pdf

AC 34 Umpire Booth Replay: USC-USS

AC45, umpire booth displays: San Francisco 2012, August 26. Match Race between USC (Coutts) and USS (Spithill).

For those of you who are unfamiliar how umpiring is done at the America's Cup 45 -events; Umpires are stationed in a booth with a display of the boats on the water. The tracking has become quite accurate (within 2 cm) and the system displays all relevant information instantly. Starboard tack boats are green, Port tack boats are red. And when boats are overlapped the hulls are yellow.

When a boat wants to protest because they feel that another has infringed a rule, they press a button and the protest 'flag' is shown on the screen and recorded. Then the umpires - who have been following the incident as if they were on the water - take a decision and press the penalty or green flag button.

In the video you see the zone light up when the first boat enters the zone. USC is at that moment clear ahead and has mark-room. Nevertheless USS goes in and establishes an overlap after. She's not keeping clear under rule 11 and not exonerated because she has no mark-room.

When the penalty is given the boat must slow down until the penalty line has caught up. The line is initially two boat lengths behind the boat and traveling half it's speed. You can see USS luff up to loose speed until the line has caught up

There's also another boat on the screen. That is the on-the-water umpire. (On a jet-ski) He's not umpiring but 'winging'. Giving relevant information to the booth-umpires. Like if a boat is actually doing everything to keep clear, what the closest distance was or is. Things that are not deductible from the electronic display.


Pretty neat, don't you agree?

Umpire Call; Returning?

Both Blue and Yellow are over early. Due to not enough people on the starting vessel the RC is a little late in calling them back. Yellow and Blue sail back to the starting line to start. This is what happens:

In position 3 the Blue boat on Port, forces Yellow on Starboard to gybe. The boats have no contact but it is very close. Blue protests in position 4.
You are the Umpire in the green rib. (and you are alone). What is your decision?

Penalty PUMA; In-Port Race Abu Dhabi VOR 2012

Google alert kicked out this article:
http://ecomyachting.com/2012/01/15/skipper-ken-read-has-called-on-race-management-at-volvo-ocean-race/

I tried to find the incident on the television coverage of the race, but no luck. The camera was focused on other boats going trough the spectators fleet at that moment.

Let me therefore start with: THIS IS A FICTIVE REPRESENTATION of what could have happened.
By using (only) Ken Reads description of the incident in above mentioned article this is what I came up with:

I have split Telefonica into two coloured boats. Green and Blue
In position 4 the Blue boat heads up to avoid hitting the Red boat. The Green boat shows what would have happened if that same boat did not change course.
In order to be able to see accurately if the change of course was, or was not, necessary, the umpire boat has to be in a position to see the gab between the boats. The Grey umpire boat represents a possibility (one that would be used in match racing), but there are other places as well.

Again, I do not know if this is anywhere near accurate, nor know where the Umpire boat was at that precise moment. What I do know is that in Umpired fleet racing it is impossible to be at the correct place one hundred percent, all the time.  No matter how many Umps you bring on the water.

The Red boat is keep clear boat under rule 11 and after her gybe under rule 10. The Green boat must be able to sail a course with no need to take avoiding action. If the distance between Green's bow and the crossing Red boat was big enough, then Red fulfills her obligation. If it was too close...... Penalty Red.

ESS Act 8; Almeria Spain; Stadium Races

We will return to stadium racing today with - hopefully - some decent wind.
I've drawn a picture of one of the courses we have done yesterday on the Google Map of the harbour. I've added some extra boats moored along the keys and drawn a 3 BL zone to give you an idea about the scale in relation to the Extreme 40s.

The course announced from the RC was:
Start between RC-boat and Black Cylindrical Mark - Orange Port - Red Starboard - Yellow Starboard - Pass Black Conical Finish Mark to Starboard - Gate (Gate is White) - Finish between Black Conical Mark and Finish platform on shore.
Wind speed varying between 2-5 knots; Wind direction varying between South / South South West / South West. Competing boats: 11 Extreme 40s.

The first thing we as Umpires do is try to asses where the pressure point(s) will be and make sure that possible two umpire boats will be there. There are in total three umpire boats with each two umpires

Can you guess where those pressure points will be and where to station the umpire boats?

Extreme Sailing Series Europe: Day Two in Trapani

Action packed day in Trapani
Most of the calls the sailors make we can answer, but unfortunately the game is so fast and we can only be at so many places we also do miss one occasionally. The one where the camera got hit none of us saw.

