‘I think the biggest problem we have is not the rules themselves but the fact that the spirit of the rules are nothing but a secondary consideration for way too many sailors. Kids learning to sail, new boat owners, new crew ... all need to have a respect for the rules instilled in to them from the very beginning.’
Or, to offer an alternative view:
There is a problem in that in the subset of sailors and officials interested enough in the Rules to contribute to this forum have a substantially different view of the rules and the spirit of the rules from the majority of sailors.
Those kids, new sailors, new crew get their customs, biases and attitudes from an existing culture.
Then on ‘Ultimately, I think we should be actively protesting people under rules 2 and 69 even if it only results in a slap over the wrist in the first case ... at least.’
Accusing sailors of cheating is a big deal! Having sat both sides of Rule 69 fact finding after a report and also been a parent Race Committee member accused (unfounded) of improper conduct I can tell you that stress levels in all sides can be extremely high.
I can’t imagine that this action would ever be widespread….but I think we would lose sailors as a result….and the sport can ill afford that.
I would turn this around….we need to remove the cultural blocks to actually doing the self-enforcement:
1. Understand (including in this forum) that Rule infringements occur because of:
A. Inadequate boat handling.
B. Misunderstanding of the Rules.
C. Misperception of what is about to occur / has occurred. (Which is often shaped by which side of the incident the sailor sits)
D. Active in race cheating.
E. Proper cheating (eg knowing measurement offences like fitting an overlength forestay or removing lead)
2. Educating the above.
3. Educating that a hail of protest (and flag where relevant) is not adversarial and merely means ‘I believe that you have infringed the rules and need to retire or take an alternative penalty.
I take issue with the spirit of the rule idea that under the guiding principle a boat which knows it has infringed is obliged to take a penalty. Imagine a port back marker broaching wildly under spinnaker as they are lapped by starboard. Starboard has to alter course. Port knows it has infringed. As they regain control of the boat and their heart rate and prepare to drop starboard hails them with words of encouragement and says ‘don’t worry about it’. Surely this is more in the interests (an I would say spirit) of the sport.
I’d add that there are many occasions where 1 a, b and c apply and thus meeting the bar for Rule 2 and 69 is hard.
And that for the ‘heard in the bar - we infringed’ thing is often a question of changing perceptions with time. Time limits are also there to limit play to the field of play…..