Huh ... an SI can't change rules in the Introduction ... thus can't change term:"boat"

One might be hard-pressed to make the argument that a drone is not "outside" a "sailboat and its crew". 

Maybe there is another SI ... as RRS 41 is available for change. 

Sue ... I hear'ya ... but I think you are making an arguement for what a PC "should" do.  A PC could hear the evidence presented, decide not to protest Yellow, but find based upon the evidence presented that Yellow broke rule 11 (but not penalize her). 

Agree when it comes to gaps between boats ... a lot of info is missing ... speed of boats, size, type, maneuverability, etc. 

As we look at the new 18.3, I was reminded of a thread that I started back in 2020 2019 here: New Scenario - 18.2 vs 18.3 and "Cause"

It's a fairly long thread chock-full-o goodies.  One particular tasty morsel is where our friend Rob Overton gives us one of his historical perspectives of the evolution of a rule ... in this case rule 18.3.

Again it's one of those deep-dive threads that we sometimes get into ... it's worth picking through if you have a moment ... but if you don't ... scroll down until you see Rob O's post and then maybe back up and read the preceding 5-6 comments to put it in context.

PS: The new 18.3 removes 18.2 from this 2019 OP scenario.  Here is the OP scenario pic ... it might jog some memories.

Tom ... yea I was just putting a place holder in the event that an SI previously defined TLE for the event. 

Hi Jerry,

Firstly, if I was the CRO for an Opti fleet, and in a dying breeze, I didn't manage to shorten course to get more than 21 out of a fleet of 50 boats finished, I'd be pretty disappointed in myself.  OK, I understand that sometimes it can't be helped.

I assume that If you didn't use TLE, you would still use a DNF time limit.

Here's the table, with the right hand column showing the scores Fleet 2 would have achieved with boats after place 21 scored DNF.  The left lower green sector shows the boats from Fleet 1 that proceed to Gold Fleet under the DNF scoring system.

How are the 8 Fleet 1 boats shaded green proceeding to Gold Fleet, any more or less fair than the 8 Fleet 2 boats shaded Yellow going through?

Are you seriously suggesting that boats that can't do better than 20th in a qualifying race will miraculously pole vault onto the podium for the series?

In the sample results that you have to hand, can you tell us how many of the Fleet 2 boats that TLE'd finished in the top 10 of the Gold Fleet?

BTW, you said ' TLE scoring can give unexpected and undesired results for qualify rounds'.

What criteria do you suggest for using to determine expected or desired results?

OptiMom satisfaction?