Xtreme Xclusion Zone

I’m umpiring the Extreme Sailing Series in Cowes this week. With Addendum Q (like in the Medal Race) we follow the big cats and try to keep up. Sometimes it’s neigh impossible in the bumpy Solent, even at full speed in our small umpire ribs. But then we go to zone system and hope to catch all the infringements.
The biggest problem we have is not so much the rules of Part 2, but something called “the exclusion zone”.
Because of Cowes week the Solent is filled with fleets racing and they all have to pass the race area of the extreme forties to the finish. The solution the organisers and the Cowes harbour authorities have come up with, was to create a box where the extreme forties have to stay within to race and all the Cowes week’s sailors have to stay out.
Marked by orange cylindrical buoys parallel to the shore from Gurnard North Cardinal buoy, the box was to keep everybody separated.
Now add 20 knots of wind, high flying cats, a tidal current of 3 knots and lots and lots of seaweed gathering on the ground tackle.  The first day the buoys completely disappeared below the water…. No more zone.
The second day the orange cylinders where tied to bigger marks hoping that that would keep them afloat. But now the seaweed gathering on the ground tackle started to drag the marks…. fist more north and then effectively far outside any reasonable position. No more Zone again.
Hoping that this would eliminate the shifting marks, the next day the outside line was defined by the line between and extension off, two points. The race committee boat would anchor below Gurnard and those would be the two starting points.
In comes the tide and the committee boat starts swinging on its line. Changing the angle considerably. One moment a boat is sailing legally inside and the next it is outside. Not good either…..
Then there’s the speed of the boats. One look astern and deciding you are approaching the line, before you’re ready to tack, it is 3 seconds later and now you are outside.
All in all it has been an issue for the whole week and we as umpires are getting fed up with it. Sometimes because we are not able to get to the boats quick enough, sometimes because we ourselves unsure of the infringement. And because sailors have a lot of trouble complying with the rule.
Because the punishment has to fit the crime, we now accept a tack penalty as being adequate for infringing the zone.
All in all this “Xclusion Zone” defined in a Notice to Mariners (& in the SI) has been a challenge, indeed.

AC 33 | Rules and explanations – part 3

The third post in this series is about the red flag on SUI and the penalty they received in the prestart.
To explain the latter I will have to show you a diagram of the start area.  But first a few words on Match Racing.

Because of the special nature of a match race – being one on one – its is not important to finish as fast as possible, as in a fleet race, it is only important to finish first. Finish first is key, however long that may take!
Match race is about control. If you control your opponent, you can win. A controlling position is therefore paramount. In the AC 33 dogfight we see little of this because the boats are all about speed. But – yes – if you are ahead far enough, you control the race. And in Match 1 USA managed to control SUI for a couple of minutes in the prestart.
To get that control you need to engage your opponent. And that engagement begins well before the start. Now if we do anything like a conventional start as in fleet racing, the two boats in a match race will never know when to begin looking for each other to gain that control.

Therefore in match racing there’s a special procedure in the rules which allows a controlled beginning of the pre start manoeuvres. We have a sort of ‘start’ before the actual start line crossing.
To get there, each boats is assigned to a side. The Yellow side next to the RC-boat and a Blue side next to the pin end of the start line

Picture from a presentation by Henk Plaatje; http://www.plaatje.info/

 In the AC33 Match 2, SUI was assigned the Yellow boat and USA the Blue boat.

From the Rulebook:

At her preparatory signal (five minutes in AC33) each boat shall be outside the line that is at a 90 degrees angle to the starting line through the starting mark at her assigned end. …. (C4.1)

Within the two minute period following her preparatory signal, a boat shall cross and clear the starting line, the first time from the course side to the pre-start side. (C4.2)

To check that precise line the umpire boat and the wing boat each place themselves on that line, one below and one above the starting line. If a boat is anywhere else then in its “box” when the preparatory signal is given, she gets a penalty. Be it still sailing to get there or be it sailing too soon over the line to get to the other boat. Outside your box equals penalty.

In match 2 of AC 33, SUI was still sailing below the starting line towards her assigned end, when the five minute preparatory signal was given. That is the reason SUI was given a penalty. The wing boat signalled this to the umpire boat and they switched on the yellow light.

Why, you might ask? Why was SUI not there?

Remember the red flag SUI tied to a back stay halfway up the beat? Brad Butterworth declared in the subsequent press-conference, that SUI felt that there where too many spectator boats in that area. They felt that they could not safely navigate and therefore where outside. A red flag for a request for redress.

