Ask any mark-boat volunteer what irks them most about setting a start pin for a class that allows GPS-based ­starting devices and chances are the response you’ll get is: “The pinging chaos.” What a pain it is to stream or reset tackle while crews swarm like flies, yelling and banging into each other. Pinging is a modern annoyance for everyone, but the engineers at Vakaros, makers of starting devices that contributed to the problem in the first place, have finally rolled out a solution that could put an end to it.

With its new Atlas2 units flying off the shelf and the companion race-management software getting into the hands of PROs, Vakaros says the stresses of ­getting—and delivering—a good and fair start are fast becoming a thing of the past. Race committees and marshmallows rejoice.

“[RaceSense] is something we’ve been talking about for a long time, and we’re now at a place where we have the technology ready and the bandwidth to focus on it,” says Vakaros co-founder Jake Keilman. “We’re going from it being something possible to something that will become very common.”

That something is more effectively orchestrating starts using better GPS technology. That means sharper time-and-distance accuracy for the sailors and more-accurate OCS calls for the race committee. The RaceSense platform isn’t all about starts, though. It can essentially manage an entire race from start to finish.

Keilman says it’s a game-changer, which is hard to dispute. Modern times call for modern technology, and that technology is here.

The Atlas2, a compact (4.5-by-3.5-inch) instrument, has all the essential features and then some—timer, compass, heel angle, etc., with a significantly upgraded hardware and battery package that also has been a long time coming. 

“We held back on the Atlas2 to get the newer technology,” Keilman says. “We’re now at a place where the GPS accuracy will match or exceed the human eye calling the start line in any situation you could imagine.”

Catamarans, foilers and other high-speed craft breaking the line at 20 knots? Absolutely, says Keilman. They’ve proven as much with test events in Miami this winter with both the M32 Catamaran and 69F classes, which use reaching starts.

Racecourse ­management once exclusive to the America’s Cup and SailGP has been scaled for the average sailor with the RaceSense and Atlas2 platform, says Vakaros co-founder Todd Wilson. 

“There were a number of ­challenges we had to really think about to solve. One was position accuracy, but the other was communications, which in a lot of ways was the greater challenge. Then there’s the overall user ­experience—can they interact with the units? Can race committees send messages and other data straight to competitors? Will there be additional ­hardware that has to be added to the boat?”

The answers are all packed into the diminutive Atlas2. The critical internal compass and sensors are the best they could source for the price, and the battery will last the duration of a three-day regatta without requiring a daily charge.

With access to dual-band GPS, they were able to solve the accuracy hurdle. Previous units relied on a single GPS signal, which is subject to anomalies in the atmosphere and can result in errors in the range of 2 meters, Keilman says. “Dual GPS takes us to 50 centimeters of error—or maybe even better under optimal conditions.”

That promise of 50 centimeters of on-the-line accuracy is the tech leap they needed to make it all worthwhile. With the communications challenge sorted, they now have a device that’s a lot more than your old-school starting aid, timer and compass. Race tracking and data logging make post-race debriefs honest discussions.

How does it all work in practicality? The racecourse mesh network would be set up with units marking each end of the starting line. The ­tablet-based RaceSense app in the race committee’s hands gives the PRO a controlling view of the racecourse. They can verify the course is set, control timing, and send messages to the competitors’ units.

Before the race, each competitor with an Atlas2 automatically checks in with the race committee once in range. (Although the unit does need to be registered with the race committee beforehand.) It’s the equivalent of coming within hail, shouting your sail number, and waving to the committee secretary. A green light on the unit will indicate they’ve joined the race, and then they will receive any messages from the race committee (e.g., start time, course length, mark bearings).

Once connected, the sailor can carry on with pre-race drills. When the race committee initiates a starting sequence, a notice overrides timers and updates previous mark pings. “All the boats get a live sense of where the line is as it moves around during the sequence,” Wilson says. “The competitor does not need to ping or interact with the unit at all; they just get notifications—sounds, lights, messages onscreen to keep everyone in sync.”

