• Series scoring with entries that did not sail
  40 Comments
  David Arty Sat 22:05
• Giving mark room
  17 Comments
  Ólafur Bjarnason Sat 20:36
• US Appeal 130 - Interpretations of Mark Room (Hot off the presses!)
  11 Comments
  Angelo Guarino Fri 11:31
• Room at halfwind Mark - 3 boat cluster rounding
  4 Comments
  Gijs Vlas 25-Jun-25 11:27
• Appeals - Reduction in times for submitting and responding to Appeals
  3 Comments
  John Allan 25-Jun-25 00:59

• Series scoring with entries that did not sail
  I don't want to labour this bit of thread drift, but VHF check in is barely less labour intensive than physical observation.
  
  For large fleets, Hamilton Island Race Week and Magnetic Island Race Week use SMS check in very successfully.  The proprietary scoring system TopYacht has been developed to support this.
  
  I think we've really reached the stage of the 21st Century when its not unreasonable to expect every competitor to have and use a mobile phone.
  John Allan Today 00:19
• Giving mark room
  Thanks Angelo,  I agree with your comments.
  Bob Lewis Yesterday 19:03
• TLE time limit expires
  I've come back to this one as a more recent post has questioned the use of TLE.  I would question the use of time limits at all, unless you plan to run a further race on the same day or are providing safety boat cover.  There are reasons for finishing other than winning the race in question:
  1. Scoring series points: I've twice been scored DNF for completing the course outside the time limit on occasions when the race committee was still present and noted the time, which would have given me 3rd place, so potentially influencing the series result.  I know another boat in an offshore race that won the series having finished at 0330, 8 hours after the previous finisher; if there had been a time limit resulting in him being scored DNF, he would not have won the series.  
  2. Counting the miles as qualification for another event - long distance offshore races frequently require that competitors have completed a specified number of miles in other offshore races to qualify.
  
  Making sure boats are in for any post-race event is not a reason for a time limit, boats can make their own decision about whether to retire and get the beer or stick it out and get the result.  
  I'm not suggesting that the race committee has to stay out and wait, a self-timed (or tracker based) finish time is acceptable for boats that would otherwise be over any time limit, and for offshore races, no safety boat cover is provided and fleet monitoring done by AIS or trackers.  
  Kirsteen Donaldson Yesterday 16:37
• Some hypotheticals about the new Room to Tack hailing requirement
  Hailing something other than Protest or not hailing quickly enough does not shut down the process entirely. A hearing has to be held to  consider validity and there are several reasons why a protest may be considered valid despite the hail not being correct.
  I ran rule 20 through NotebookLM and the answer was that as the hail broke RRS 20.1 the hailed boat should respond and protest. Then I added the Q&A to the sources, and 'Room to Tack'  became a magic spell that opened up the doors of RRS 20.2.
  More cynical minds might conclude that this is an instance of a dodgy interpretation shoring up a poorly written rule They might think that, I could not possibly comment.
  Gordon Davies Tue 17:23
• US Appeal 130 - Interpretations of Mark Room (Hot off the presses!)
  If b is clear astern anywhere she does not have mark room so the exact place is not relevant.
  Initially the boats may be on separate tacks so 18 does not apply.
  When tacking the boat is subject to 13, there is one exoneration. The idea is you place your boat so you may hover and get clear of the other boat so not break 13.
  If you leave an inside lane or make an otherwise wide rounding, you lose the advantage the rule gave you.
  I cannot give a positive response to your question. What I can say is that if she makes a good rounding with no boat inside her if she exercises her mark room rights to go health wind, and she hovers there gaining separation from the following boat, she should be fine.
  Michael Butterfield Mon 10:29

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