Looking at the videos specifically, you can see some spectator boats on that side, but they are at least a couple of hundred meters away from the committee boat. Plenty of room to sail there. Might it be that they were not fully prepared to race so late in the afternoon? With a start only five minutes before the official cut-off time? I can only speculate.


Fact is that earning that penalty was unnecessary. SUI should have been in her yellow box. An unforced error, which most match racers make only once. Unfortunately AC33 does not give you second chances……

If SUI had felt that a crucial factor in loosing this match was because of the penalty in the pre-start, I’m sure she would have gone trough with her request for redress. As it was, the difference in boat speed between her and USA was so big, that it was not a deciding factor. Besides, getting redress would be next to impossible.

To conclude this post I have a question for the rules-nerds among you: (Don’t blame me, blame Tillerman for introducing this wording into the AC33, I would not have dared to use it otherwise.)

WHAT IF there were too many spectator boats in Yellow box and SUI could not safely navigate there? How would you decide in the subsequent request for redress?

Next time in AC 33 | Rules en explanations: the Cross on the Port lay-line.

Stay tuned.
.

AC33 | America’s Cup Umpiring (1)

Besides the Jury, Measurers and Race Committee there’s a fourth group of ISAF officials active at the AC 33. I’m talking about the Umpires!

We all are in the dark about how these impressive sail machines will perform against each other, but imagine how difficult it must be, having to umpire them.
When these boats were first revealed to the public and it became clear how powerful and fast they would be, I predicted that there would not be any umpiring. They were just too fast to keep up with and too big to maneuver in the prestart. Boy, was I wrong…..

I’ve contacted Chief Umpire Bill Edgerton and asked him and his team to tell us something about how that is going. I prepared some questions and send them by Email. We agreed he would answer them after having umpired the first match.
Although that has not happened yet, he found the time to send me some answers. So here’s the first instalment. I’ve put Bill’s reply in light blue font.

The AC 33 Umpire Team:
Bill Edgerton (GBR), John Standley (AUS), Roger Wood (NZL), Gerard Bosse (FRA)

The NoR and SI change the RRS (including app C) in many ways. Did the umpire team have any influence on those changes? Were there any changes directly (or indirectly) done, because how the Umpires have to "operate" to umpire these matches?

There have been 4 SI or NOR changes originating from us since we started having an input on the event, one of which deleted RRS 13.2, all done with mutual consent from the teams.
None of them were done because of how we will operate, all of them relate to the type and configurations of the racing boats and course.

Did you and your team get a chance to sail on the yachts? You've been following the boats for a couple of days before and you've now umpired the first match. What can you tell us about the umpiring these AC33 boats - specifically what are the differences between these and "regular" match races.
We have not been on board the yachts when they were sailing yet, but have learnt a lot from watching them, one runs out of adjectives to describe how amazing and fast they are.

How do you communicate with the boats? Are you using a flag-system as in regular match racing or/and any other system (radio's, light-system for overlap, zone etc,) If so, can you tell us how that works? Do you have camera's on board of the rib? Do you have to broadcast to the media and explain your decisions?
There have been some procedures issued which relate to the method we will operate regarding radio communications of hails and Y or B flags and so forth, in addition to the requirements of the RRS, and other things.
We are not offering any information to the boats on radio or lights beyond a radio signal of the umpires response to a Y flag and a yellow or blue flashing light, if there is a penalty.
We don't have cameras or anything like that, time was too short to organize any technical assistance. The distances involved mean the communication to the media is by Satellite phone, we are well out of range of the mobiles. We will do media calls on a range of subjects.

What calls did you make in the first match? Can you tell us about the situations you encountered?

Are you planning to change the system now you've umpired the first match?
Will the team record and document all calls? If so, will these be published?
What strikes you as the biggest difference between AC33 and AC32 - from an umpire point of view?
Anything else you want to tell the readers of LTW?

Hopefully Bill can answer these last questions in a next mail.

Day one; waiting for a start. Which ones are the Umpire boats?
Photo from AC33 website © Pedro Armestre/AFP/ 33rd America’s Cup

Next expected posting on Thursday 11 February.

If you have a question for Bill or the others of the Umpire Team, please put them in a comment and I’ll see if I can get them answered.
For now, I wish the whole team the best of luck in the first match!

.

iShares Cup 2009 Hyeres | Third Day

The final day brought a victory to Oman Red - Masirah. They consistently were in front of the fleet or even winning races. Before the final - double points - race they were 14 points ahead of BMW-Oracle. Congratulations to Pete Cummings and his crew...

