Case 82 and Case 129

Put both of them in a pot and stir. 

Am I reading the two cases correctly?  Case 82 says you can finish from either side (because the windward mark is no longer a mark of the course but it is now a finishing mark) and case 129 says you have to finish from the right, leaving the mark to your port side, while to the definition of "finish" which usually places the finishing boat to the right and the finishing mark to the left.
Can somebody clarify?

John and Henry .. hmm .. that's not how I look at Case 129.

Let's take Case 129 first as it's more straightforward.  It basically restates the definition of finish .. in that a boat finishes when it crosses the finish-line from the course-side.  Once a rounding mark gets converted to a finishing-mark, it is the line definition and the course-side determination that takes precedence (and the original rounding designation is no longer relevant). 

The course side is determined by the rhumb-line from the previous mark to the finish-line.  The side of the line the rhumb-line intersects is the "course side". (PS: You can also form a triangle in your head like we do for  Z, U, Black flag starts ... the triangle-side is the course side).

Case 129's image shows it simply.  Though the mark was previously a port-rounding, to cross the newly formed finish-line from the course-side, boats must *leave the mark to starboard when they cross the line.

(*Note that they actually do not need to "pass" or "round" the mark.  A boat finishes when her hull crosses the line .. and by def: finish .. she need not cross the line completely .. that's why I used the word "leave").

Now Case 82 basically says that anytime a finish-line is laid such that is it difficult to determine which side is actually the course side, boats may cross the line from either side to finish.

In the OP .. assuming the previous mark was off the bottom of the picture, the rhumb-line from the previous mark was actually parallel to the finish-line (and thus doesn't actually intersect the finish-line on either side).  Therefore, Case 82 says that boats can finish by crossing from either side.

This is why ROs are trained to put the S Flag end of the finish line in a place that makes the course side unambiguous, i.e. where the finish line will be perpendicular to the course from the previous mark.  Moreover, they're strongly advised to place the S Flag so that competitors can cross the line to on the same side of the original mark as they would have passed it as they rounded.  

The scenario above is the result of an error (a la baseball, not evil).  As the marksetter has laid the finish mark, they finish either way, on whatever tack they want since there is no obvious preference.  It would be legal but inelegant;  I wouldn't want to be dealing with redress on the issue, because local judges can be special. 

 A properly laid finish line would have the mark boat displaying the S flag set to starboard of the the mark, looking up the course, at a point that put the finish line between the mark boat and the mark at right angles to the course from the previous mark.

 The course was shortened and signaled just like it says in the OP. So—what should the RC or Jury do in this case?

It doesn't matter which side of the mark boat the S flag is displayed on - the entire boat is a mark, and the position of the flag on the boat isn't clarifying.  In practice, the finish crew (probably the marksetters) will put the flag on their boat wherever they can attach it, with preference given to a spot from which they can sight the line.  

I feel that judges and race officers should do a bit of cross-training, so that everyone knows the rule issues and the practical ones.  

The real issue in setting a finish line in a hurry is whether in the process one has forced decisions on the competitors.  If the S flag is up, the finish line can't be moved.  So one leaves it - if the jury wants to blow off half the finishers, the race will be a mess, and one hopes they won't want to go there.  

The RO (in the USA, the PRO - in Canada the PRO controls several race courses, and the RO runs the course, everyone else having a different title) is ultimately responsible for letting the marksetter err.

One of the most frustrating race management courses I ever attended was one where whenever I asked why a rule was there, or speculated that it was to prevent X, I was told by the assemblage of IROs teaching the course to shut up.  It helps me to know why th rules are as they are - I find the judges are much better at explaining that.

What a mess.  It is possible that if the RC produced a guessed finish order, by lining up the competitors in a room and asking them who finished where the RO could extract a finish result.  This approach has worked in regattas I've been in, when records were fragmentary.  Otherwise, the jury would have to write off the race.

