Al .. re: sticking it in your cap

I wouldn't rely upon that.  You might get away with it if the protestee acknowledges they saw it in the time that you had it in your hand raised high above your head. 

Attaching it to a piece of clothing like a cap can confuse it as a part of that clothing.  A piece of cloth on the back of a cap could easily be a sun-shield for the neck.

The key point is conspicuousness and identity as a flag.

Raising it above your head and waving it in your hand .. it's a flag being conspicuously displayed as such.

Tucking it in your cap it becomes neither.

A piece of pvc pipe is cheap, easy to make and preserves the flag in the weather for years.  No excuse.

 

That way you can enjoy a Dark'n Stormy after the race with your crew without having to worry about it :-)

 Time to re-read RRS 11 and the definition of keep clear, plus RRS 14.

Go for it.

KC(a) - not met.
+
KC(b) - met/not determined?
=Did not keep clear.
R14 - insufficient distance was the cause.

Notes:
1. Some people wrongly believe that if KC(b) is met it's enough to say W kept clear. However KC(a) must also be met. The two are connected with 'and'.  If either one is not met, the boat did not keep clear. My issue is not with KC(b). It's immaterial if KC(a) is not met.

I'm saying that KC(a) was not met.

2. Dropping the sheet is never a problem if the distance is sufficient between the boats. Insufficient distance caused 'dropping the sheet' to be problematic. Insufficient distance caused the contact. Not dropping the sheet.

3. KC(a) - Think of 'need to take avoiding action' as the trigger here. (See above.)

(W failed to keep clear of L, as L was able to sail her course but had need to take avoiding action while doing so. 

In fact, to resolve that need to take avoiding action, L would have had to bear away to increse the distance between the boats.  So effectively, she could not 'sail her course without a continuous need to take avoiding action'.)

Thanks so much, Mark. It's good to have these when racing outside the US, in order to have more credibility. 

Thank you Paul for the change. And thank you all for the helpful suggestions.

We have had this come up a few times at our club and have defined the winner of the trophy/prize/money as the person who entered the boat and paid the entry fee.

It is a good idea to set this out in NOR so that it is clear, especially when there is a large sum of money riding on the prize.