As umpires we used the same system as we did yesterday.. Three on the line behind the boats before the start, mostly watching the distances between boats windward-leeward. Then the one at the committee-end went to the right, the middle one up the beat and leftish and the third umpire also on the left side peeling off halfway to go to the windward mark.
The middle one stationed below the windward mark, calling overlaps if possible, the right one behind the boats on the layline and one umpire boat above the windward mark.
As soon as some of the boats passed the mark the middle one went down with them to go to the gate. Below the gate in the middle to see mark roundings . The right umpire came down to call overlaps if necessary...
This system worked well when we got the hang of it and knew where to go to see most of the incidents without being in the way.
I'm sure we missed things and greened incidents where an infringement occurred, but 8 out of ten calls could be answered that way.

Looking at the statistics and going over the rules, 7 out of ten penalties were for breaking rule 13.
Even with these experienced skippers and the way these big catamarans work, tacking seems to be the main issue - rules wise..

I'm going home this evening - couldn't get a flight out earlier.
iShares cup will go to Cowes and to Kiel, before I join up again with the umpire team in Amsterdam in September. Thanks guys, for a great weekend!
J.

iShares Cup 2009 Venice | 05

We have a winner!
Gitane Extreme Groupe LCF Rothschild skippered by Yann Guichard, managed to score 140 points. Second was James Spithill and his crew in BMW Oracle Racing and third, surprisingly a newcummer, Renaissance skippered by Loick Peyron.

Venice is definitely a city to come back to; If they open up the racing to have a little more time we could have done 8 races today. We managed seven. Very wel done by Tim and his team.
Not easy in these reaching conditions. It was all about reaching the first mark and then the train started. Only Chris steering in Oman Red (Masirah) was able to take advantage of rule 18.2(c). And get an inside overlap on the front boat because they couldn't tack after passing the mark.

Most penalties were again at the start and with mark roundings. The new definition of overlap must still give some boats problems....

I'm typing this after the event and prizegiving. Together with David I'll spent one more night - although very short - in Venice by flying home tomorrow at 06:25.. It means we will have to get up at four to catch the bus at five.... And walking trough Venice for half an hour in the early hours of the morning.

I was again umpire 2 today with Thibaut. The most challenging part was to find a good place to be at the fourth mark in a special E course the RC came up with after the first race. It was reaching up and down in that first one. With the train of boats you have a hard time getting outside and making sure there were no mark touchings. Inside we could do rule 18 and 13 perfectly well, but we missed the markpassing after tack. Even getting very close to the mark was hard because then we had no oppertunity to bail out fast enough in case someone wasn't given mark-room and had to pass on the wrong side.

It was a great event and if I may make a personal observation, I felt definitly more relaxed then last year. Knowing what is expected and being certain of the rules makes difference.

I'm looking foreward to Hyeres in one month already.

Ladies Only | 3

On Sunday 2nd of November we had the final day of the Ladies Only in Hamburg on lake Alster. Together with a couple of 'die-harts' who went sailing on - what we in the Netherlands would call - a "watercold" Sunday, we sailed semi finals and place finals for all the spots.

One of the teams was a last minute replacement for a team that couldn't attend. They eventually sailed for places 5 and 6 and managed to win! Tania, Venita, Laura H. and Laura S., you did very well for a first time team!

Also one of the reasons I mention them, is that as an umpire you come to expect some of the maneuvers boats are going to make. You have to anticipate to be able to be on the correct place to see the rules issues. With new teams that is sometimes a challenge. So the lesson I learned was to keep a greater distance with inexperienced crews. But I'm sure this particular team will be able to learn to do the right moves very fast, if they keep the learning curve up.

The club organizing the event also had a youth regatta the previous day and the young sailor winning the local Opti event, was a very keen student of the rules. He asked permission to join us on the umpire boat, forgoing the price giving. The next day he was back and I had the pleasure to tell him something about umpiring. So on the final day, Oscar, 13 years old, struggling with his first words in English, joined us for a couple of matches.

He still has a good deal to learn but I was impressed by his knowledge and dedication.

And, yes, that is Oscar standing behind me and Stephan in the umpire boat.

I think that particularly this club is doing a very good job teaching young sailors the joy of sailing in all its forms and shapes. The Alster Acts for instance, which will be closed in a fortnight with the 12th event this year, are giving new match racers the chance to learn.

The fact that they manage to do a good job is clearly visible in the winner of the event Team Halbrock, who are members of HSC.