With time, distance, boatspeed and angle displayed prominently in big black digits, there should be no reason to be over early. But it happens, and when it does, it’s impossible to miss the red flashing light atop the unit and the big bold OCS on the display.

The RaceSense app shows the race committee which boats are over early (and whether they’ve exonerated their penalty), which theoretically eliminates the practice of ducking for cover behind an exposed boat and getting away with it. The spotter doesn’t need to see you to ding you.

For classes that currently do not allow distance-to-the-line functionality, the units can be configured to be class-­compliant, but the race committee can still communicate and alert OCS boats. “We’re adaptable to class rules,” Wilson says.

With real-world winter trials underway and an expanding list of classes and events adopting the RaceSense experiment, it’s in the early days yet in terms of realizing the full potential of the device and software. But the immediate focus for Vakaros is demonstrating to rank-and-file racers the wonders of the starting application. There’s functionality built into the Atlas2 that will enable a fleet to essentially run races without any race committee at all. We’re talking virtual racecourses with boundaries, mark zones and recorded finish orders. “We want it to basically orchestrate the entire race,” he says, “and maybe down the road, we’ll be able to provide advanced tools for umpiring.”

One hurdle for RaceSense implementation across a local fleet or one-­design class is the universal buy-in for the Atlas2 units, which retail for $1,100. Resistance within ranks of some classes is to be expected, Wilson says. But he sees another benefit for small fleets where competitors have to occasionally sit out to run the race. “I think this can really make a difference for fleets that don’t have big budgets or aren’t able to bring in a big race committee team. The dream is to be able to push a button on shore, with mark bots running on RaceSense. That way, everyone who wants to sail gets to sail.”

That also means the decline of pinging chaos, he adds. The only ones who will lose out will be those in the gelcoat repair business.

The post RaceSense Aims to Automate Races appeared first on Sailing World.

A boat that gets off the ­starting line in a good position and has good upwind speed is probably going to be near the top of the fleet at the first weather mark. That’s easy to say but challenging to do, especially the starting part. However, if you learn to follow a script or plan that makes the starting routine mechanical, you’ll discover that each start becomes better, and your starts, overall, become more consistent. The good news is that plan can be followed wherever you start on the line and whatever the breeze.

How do you know when you’ve managed a good start? Simply put, you’ve gotten off the line in the front row with competitive speed so you can take advantage of the first shift. It’s cool to be able to blast off the line with a boatlength or two lead and have the fleet over your shoulder. But even just one boat hanging on your weather hip eliminates your opportunity to tack on the first header and, as a result, a good start is wasted.

Determine Where to Start

The race committee’s goal is to set a line basically perpendicular to the wind so that no single boat has an advantage, regardless of where it starts. However, the wind almost always shifts, and seemingly does so at the last minute. If the line is fairly short and/or one end is favored by 5 degrees or less, starting in the middle becomes an excellent choice, giving a conservative starter the opportunity to take advantage of a shift from either side of the course. The fastest ­college ­sailors often start near the middle of the line, knowing that they can protect the left side of the course or tack and consolidate the right.

However, in big fleets—50 boats or more—or on a line where one end is heavily favored, say, 15 to 20 degrees, then starting closer to the favored end becomes more advantageous. I emphasize closer, as it can be risky to start right at the favored end because everyone’s trying to start there. Starting a third of the way up or down from the favored end is much less risky and can make it easier to get off the line.

Remember, the angle of the wind relative to the starting line determines which end is favored, and unless the course to the first mark is way off square to the wind or the starting line is skewed by more than 30 degrees, the course to the first mark shouldn’t have any effect on where you start.

Follow Your Pre-start Checklist

While there are several ­different methods in checking which end is favored, unless I am sailing in a small fleet or on a small inland lake, I use the compass. If the line is short and the fleet is small, head into the wind and note which end of the line the bow points closer toward. That’s the favored end. On longer lines with more boats and in more-extreme ­conditions (very light or very heavy winds), the ­compass is much more accurate. Take a compass heading while sailing down the line and compare it to your head-to-wind reading. If more or less than 90 degrees (which tells us if the line is square), not only will you know which end is favored, but also how much it’s favored. In addition, once you have the line compass bearing, you can double check which end is favored anytime, anywhere (and away from all the traffic on the line) just by ­heading into the wind.

