At the end of our reports on last weekend’s Corinthian Midwinters, we asked for your observations and opinions about Sunday’s course changes, and whether the race was proper or should be thrown out. The following begins with your responses, continues on the next page through a protest hearing involving the entirety of two divisions, and concludes with the thoughtful findings of the Protest Chair.

The first letter to hit our inbox was from Patrick Lewis:

“28.1 A boat shall start, leave each mark on the required side in the correct order, and finish, so that a string representing her track after starting and until finishing would when drawn taut 

(a) pass each mark on the required side, 

(b) touch each rounding mark, and 

(c) pass between the marks of a gate from the direction of the previous mark. 

She may correct any errors to comply with this rule. After finishing 

she need not cross the finishing line completely.

“Not many people rounded the last mark. Oh well, midwinters. Thanks for the coverage.” - Patrick Lewis, Santa Cruz Sails

Pete Rowland, crew on the Beneteau 36.7 Wilson, remarked:

“This subject peaked my interest as we had a great discussion, and there was some confusion on our boat, as to what the course should actually be, what should have been sailed, and how to finish. I can understand the race chair’s dilemma of having a fleet all dressed up and ready to go and at the same time weighing the safety of the racers. Of course, it's easy to sit here and do some Monday night quarterbacking, but I feel a discourse may be good for the edification of all, myself included.

 

“My feeling on whether or not to hold the race is that the RC made the right decision. However, they didn't handle their management of the process very well, and they didn't manage the starts nor the race course very well. Whether or not to count the race? I feel it should be counted, we went out, raced, and everyone in our fleet sailed the same course.  And geez, it's just another Corinthians for God's sake - it's supposed to be fun.  But, if someone were to protest, I feel the RC should uphold the protest and not count the race.

 

“Point 1 - The sailing instructions noted no changes after 10:30. This was a technicality, they postponed at the dock, hoisted the 'H' flag, and told everyone to stand by. Yes, they should have modified the revised instructions to not include the 'no changes’ specification.

 

“Point 2 - The RC did a horrible job in revising the sailing instructions. 

 

“a) They did not follow the start sequence as published, were not communicating starts on the radio, which led to confusion in our fleet as to who and when was starting. If they chose to eliminate the 10 minute gap between PHRF starts and OD starts they should have communicated it as such. We were caught off guard, and there was nothing on the radio letting us know.

 

“b) The published course was not correct, even after the second amendment went out. Course 21 was listed as Start, Blossom, Blunt, Knox-Finish - all marks to port. The published finish was incorrect, as the finish was at the club where we started.  There was also some confusion as to how to finish - upwind or downwind.

 

c) Taking Knox to port was confusing as the course did not allow for the string rule as prescribed in the RSS. Our tactics guy, Bill Colombo, pointed this out, and although I thought it might be okay, he was right.  The course did not fit the RSS rule. Bill also pointed out that Kame Richards had actually protested this same course a number of years ago, and won. I remember this also. By the RSS everyone should have done a button hook around Knox.

 

[See rule 28.1 in Patrick’s letter above.]

“This winter I've seen some pretty bad handling of races from some folks who I'd think would be better. But, I'm never one to berate our volunteers, as they are doing their best. However, folks who are calling themselves professionals, and are making a business of race management, should be giving us a better value for our dollar.”

To clarify, the race committee at Corinthian YC is all-volunteer. - ed.

Later: “The SIs need to state whether or not a mark is a ‘rounding mark’ or a ‘boundary mark’. Our SIs stated ‘all marks left to port,’ as opposed to ‘all marks rounded to port.’  Had the SIs been written with the marks being rounding marks, then a button hook would be required.

 

“In review, we did the right thing! And the upholding of Kame's protest of old hinged on how the SIs were written at the time.” - Pete Rowland, crew on Wilson

From the folks on the Beneteau 47.7 Macondo:

“The SIs for Course 21 list Knox as a finish (Knox Finish). I don’t remember the RC calling for a change to make Knox a mark instead of the finish, and adding the CYC Race Deck as a finish. If they did call for a change in course, it wasn’t on the latest version of their SIs. So once again, CYC should have thrown out the race.

