Finished?

Trying out a new feature: Polling
You can answer the following question in the sidebar:
(click on the picture)

Answers after the week has run out.

RACE EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST (2)

In a Post a couple of weeks back on Desert Sea by Pat a comprehensive list for Race officers on Race Equipment was published. I've asked Pat and he provided me with his files; I've given them a place among the files so you can all download a copy and start using them. There are 3 variations:
Race Equipment Checklist.doc ; the complete checklist in Word
RC Equip Checklist.xls; the complete checklist in Excel
Race Equipment Checklist limited.doc; a limited checklist in Word

RRS Test NASS 2001 (1)

For this Monday the first part of a test made for the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron in 2001. It is therefore a little old, but you can still get some practice from it: NASS rules Test 2001 part I-III.pdf
Half the skill you need as an IJ is to be able to answer questions you've never heard before. And sometimes the question asked is not specific enough, and needs to be reformulated before it can be answered. What is the expression: "Think outside the box?". If you don't know what the answer could be, translate the question to the current rule-book and try to answer that. And as always, please don't hesitate to comment or let me know what your solutions are.

If you have the time you can also have a look at the website of the NASS. True to there nature, you can find - with a little digging - a lot of information about procedures, safety and boat handling.

Grinding till it Squeals

It seems my understanding of all those Sailing terms is lacking. On this website page from Yachtracing.com the correct meaning is displayed.
For instance; a Shackle = a device even harder to open under pressure than a virgin's bra! or Inside Overlap = The part of a race that resembles a political debate. And what about Winch: A thing you grind till it squeals and Wench: A thing you grind till it squeals. I'll spare you who's designated the nut attached to the rudder through a steering mechanism.
I wonder what these guys would make of the definitions Overlap or Two-Length Zone?

UMPIRE CALL (1)

In the coming time I want also to do something for Umpires on this blog.
Since umpiring revolves around making a call after a boat has protested, I'll draw up a situation in TSS and give a - limited - number of facts, after which you can then decide. In each situation you can use all flags available to umpires: green/white, blue, yellow, red and black. To start with, you can look up what all the flags mean.

Please study the diagrams carefully. They are as accurate as I can make them, to describe the case I want to present. I'll give you a link to the original TSS-diagram file to download and the you can play those on your own computer. Here's the first one: (click on the picture to see the animated situation)


Light breeze; Beaufort 2; J22's in a calm sea:
After the four minutes signal Blue and Yellow enter and do a dial-up.
Blue and Yellow end up with very low speed at a distance of 2 meters in position 6 with half a length overlap. Yellow drifts slowly closer and closer, and protests by showing a Yankee-flag in position 9. What is your decision?
Static image: UMP_LTW001s.gif
Answers after the break
Umpire Calls Directory
_____________________________________________________________________


UMPIRE FLAGS:


Green/White Flag: No Penalty.




Blue Flag: Penalty on the Blue boat.




Yellow Flag: Penalty on the Yellow boat

Red Flag; Always together with a Blue or Yellow Flag.
Penalty on the identified boat, which must be taken as soon as reasonable possible but not before starting.


Black Flag; Always together with a Blue or Yellow Flag.
The identified boat is disqualified, and the match is terminated and awarded to the other boat.

UMP_LTW001.tss
Rules applicable:
RRS 10 (pos 4, Blue keeps clear)
RRS 16.1 (pos 5 & 6, Yellow gives room to Blue to keep clear)
RRS 13.1 (pos 5 trough 9) Blue is tacking.
Because Blue never completed her tack, she stays the keep clear boat.
Penalize Blue.

Is reasonable doubt in RRS 18.2(e) for PC only?

In many protest involving rule 18.2 of the Racing Rules of Sailing the crucial fact revolves around whether an overlap was obtained or broken in time. What is allowed within the rules, after the first boat enters the two-length zone, depends on that. If the sailors disagree and there are no witnesses, who were in a good enough position to see, there will be doubt. The protest committee will then ask more questions to resolve that doubt, or conclude that this doubt is reasonable.

In the latter case the protest committee will apply rule 18.2(e) to resolve the protest. They go back a couple of boat lengths - as far as needed - and ask again how the overlap situation was. Somewhere in the leg leading up to the mark rounding, there will be a point where both boats agree on a overlap position.