With Silke Hahlbrock as helm and Marion Rommel, Maren Hahlbrock and Nele-Marie Bock as crew, they beat last years winners Team Lethinen from Finland in the finals with two against one. Congratulations!

I've put all the photos on Flickr. You can have a look by clicking on Ladies Only MR 2008 at my account.

Winging it | 3

Some practical notes on Winging at a Match Race.
Go here for part 1 and go here for part 2

When on the run in a match race the overlap between two boats can be essential for the rules. If the boats use spinnakers it is sometimes very hard for the umpires to see the exact moment the overlap begins. At that moment not only rule 12 switches off and rule 11 on, but also the limitation under rule 15 starts. Rule 15 has a short "shelf-live" therefor it is important to know when it starts.
When winging on this leg the wing stays perpendicular to the front boat always at stern "hight." They start with communication at a distance of about one boat length apart calling the overlap.

Besides the overlap or clear ahead and clear astern, there's another position the wing communicates on the run. This is just between those two. This is called a technical overlap and the Wing communicates this with the word "TECHNICAL". It is an overlap, for instance with the spinnaker, but the trailing boat can change course from leeward to windward or visa versa without touching the leading boat.

This is especially important for rule 17. If the trailing boat gets a technical overlap to windward, then manages to change to leeward without breaking the overlap, rule 17 is never applicable and the trailing boat has luffing rights. If the overlap is broken and then again established to leeward the trailing boat has the limitation on luffing up to its proper course.


Overlap is also important approaching the leeward mark. Because of it's perpendicular position the zone distance is can much better be judged by the Wing. They call "clear at Zone" or "overlap at Zone" when the leading boat enters the two boat length zone.
The wing also - as with the windward mark - watches for rule 31.1 infringements.
Once boats have rounded the mark the Wing goes again to the right side of the beat to follow the boat on the right side.

Like earlier written, the Wing will follows (mostly) the leading boat, speccially when boats are far apart. If that is the case, then they also signal the umpire about anything they see in that boat, red flag penalty, yankee flag, rule 42 infringement etc. etc. They however never give the penalty. It is always the umpire of that match who decides if a penalty should be given.

Finally, as a Wing boat you do have all the flags with you. In case the umpire boat is unable to continue - because of mechanical problems for instance - the Wing takes over as umpire immediately, when asked to do so.

This concludes our three part series on "winging."
If you have additional material or useful tips on winging, please don't hesitate to comment.

Winging it | 2

First part on Winging can be found here.

During the rest of the pre-start the wing boat has limited possibilities to be of use. Generally the boats move so fast, circling and changing course, that it is impossible to be always in the right position. The best a Wing can do, is to be in position for a couple of crucial calls. That is if they have enough insight to anticipate where boats are going. The Wing stays to windward of the boats and will try to disturb the water as little as possible. They do call when a boat gybes, at the moment the boom passes midships with "boom" and when the mainsail is filled with "complete". And of course the overlap or clear, if they are in a good enough position to see.
In the final minute when boats will sail back to the starting line, the Wing takes a position to leeward of the boats to call the overlap. Mainly to inform the umpires of a possible hook-up, near the starting line.

If the wing doesn't peel off to do the entry and pre-start of the next match and stays with the starting boats, it will take a position to the right of the umpire boat following the boat on the right side of the course. In the beat the wing will always stay to the right, switching boats if they cross. This is because they give information to the umpires about the Starboard tack boat when approaching a Port tack boat.

There are two possible crossings that need input:
The first is when there's a collision course between Port and Starboard or Port crosses just astern. Because the Umpires follow the Port tack boat to leeward and slightly behind, they are not in an ideal position to see if the Starboard tack boat does or does not change course. Port is keep clear boat and must respond to the pending collision. But if the Starboard tack boat changes course, rule 16.1 is applicable and Port has must be given room to keep clear. So the Wing gives information on Starboards course by telling the umpires if they are "holding" or changing course "up" or "down".
Additionally the Wing is then also in the right position to see - in case of a slam dunk - the precise moment the overlap begins. Important for the umpires to determine of rule 17 is on or off.


The second crossing is when Port is likely to cross in front of Starboard. If it's close, Port might decide to tack at the last moment. Again with the wing behind the Starboard tack boat they call on the radio the precise moment they see the bow of Starboard pointing at the bow of Port. Usually preceded by "Stand by for Bow to Bow" then "Bow to Bow"...."Now". By calling bow to bow, the umpires can judge the distance between the boats at that precise moment and determine if Port will likely cross or not. If the distance is one boat length or less, Port cannot cross without breaking RRS 10 and is then not keeping clear. If the distance is greater than one boat length, they might get away with it. Possible to tack windward of Starboard.