 

“According to RRS 28.1, if Knox was a rounding mark, then Yucca and Razzberries should have looped around the mark, keeping it to port, so that a string representing their wakes would leave the mark on the correct side AND touch the mark in the correct order. A string following the wakes of Yucca and Razzberries would not have touched Knox, though they did leave it to port. I didn’t see any boat do a ridiculous loop around Knox keeping it to port either. See this Sailing World article for an example of this: http://www.sailingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=201256&typeID=402&catID=595

 

“Despite all the confusion, it was still a great day of sailing.” - Camilo Martinez, skipper of Macondo

Another clarification: mark 4 (the Knox buoy) was listed as the last mark before the finish. The original finish was ‘Knox Finish’. Here is the course as published in the original SIs: RC Boat - 18 - 8 - 4 - Knox Finish. The finish line was defined thusly: “The Knox Finish shall be between an orange inflatable buoy and an orange shape on the race committee boat,” and ‘4’ is defined as: “R2 fl 4s Pt. Knox.” We suspect that some folks confused the Knox Finish and the Knox buoy. - ed.

“I raced on Macondo and think the whole race should be thrown out because of last minute changes to the course, confusing SIs and amendments, delays, etc.” - Donna Domino, crew on Macondo, via Facebook

“Race Committee did not err:

• Start may be moved prior to Preparatory signal (RRS 27.2).

• Finish may be moved as "conditions may warrant" (SI 10).

Correct rounding of mark 4 (Knox Buoy) per the Sailing Instructions was a counterclockwise track-crossing turn of 300°. Citations:

• Advice from senior US Sailing Race Officer Stan Betts regarding a similar issue in Silver Eagle 2009.

• Don’t Get Tied Up By The String Rule by Dick Rose [Sailing World, Sep 9, 2002] - John Navas Tactician on Macondo

From Axel Mehnert of the Schumacher 30 Shameless:

“Unfortunately there is no such rule that allows to protest the RC; it has

gone away probably 25 years ago. Only thing possible is to ask for redress, where you have to show that your boat had a disadvantage because of actions of e.g. the RC. The RC handled the whole situation in a very professional way with all kind of announcements, giving enough time for everyone to react to it. Seeing the vast majority of the boats handling the situation properly, there will be nearly no chance for redress.

“After all the Sunday race was a pretty nice race, with very fair conditions

for all fleets and a lot of opportunities to learn from the ‘old’ guys on

how to race the Bay.” - Axel Mehnert, Helmsman of Shameless

A Cal 20 skipper chimes in:

“You noted that, with the third mark of the course being Knox (YRA #4) to port, one could, and in your article one did, leave Angel Island to port, and head up Raccoon Strait, finishing north to south, as was the start, in front of the club. No problem.

“However, we were approaching Pt. Stuart under kite from the south side of Angel Island, anticipating a big ebb. To our interest, we noted boats finishing south to north in front of us, and, against our usual program (Don't Talk To The Race Committee Unless Withdrawing), we called to ask for clarification, as our interpretation of the SIs, wherein the pin end was a listed Mark of the Course, and that all marks of the course were to be rounded to port, called for us to sail to the north side of the pin, ease sails, and drift with the ebb through the line. This was made more interesting in that the two division boats ahead of us, who both owed us time, had finished south to north. Imagine our surprise and dismay, when the RC informed us that there was a natural default to the ‘Definition of Finishing’, which, according to them, is sailing the shortest distance from the last mark of the course through the S/F line. This default was, of course not noted on the revised SIs. If this default is applicable, it would accommodate, potentially, both us and the boat sailing south through the Straits. But what does it take to get this to apply? The SSS in the Three Bridge makes it clear at the outset, when defining the course...

“I'm doing more homework now, and will get back.” - Richard vonEhrenkrook, Can O'Whoopass

The protest portion of this discussion follows on the next page.