For example, there was an overlap at that position. After that, one sailor claims the overlap was broken and the other says it wasn't. Rule 18.2(e) states: it SHALL be presumed that she did not - in this case - break the overlap. The protest committee has no choice and must follow this rule. If the starting position, which both boats agree on, is one without an overlap and after that one sailor claims he did establish one and the other disagrees, the same is true. The PC must find that there was no overlap at the two-length zone. Once reasonable doubt has been established, they have no other way to go.

Some of the sailors, who have been in such a protest-hearing, are very disappointed that their word is not good enough, that they are not - in their eyes - believed. They forget that committee members have not seen the rounding themselves and must judge on the stories of both sailors. Instead of relying solely on their own observations, they should apply the principle of rule 18.2(e) on the water. If there's reasonable doubt, i.e. when the other boat disagrees with your assessment of the overlap situation, assume that the PC will also have that doubt, and handle accordingly.

Expandable post back again?

Thanks to this post on Patrick D's Training Journal I've been able to bring back the expandable post, without influencing older post. I can use it when it is needed, but can leave it out, just as easy :Updated 11:42

It takes a little more time because you always have to edit a post, but that's a little effort for a good result. The only glitch I've so far discovered, is that the "read the full article" also appears at the bottom when displayed on a individual page. It should disappear, or even better, link back to the home page
Updated: Patrick mailed me with an new adress to a blog with an even better code by Ramani from Hackosphere, which I've implemented. Go to http://hackosphere.blogspot.com/2006/11/selective-expandable-posts.html
Now the link disappears when the post is expanded!

Q&A 07-008 about rule 2

On the very last day of 2007 the Race Officials Q&A Service has published a new Q&A 07-008. It is about rule 2 and a further explanation of Case 78 which states that a boat does not break rule 2 by slowing another boat’s progress in a race, provided that this tactic is intended to benefit her own series result, that the boats are on the same leg and lap of the course, and that in using it she does not intentionally break a rule. According to this new Q&A, if a boat does this for any other reason, she breaks rule 2.
The snag however is that this is valid for competitors in a regatta or series of regattas. If this is done by an "outsider", i.e. a boat who's not a competitor, than the racing rules of sailing cannot touch that boat or crew. I've had one such a case in the past, were a competitor who didn't enter on time, disagreed with our rejection, still sailed in the races. My club organizes an annual regatta for national classes and with 14 classes and 250+ competitors, we can't check every boat all the time.
Of course this boat was not included in the results, but my protest (as the RC) was not accepted by the protest committee, since the boat wasn't a competitor. After a unsuccessful attempt to get the protest heard by our National Authority, we only succeeded in getting our disapproval across by going to the club where the sailor was a member, and asked them to speak to him about his behavior. In addition we wrote a letter to his class association and he was banned from participating in our annual regatta for 3 years.
I would be interested if anybody else had a similar incident with a non-competitor and how that was dealt with?

100 QUESTIONS (4)

Some unfinished business from 2007:
Fourth and final part of a four week series on Mondays. Every week a part of ISAF 100 Questions about the Racing Rules of Sailing; Today part 4; questions 76 - 100.
Answer each question by writing T(=true) or F(=false) after it, and find the appropriate rule.

The last two columns appear to be empty; but if you change the character colour to anything but white, the answers and rules I think are applicable, will appear. But beware, I might be wrong.
NB: These questions are written under the RRS 2001-2004 rulebook. Let me know if you think the answer is different under RRS 2005-2008.

For part 1 go to this post
For part 2 go to this post
For part 3 go to this post

Welcome in 2008

Welcome back in 2008 to Look to Windward.
It promises to be an interesting year with new developments in ISAF race-official administration. According to the minutes of the ROC several projects will come to results in the beginning (first quarter) of 2008. I'll will try to keep you up to date with news on that front.

At the moment there are also several Seminars en Clinics planned. Go to forthcoming events for details. According to the minutes of the IJ Sub Committee meeting, there are additional seminars planned in Belgium and Bulgaria. I'm hoping participants to seminars and clinics will find the way to this blog. If you know people around you in your country who will attend, don't hesitate to steer them this way. They can use all the help they can get.

Later in this year I'll will try to pester my contacts in the racing rules committee for updates on the rules-changes in 2009.