If you have GPS technology, ping the ends of the line once the line is set. Luff head-to-wind, close to the committee boat, moving very slowly so it’s easy to get a good reference. At the leeward end, set up outside the line, again head-to-wind and moving slowly, where it’s easy to gauge exactly when on the line. Once you have confidence in your pings lining up, managing the last minute becomes much easier.

Without a GPS (and to ­double check your GPS settings), rely on line sights. Start at the weather end, on starboard tack, closehauled, loosely trimmed and moving slowly, four to five boatlengths below the line. Start taking line sights with something onshore through the leeward end of the line. Ideally, you’ll have one at four to five lengths, three lengths and two lengths off the line, as well as the final shot right down line. Those early “safe” line sights are crucial in gauging the speed and timing to the line, because invariably the sights down the actual line become tough to maintain in the last 10 seconds, when the fleet is lined up. Sometimes a line sight to weather through the committee boat by the forward crew can be a valuable check in the last 10 to 15 seconds.

Check for current at all spots on the line, recognizing that there could be current at different speeds and different angles at each end. Practice the laylines at each end to gain confidence in the approach angle to the line, and especially where you ideally would want to start. Finally, practice your actual maneuverability and the speed required to maintain control of your boat. It’s important be able to recognize when you are too slow to be able to head up or bear off, even when using your sails to help control the boat.

Own Your Final Approach

While many sailors develop a series of different approaches to draw on for starts in different conditions in different size fleets and for different positions on the line, I focus on one approach for every start. Therefore, I know exactly how I’ll set up, no matter where I want to be on the line. The only variable becomes the timing. The two most common approaches are starboard luffing, where boats line up several lengths below the line several minutes before the start, and the port-tack approach, which is my favorite.

With the port-tack approach, come in a boatlength or two below the bulk of the fleet; most boats will be luffing on starboard. Depending on the breeze, the waves and the size of the fleet, I’ll look for and then tack into a hole on the line close to one minute before the start, depending on the conditions and fleet lineup. In some ways, this approach might seem risky because you’re sailing on port tack toward a group of starboard tackers. However, remember that one of the most important goals of the starboard tack boats is to develop a hole to leeward. If this hole is big enough and left open, it’s an open invitation for a port tacker.

One of the keys to a ­successful port-tack approach is the tack into the vacant hole. This tack should be slow and controlled so that once around and onto starboard, your bow will be slightly behind that of the boat to weather. Speed after the tack should be slow so that you are immediately in a position to become the leeward controlling boat. Leave yourself the opportunity to accelerate and not be dangerously close to the line. This is one of the major differences between the starboard and port-tack approaches. During the port-tack approach, you are attacking the starboard boat’s position, while those using the starboard approach are usually trying to defend.

If you’re the approaching port-tack boat, you must sail all the way through the tack and onto your starboard closehauled course before you can assume your new, leeward boat rights. And you must give the weather boat room and time to fulfill its new obligation to keep clear. Once the port tacker has completed his tack to starboard, the now windward starboard tack boat must begin to keep clear and assume the port tacker has now become the leeward boat with rights.

What if there isn’t a hole at the spot where you want to tack? In that case, you probably wouldn’t want to start in that pileup of boats anyway. Instead, sail down the line a bit farther until a more inviting hole ­presents itself.

Obviously, the starboard-tack boat will not just sit and wave you on into the hole they have been working hard to create. They should defend by bearing off toward you as you approach. If the hole is small, or the tack from port to starboard becomes rushed, the port tacker most likely will become discouraged with that spot and sail up the line looking for the next hole.

Once you know how you’ll approach the line, the remaining variable is timing. Ideally, you’ve practiced your timing in that five or 10 minutes before the start. When I set up with the port-tack approach, I determine how long it takes to get from the leeward end pin to my spot of choice on the line, unless the line is super long. I sail back and forth several times in order to determine how long it takes, and then add 10 to 15˛seconds for the tack. Usually, I try to complete the tack onto starboard by 55 to 60 seconds before the start, depending on the breeze and the size of the fleet—the lighter the breeze, the lumpier the wave state; the larger the fleet, the earlier the tack. If we know it takes 40 seconds to get to that spot, we’d leave the pin with 1:45 left before the start.

