Section N - Protests and Penalties
MR CALL N8
Rule C8.3(a), Penalties Initiated by Umpires
Question 1
Yellow is penalized before she starts. Later she and Blue both start on port tack, with
Yellow to leeward but approximately four hull lengths ahead of Blue. Yellow bears
away, gybes, then luffs to close-hauled on starboard tack. Soon afterward rule 10
requires Blue to change course to avoid Yellow. Has Yellow ‘gained an advantage
over the other boat’ in the context of rule C8.3(a)?
Answer 1
No. Rule C8.3(a) refers to situations in which the advantage that a boat gains from
breaking a rule is greater than the disadvantage she suffers by taking the penalty.
Here the advantage that the penalized boat gained as a starboard tack boat after
taking her penalty is unrelated to the advantage referred to in rule C8.3(a).
Question 2
The boats are close together on a leg of the course to a windward mark and one is
penalized. After gybing she sails away on the opposite tack and immediately gains
from a major wind-shift. Has she ‘gained an advantage’ from the penalty?
Answer 2
No. See Answer 1.