Hi John,

Short answer is Sailwave can cope with the rig size changes you are asking about.

Sailwave is able to have a different rating for a competitor for each race. The race rating for the race in question can be manually set to the rating for the race appropriate to the rig size being used. It is also possible to import race results from a CSV file. Since Sailwave version 2.28.7, Sailwave can also import as part of a csv file the rating to be used for the race. See https://www.sailwave.com/how-do-i-import-a-list-of-race-results.

When publishing results from Sailwave you can also using an 'Effect', a piece of JavaScript code, to show in the overall series results the rating used in each individual race.

So using Sailwave there is no need for calculating an adjusted elapsed time before entering into Sailwave :-)

I hope the information is helpful.
Kind regards,
Huw

OK. 

In the Ideal 18 scenario, after both boats have rounded the windward mark and are sailing downwind on starboard tack, the inside facts are straightforward: if the boats are overlapped, the leeward boat has right of way under Rule 11, and the windward boat must keep clear.

The fact that the windward boat has raised her spinnaker while the leeward boat has not does not, by itself, give the windward boat any special rights or additional room. The windward boat cannot simply delay responding to a luff on the basis that she would prefer to keep her spinnaker drawing or that luffing will cause it to collapse.

However, the leeward boat's right of way is limited by Rule 16.1. When she changes course, she must give the windward boat room to keep clear. The windward boat must respond promptly; she cannot wait, hope the leeward boat stops luffing, and then claim that she was not given enough room.

Case 75 is relevant to this principle. It establishes that where a right-of-way boat changes course gradually, and the keep-clear boat has sufficient opportunity to respond but fails to do so promptly, the right-of-way boat does not necessarily break Rule 16. The keep-clear boat has an obligation to act.

The more interesting issue is the spinnaker itself. Match Racing Call G2, while not binding authority for an ordinary fleet race, addresses this situation directly and provides useful guidance. It distinguishes between a windward boat merely wanting to preserve her spinnaker and a situation where the continued luff makes it impossible for her to keep clear while continuing to sail with the spinnaker effectively filled and drawing.

The principle is that the windward boat is not entitled to extra room merely to keep her spinnaker flying. But if the leeward boat continues to luff to the point where the windward boat, in order to keep clear, must sail so high that the spinnaker can no longer remain filled and drawing, she may need room to deal with or lower the spinnaker as part of a seamanlike response.

This is consistent with the general meaning of Room: space needed in the existing conditions, including space to manoeuvre promptly in a seamanlike way.

Therefore, the tactic of delaying your own spinnaker hoist and using your greater ability to head up the windward boat is perfectly legitimate. The leeward boat may luff, provided she complies with Rule 16.1, and with Rule 17 if that rule applies because she established the overlap from clear astern within two hull lengths.

The key distinction is:

So, the windward boat cannot use the fact that she has a spinnaker up as an excuse to delay keeping clear. Equally, the leeward boat cannot exploit the situation by luffing so aggressively that the windward boat is denied the room needed to make a prompt and seamanlike response.

The following four Cases and Appeals define what is not appropriate.
 
WS Case 72 – Discussion of the word ‘flag’. (rule 60.2(a)(1))

RYA Case 2001/13 – A glove cannot be a protest flag. When the display of a protest flag is required but not complied with, a protestee’s objection at the start of a hearing to the validity of the protest is to be upheld even if the protestee must have been well aware of the intention to protest. (rule 60.2(a)(1))

US Appeal 66 – A 2-inch by 8-inch protest flag on a 40-foot boat is not of sufficient size or of suitable proportions to be “conspicuously displayed.” (rule 60.2(a)(1))

Sail Canada Appeal 63 – For boats greater in length than 6 metres, a protest flag must be perceived to be a flag. The flag must be displayed at the first reasonable opportunity. For a fully-crewed boat, compelling evidence would be required to justify display within minutes, rather than seconds of an incident. Failure to meet these requirements will render a protest invalid. (rule 60.2(a)(1))