Since I live in the same area as Tom, I guess I might be one of the local judges who "can be special".  :-)
Case 82 is pretty clear.  The race officer should score all boats as finishing in the order they crossed the line (from either direction).  IF this goes to a redress request the judges should support the race officer who applied Case 82.  If the race officer did something different and it ends up with a redress request then the judges should grant redress and score all boats in the order they crossed the finishing line (from either direction).  

Robin, we can all hope that Tom short-handed what was said to him to "shut up" and that they said something more appropriate like....

 "Good questions Tom. Unfortunately I don't know the answer offhand ...and we have so much to cover we don't have time to delve into those questions in detail right now."

PS: As a Socratic learner myself ... I've gotten that response a lot ever since I was a kid ... so I know it well :-)

In reality IROs do  not write the rules - IJs do. There is a tendency for rules to be written in the context of the Olympic and Youth World classes and then adapted or interpreted for other forms of racing. Another tendency has been for some umpiring calls to effectively create new rules.

Tom .. as a competitor .. I assume that the orange flag means the line is set.  This is a signal to boats that they can do what they do to get line sights or ping the ends. (Especially important with the prevalence of "mark-bots" ... used to be u could see when the pin was set when the mark boat dropped the anchor ... but not any more)

If you have a large event with multiple starts ... a good RC will have that up at least 5 mins before the first start ... maybe longer if this is a huge event.  If you don't ... you will have later fleets in the starting area for earlier starts.  

This is where having RO's with strong racing experience is important.  They understand it from the competitors POV. 

Angelo,
1) Displaying the orange flag does not mean the line is set - the RC is free to adjust it until the preparatory signal, and may well do so at least until the warning signal.  So competitors can't really check the line in the orange flag only period before the preparatory signal and be sure they have it right.  Displaying the orange flag as per S 5.2 means that there will be a warning signal or postponement in five minutes, nothing more.
2) If the display of the orange flag meant that the line is set, for the first fleet, what would that mean for the second fleet to start? By your logic, the flag would have to come down after each start, then go up again for the next fleet.  5 minutes extra per start, plus the time the start window needs to stay open after the start adds a lot of time.
3) This is not about Olympic or other Grand Prix events in which there are one or two races a day and one or two fleets per course.  In those situations, there is time in the day to add minutes before the final five to the start process.  Of course, competitors don't like to be kept waiting, so there is a case, which I've had made to me by competitors, for less than five minutes before the warning.
4) In my experience, competitors don't necessarily hear one sound, but they will more likely hear four or more signals as the flag is put up. It's a help to them to distinguish it from other signals.

Taking the flag down only at the end of the last start window is a practice much favoured by some but poorly thought through, in my opinion.  For one, once all the entered competitors have started, they have all gone through the start window, so signalling its end is pointless.  For two, if you're starting multiple fleets, only the last fleet to start gets the window end signal, unless the second and subsequent starts are delayed each time until their particular windows have closed, the orange flag is hauled down, and then put up again for each start.  No consistency, or inordinate time wasted, in that approach.

Note also that there is no flag down signal sound or definition, or rule.  I suspect there is a reason for this.

Gordon re: "According to RRS Race Signals the orange flag means that 'the staff displaying this flag is one end of the starting line'

... opposite to Tom's point  ... logically once that flag goes up .. the starting line exists.  I think it's reasonable to expect (and I've maybe incorrectly concluded for myself) that the line is set once the line exists.  Personally, as a competitor, I would expect an RC to lower the orange if they needed to change the location of the pin. 

This was all out in the open before mark-bots.  Everyone can see the mark boat drag the mark and knew something happened.  

Now that mark-bots abound, I think there should be a set play in the rules which lets competitors know when the pin is set. 

This almost never happens, and isn't a requirement.  The race committee can move the pin up until the warning signal.
The last international event I participated in just last week had the race committee (run by an NRO) announcing over VHF that they were "anchored with the orange flag displayed" almost 30 minutes before they put up a warning signal or AP at the designated time in the SIs.
To me, unless there's something written in the SIs (like "The race committee will display an orange flag not less than 5 minutes before a warning signal") then all the orange flag means is that the signal boat is "on station".