Once in position, ­control your hole and the boat to windward. This doesn’t demand any sort of attack that requires the use of the rulebook. It requires you to maintain a position where your boat can dictate when the windward boat can trim in and accelerate. Position your bow slightly behind the windward boat’s bow but still in clear air. Your course should be just above closehauled with your sails luffing. Use mainsail trim to help maintain this bow-up position. Try to maintain a boat’s width or slightly less between you and the weather boat. If the weather boat begins to trim and accelerate, trim, gradually head up, and force it to slow down. As long as they’ve been provided the opportunity to keep clear of you, they will also need to luff.

At the same time, work hard to stay off the boat to leeward, if there is one. Constantly watch the leeward boat’s position and speed. If they accelerate and sail higher toward you, react by doing the same to maintain a safe distance—hopefully as much as two to three boat widths. This hole to leeward is key in allowing you to sail slightly below closehauled, in first gear, in order to accelerate in the five to 10 seconds before the gun.

In the last 15 to 20 ­seconds, the GPS pings and/or line sights are important gauges that will give you confidence in your positioning. Pay close attention to your placement relative to the lineup of boats close by. Especially watch the two to three boats to windward, always trying to maintain the same slight bow-back position throughout the entire starting approach. That will give you a runway to accelerate into so you can begin to trim before the competitors above do. If any of those boats to weather trims and begins to accelerate, trim immediately and match its speed, no matter where it is on the line or the time before the gun. If even one of those boats gets the jump and ends up on your wind after the gun, it can be game over.

One tip is how to slow the boat when you find yourself dangerously close to being over early. Our instinct tells us to turn down, away from the line. However, bearing away usually means burning up the valuable hole to leeward and, in fact, you end up accelerating right into it. Instead, head up to near head-to-wind. The boat will slow more quickly and slow the weather competitors. You’ll buy more time and save distance to the line. Most important, you’ll build the hole to leeward and close the ­distance to windward.

Especially for the first minute after the start, boatspeed is king. Fight the urge to point as high as possible until the boat has sailed through all the gears and is at top speed. Definitely do not pinch. A common mistake is to trim the sails too tightly, too quickly. If the sails are trimmed right to the closehauled position before the boat has the time to sail through the gears, the boat will load up and slide sideways. Talk about ­burning up the hole to leeward!

On our boat, we divide all the responsibilities where, in the last 15 seconds, I am simply steering when and where the crew indicates. If we’re sailing with three, the jib trimmer keeps track of the line and our position relative to the boats to weather. That person has control of our final timing and dictates exactly when to pull the trigger. The middle person keeps the time and looks aft and to leeward for boats approaching late on port or behind and low on starboard. Our boat is anything but quiet in these last seconds, but this constant influx of information allows me to concentrate entirely on boatspeed.

The post Sailboat Racing Starts Done Right appeared first on Sailing World.

I didn’t sail as a kid, and I was a simple cruiser when I sought out racing. The first guy to take a chance on me was Elliot Peterson, who had a Merit 28. After a few months of Wednesday nights in the Solomon Islands, I’d discovered my new passion. The only way to fuel it was to keep finding rides.

I signed up for the 120-nautical-mile Down the Bay Race from Annapolis to Hampton, Virginia, aboard Trevor Harney’s Merit 25, Audrey. All the good sailors had looked at the forecast and decided against an upwind slog on a 25-footer in 25 knots, so there was room for me. Three of us began and finished the race in a driving rain, winning our class. With my first big win, my addiction grew stronger.

The next step in my journey was aboard the 1930s-era Chesapeake Bay log canoe Flying Cloud, owned by Allan Noble. Originally designed as oyster boats with shoal drafts and centerboards so they could reach the shallows, these historic 6-foot wooden boats are overcanvassed and unballasted. The experience of sailing them is a combination of yelling, dynamic body movements, lots of 10-ounce beer drinking, and even a little sailing. Under the tutelage of Ed Schut and our skipper, Sean Callahan, both lifelong log canoers, I learned a few new expletives and a lot about racing.