If boats are far apart the Umpire will usually stay with the trailing boat. In match racing however, the penalty for touching a mark is Umpire initiated. The wing therefore follows the leading boat and stays close when that boat rounds. If there's an infringement of RRS 31.1 they signal the Umpire boat, who then can give the penalty. Additionally they can inform the Umpires - if the leading boat has an outstanding penalty - when that penalty is taken.

Next time in "Winging it" part 3: The run, the leeward mark and the finish.

Winging it | 1

When umpiring the most difficult part of the "job" is to be in a position where you can see what the rule infringement is. To be at the right place at the right moment. This involves anticipation of what the sailors will do, quick reactions and skill with the rubber boat. But even if you can do all these things perfectly, it is impossible to be at the right place all the time. Simply because sometimes you need to be at two places at once. This is where the wing comes in. In the wing a driver and a designated umpire communicate to the match umpires by arm signals or by radio, relevant information. They are the second set of eyes the umpires need to get a three-dimensional picture.

Positioning of the wing boat is - as with the umpire boat - the key to successful 'winging'. Generally speaking the wing boat needs to be at a right angle from the boats related to the position of the umpire boat. When the latter is behind to look at the distance between the boats, the wing is beside the boats to look for the overlap. When boats cross, the umpire boat is with the port tack boat, and the wing with the starboard tacker.
First of all they signal if there is, or there is not, an overlap between boats. If by radio they use: "Clear" or "Overlap", usually with a distance added: "Clear half a boat length" or "Clear one meter". When signaling overlap they also add a distance; "Overlap bow to bow" indicating boats are next to each other with bows at the same 'hight', or "Overlap, 2 meters". By adding the distances to the information, umpires can quickly understand if an overlap is going to be broken or established.

Match racing starts at the four minute signal, when boats enter. The first encounter is usually a port and starboard encounter. Unless one of the boats is late or otherwise not able to go at four minutes, the Yellow boat on starboard tack will try to "go" for the Blue boat on port tack. The wing boat starting position is to windward off the starting vessel or committee mark at a right angle to the starting line to check early entry of the Yellow boat. Once that has been done the wing has to give information to the umpires about the direction Yellow is pointing. To do that, the wing motors to a position behind/besides the Yellow boat, so that his line of vision goes trough the helmsman of the Yellow boat looking at Blue. That way the wing can tell if Yellow is 'aiming' at Blue or steering a course above or below.
Once Yellow steers a course at Blue, the latter has an obligation to keep clear and is obliged to take action. If Yellow is aiming at Blue and holding it's course while Blue does nothing, and at the end is forced to avoid the Blue boat, they have not kept clear and when a call is made, will be penalized. If Yellow is not aiming at Blue she's keeping clear and does not have to take action. Even when Yellow is aiming at Blue from some distance and Blue is changing course but Yellow follows - keeps aiming - Blue has no protection from RRS 15, only from RRS 16.1. In short, at the first entry the most important information the wing can give is the course of Yellow relative to Blue.

When boats end this first encounter in a 'dail-up' the wing boat is beside them relaying information about the overlap. Because of the low speed and the proximity of the umpire boat, this is however not the most important piece of information. It is the speed of the boats through the water, specially if they go backward. That is something the wing can see from its position much easier than the umpires. When sails are backed it is sometimes crucial to know if a boat has begun moving backward to determine right of way.

Next time in "Winging it" part 2: The rest of the prestart, the beat and the windward mark.

Best Positions to Umpire a Match Race

At a Match race event last year we had some extra time on our hands, because there was no wind. The Chief Umpire gave us a couple of pointers about positioning in a short presentation. This is what I wrote in my notebook:

• Boats close = umpire close; boats far apart = umpire further away.
• Find the points on the boats which are closest to each other, draw a line between those points and position yourself at a right angle to that line.
• When you have to open up your throttle, you haven't anticipated the situation. Think ahead!
• Never be in the same line as the boats. In front or behind.
• Approaching the starting line, don't get behind both boats, until you are certain they are going to start, better stay on the shoulder of transom.(windward).
• Before entry, discuss the start line bias or if one of the boats is going to be late to enter; otherwise 9 out of 10, Port (blue) cannot cross Starboard (yellow).