Situation
Three questions about mark-room and rule 21 exoneration.
Question 1
When is a keep-clear boat that is entitled to mark-room no longer entitled to exoneration under rule
21? Could it be
- while she is still overlapped with the mark, or does it have to be
- when she is past the mark and no longer overlapped with it?
Answer 1
Neither of the above. For a boat to be entitled to exoneration under rule
21, she must be sailing within the room or mark-room to which she is entitled. Further, a boat that was entitled to markroom is no longer entitled to exoneration when one of the following conditions has been met:
- The boat required to give her mark-room has given her:
- room to leave the mark on the required side;
- room to sail to the mark, when her proper course is to sail close to it;
- room to round the mark as necessary to sail the course; and
- room to tack, but only when she is overlapped inside and to windward of the boat required to give her mark-room and would be fetching the mark after her tack.
- When rule 18.2(b) applies, the boat entitled to mark-room has passed head to wind.
- When rule 18.2(b) applies, the boat entitled to mark-room has left the zone.
Therefore, after one of the conditions above has been fulfilled, exoneration under rule 21 is no longer available, even if the boat is still alongside the mark.
Question 2
For the purpose of the definition Mark-room, when has a boat 'left a mark on the required side' and finished rounding or passing it?
Answer 2
A boat has left a mark on the required side and is no longer rounding or passing it when, in the prevailing conditions, the mark no longer influences her course to sail the next leg of the course.
Question 3
When is a boat 'past a mark' or rather when has a boat 'passed a mark'?
Answer 3
The phrase 'past a mark' is not used in the Racing Rules of Sailing, however rule
18.1 for board (Appendix B) and kiteboards (Appendix F) use 'passed a mark'. The word is important there because after a board has passed the mark, rule 18 no longer applies to her and, therefore, she is no longer entitled to exoneration under rule
21.
The meaning of ‘passed’ in rule
18.1 for boards and kiteboards is: ‘a board (or kiteboard) has passed a mark when the board has rounded the mark and the mark is astern of the board and her equipment while the board is sailing on a course towards the next mark and, if there is current pushing the board back towards the mark, the mark is no longer influencing the course the board is sailing.’
At a finishing mark, the meaning of 'passed' is: ‘a board has passed the mark when the board and her equipment have crossed the finishing line, she has left the mark astern and, if there is current pushing the board back towards the mark, the mark is no longer influencing the course the board is sailing.’
For other sailing, see Answer 2.