Through circumstance, I was invited to help out aboard the competitive Mumm 30 Rhumb Punch, owned and driven by John “Papa” Edwards. Here I found that my initial crew value was as nautical scapegoat. What started as an accurate reflection of my performance became a team-building activity. When, inevitably, I would rig something wrong or have my trim not quite right, someone (usually Papa) would yell, “Damn it, Ridgey!” As I progressed in my abilities, I gave my fellow crewmembers fewer opportunities to shout our battle cry, but they soon found a workaround: Anytime there was any issue, it could just as easily be blamed on me. I discovered that sometimes it worked best for me to beat them to the punch and yell my own “Damn it, Ridgey!” My sense of humor and ability to take a joke kept me getting invited back. We sailed fast and hard, but we had fun.

During these three years, Rhumb Punch traveled to Key West Race Week, Charleston Race Week and the Annapolis NOODs, but I did not. I knew I wasn’t prime-time regatta material yet. I gradually progressed in each of the crew positions. It was incredible to be part of such a successful team. The Mumm 30 is a veritable high-performance classroom, and on Rhumb Punch, I feasted on knowledge.

In December 2015 I got an email from Peter D’Arista, the owner of two local Donovan GP 26s. I was being called up to the majors and had a ride for Quantum Key West Race Week 2016. This was my first opportunity to sail with true professionals, and though I knew I wasn’t one of them, I resolved to give everything I had and learn as much from the experience as I could.

On a blustery Key West morning on Day 2, I arrived at the dock and realized for the first time in my life that I was hoping the races would be called for the day. I needed to recover from the previous day’s blow. I decided then and there that this would be the last time I would feel this way, and committed to improving my strength and endurance. To be part of a successful team, I had to ensure I was physically up to any task in all conditions.

Each of these experiences taught me different lessons. Although I continue to progress, I strive to learn something from each race and program. After Key West, I asked Joe Gibson, a pro from Annapolis, for his advice on developing as a competitive sailor. “Never be the best sailor on the boat,” he told me. Luckily, I never have been, but I think what he meant is to surround myself with others who can help me develop. Early in my racing, I decided I would take any role on any boat, but as I progressed, so did my value and the boats, skippers and crew I raced with. I learned how important it is to show up early, stay late, work harder than anyone else, be fun, and be interesting. Develop thick skin, learn to take and make a joke, and be ready to ride.

The post The Best Way to Learn appeared first on Sailing World.

For Bradley Johnson, bowman for one of the teams, it was a disappointment that reinforced just how difficult it is to qualify for the Paralympic games today. The difference between 1996, when Paralympic sailing began as a demonstration sport, is dramatic. Back then, qualifying regattas bore little resemblance to the intense competition in Halifax this year. With innovations in adaptive technology and more robust training opportunities, they’re no longer just disabled sailors, but highly-trained athletes.

“We’re talking about sailing against world-class sailors; this is not a bucket race,” says Johnson, 44. “Our class has former America’s Cup sailors from New Zealand, and the French team captain has done a single-handed circumnavigation. This Sonar fleet is borderline elite professional.”

Johnson, who has been sailing on and off the U.S. Paralympic Team since 2003, has seen the changes firsthand. “Our class, over the course of the past twelve years, has grown exponentially both in size and level of competition,” he says. “I’ve seen the changes in the programs of each country, the support and the investment, along with other intricacies that make it possible. In some countries, the Paralympic sailors are sailing full-time. We’re not quite there yet, but the increase of resources we’ve been seeing is key to a successful Paralympic program.”

“Many countries, including the United States, have blended their Olympic and Paralympic teams into one,” says Betsy Alison, U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team Coach. “The result is one team with one focus.The Olympic sailors are exposed to a group of people who have overcome significant challenges, and when they come up against training obstacles our ‘O’ sailors can reflect on how the ‘P’ sailors have overcome in these circumstances.”

