Continued from our previous page, CYC String Theory.

“Macondo was protested for not rounding mark 4 properly:

“Response of Macondo to protests by Jarlen and Jeanette in CYC Midwinter Regatta 2010 race #2 (Sun Jan 17), and to response of Emily Carr:

“1. Protests by Jarlen and Jeanette should be disallowed because, as admitted by Jarlen, they failed to notify protested boats at the "first reasonable opportunity" per RRS 61.1(a)(1). Even after finishing, Macondo remained in the area to drop sails and to drop crew at the CYC Guest Dock, giving them opportunity to do so.

“2. Claim by Emily Carr that mark 4 was part of the Finish and not a mark of the course is incorrect and should be disregarded. Course 21 clearly states that mark 4 is part of the course not the Finish. That the Finish was moved to the Race Deck does not matter.

“PS: Razzberries did not round mark 4 correctly. Only the red and green lines are valid courses.” (See chart at the top of the page.) - John Navas

Tactician on Macondo

The following was sent from the Protest Chair to the interested parties after the hearing on Thursday evening. The comments in italics following some of the sections are from Jeff Dunnavent, helmsman on Jarlen, who represented Jarlen at the protest.

“I wish to commend all participants for their exemplary sportsmanship.  Arguments made were cogent, respectful, and well thought through, both in writing and in person. I was pleasantly astonished that we were able to carry on such a thoughtful conversation among around 16 parties in person!

“A formal written opinion will follow, but the essentials are as follows:

“1.  Despite certain informalities (which will be the subject of further improvement and documentation) the Race Committee redefined Course 21 prior to the start of the race to be as follows: CYC-18-8-4-CYC finish, all marks left to port. This was done by written instruction regarding the starts and by VHF announcements before the start regarding the finish.

[There were arguments made by some boats that they did not 'hear' the VHF announcement that the finish line was moved thus arguing that the change in the finish line location was made 'after' the race start. See item 4.]

 

“2.  In course 21, as amended, no marks were specifically identified as ‘rounding marks’ and to leave mark 4 to port, it was not physically necessary to round it. 

 

“3.  Therefore, mark 4 was not a ‘rounding mark’ and rule 28.1 did not require that mark 4 be rounded, only left to port.

[After additional review of the rules, and discussions, this was agreed.]

 

“4.  No actions of the race committee, including the use of a crash boat in the broad vicinity of mark 4 and the display of a pre-amendment course diagram, converted mark 4 of the revised course 21 into a ‘rounding mark.’
[Expanding on item 1 above, some felt the crash boat was announcing the course change 'during the race'. Attempts were made to define mark 4 as a 'rounding mark' by applying rule 33 which defines the last mark before the finish as a 'rounding' mark. However, rule 33 only applies when the finish line is moved 'after' the start of the race.]

 

“5.  The boats who left mark 4 to port, whether they looped it or not, therefore, sailed a proper course under rule 28.1 and as to them the protest was denied.
[Thus a request for redress would not be valid... sailing a longer distance was not necessary.]

 

“6.  One boat, Macondo, had left mark 4 to starboard and had submitted a withdrawal and based thereon will be scored RAF. No other boats were identified as having sailed an improper course, and therefore the protests were denied entirely. 
[None of the four protests specifically identify boats who left the mark to starboard. Macondo did state he could identify additional boats, but did not.]

“The Organizing Authority (CYC) is commencing a review of its documents and procedures with an eye to eliminating the need for racers to make very technical and fine-grained rules interpretations on the water, which is after all, not the goal of racing, at least not in Midwinters.

“Thanks to my fellow committee members and to all who attended, once again, for helping keeping our sport vibrant and fun.” - Michael Moradzadeh, Protest Chair, CYC MidWinter Regatta