CASE 28
Rule 28.1, Sailing the Race
Rule 32.1(d), Shortening or Abandoning After the Start
Rule 43.1(a) ), Exoneration
Rule A5, Scores Determined by the Race Committee
When one boat breaks a rule and, as a result, causes another
to touch a mark, the other boat is exonerated. The fact that
a starting mark has moved, for whatever reason, does not
relieve a boat of her obligation to start. A race committee
may abandon under rule 32.1(c) only when the change in the
mark’s position has directly affected the safety or fairness of
the competition.
Facts
As S and P, close-hauled, approached the port end of the starting line, a
strong tide was setting them towards the line and the starting line mark.
When S was two hull lengths from the mark, she hailed P to keep clear.
There was no response, and S was forced to bear away to avoid a collision.
Immediately after the starting signal, P sailed over the mark. As S luffed
back to close-hauled, on a course to the wrong side of the mark, it jumped
out from under P’s hull and bounced against S. P did not take a penalty, and
S did not return to start between the starting marks.
S protested P under rules 10 and 31, and also requested redress, asking that
the race be abandoned, citing rule 32.1(c). The protest committee
disqualified P for breaking rules 10 and 31, refused S’s request for redress,
and scored S DNS. The latter decision was referred to the national authority
for confirmation or correction, along with a question: If S had returned to
start as required by rule 28.1, could the race have been abandoned under
rule 32.1(c) because of the mark having moved?
Decision
Although S touched the mark, she could not be expected to anticipate how
it would move when another boat touched it. Therefore S was exonerated
by rule 43.1(a) for breaking rule 31 because it was P’s two breaches that
caused the mark to touch S. However, S could have returned and started as
required by rule 28.1. The fact that the starting mark moved does not relieve
her of her obligation to start.
Because S did not start, the race committee was correct in scoring her DNS
(see rule A5.1).
Rule 32.1(d) makes it clear that the most important criterion for abandoning
a race is that, for some reason, the safety or fairness of the competition has
been adversely affected. Rules 32.1(a), (b) and (c) give examples of reasons
that may justify abandoning a race; rule 32.1(d) implies that there may be
other reasons. In this case, the unexpected movement of the starting mark
as a result of P sailing over it did not justify abandoning the race. Indeed,
the exact position of a mark frequently and routinely changes as a result of
wind, current, waves or it having been touched by a boat, even though its
anchor does not move. Such movement is a risk that competitors must
accept and does not justify abandoning a race.
RUS 1971