Depth across Paralympic classes has been steadily increasing since 1996, says Alison. “For us to be able to compete on the same level as fully-funded Paralympic teams is really incredible. The competition is better than it has ever been, so we need to step up our game, we need to be better than ever before.”

Johnson and his teammates, skipper Andrew Fisher and tactician Mike Hersey, will have a final opportunity to qualify at the next IFDS Worlds in Melbourne, Australia, in November 2015. In the meantime, there’s work to be done. Both of Johnson’s teammates are healing from surgery, and after recovery they’ll all be getting back on the water together.

“You don’t become great at anything unless you do it repetitively,” says Johnson. “We’ll be working on communication on the boat and getting the entire team on the same page so we can compete without issue. We’re going to go over all of it—starting, boathandling, tactics—there’s nothing we’re not going to cover.”

Alison is confident the next year of training will pay off in spades. “Brad and his teammates will be going to Melbourne,” she says. “They will qualify, and we will go to Rio.”

This article first appeared in the November/December 2014 issue of Sailing World.

Note: It was recently announced that sailing will not be part of the program for the 2020 Paralympic Games. ISAF is challenging this decision. Click here to read more.

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Maserati

When California gold was discovered in 1848, a sailing voyage from the East Coast to San Francisco, via Cape Horn, could take from five to eight months. But sailors and shipbuilders have a way of speeding things up when there is profit or glory (or both) at stake. In 1851, the clipper ship Flying Cloud clocked in from New York at 89 days and 21 hours. In 1854 she took another 13 hours off that world-famous record.

That was then. In February, Italian sailing legend Giovanni Soldini and a multinational crew of eight, aboard the turboed Volvo 70 Maserati (ex-Ericsson III), shaved the record for the aptly-named Golden Route, arriving in San Francisco after just 47 days, a time that would have had Flying Cloud‘s captain, Josiah Creesy, choking on his whiskey. Still, his clipper-era record survived until 1989, when Warren Luhrs and Hunter’s Child sailed through the Golden Gate after 80 days and 20 hours. Isabelle Autissier and Yves Parlier have since claimed bragging rights—although these records weren’t ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council—leaving Soldini with Parlier’s 1998 benchmark of 57 days and 3 hours to obliterate.

New York-San Francisco is America’s greatest (and most historic) sailing passage, and arguably one of the most compelling speed sailing challenges on the planet. At 13,225 miles, it is longer than any other popular record route, save the Jules Verne. And it tests sailors with multiple weather zones, two equator crossings, and an always treacherous westward rounding of Cape Horn. Luhr’s epic summation was: “Wouldn’t do anything different; wouldn’t do it again.”

For their effort, Maserati‘s crew got a shout-out from the Italian consulate, and were honored with the Manhattan Sailing Club’s Clipper Challenge Cup. More important, perhaps, was the experience of an historic route well-sailed, with the ghost of the Flying Cloud over the horizon. “My bucket list of records has always included the New York-San Francisco, as it was something I read about as a kid and always dreamed of doing,” says Ryan Breymaier, the only American aboard Maserati. “I am very happy that it went so well.”

View more photos of Maserati.

The post Quicker than the Clipper appeared first on Sailing World.

Room at a start

A reader recently wrote asking several questions, which inspired the following discussion of rules that apply at starting marks. The three diagrams show the three types of starting marks that you are likely to encounter—an anchored committee boat from which the starting line extends, a small buoy, usually serving as the port-end starting mark, and a flag staff on the end of a pier.

“When is an object at one end of the line an obstruction, and when is it a mark?” the reader asked. The definition Mark implies that the committee boat (but not its anchor line and any object accidentally or temporarily attached to it), the buoy (but not its anchor line), and the flag at the end of the pier are all marks, and, when a mark is set, it is always a mark. An object that is a mark can also be an obstruction if it satisfies the criterion in the first sentence of the definition Obstruction. In our examples, the committee boat meets the criterion for an obstruction, but the buoy does not. The buoy is so small that, if one of the dinghies shown in the diagram were sailing directly toward it and was one of her hull lengths from it, she could pass it without changing course substantially. The flag on the pier is not an obstruction, but the pier itself is. Any obstruction, other than a boat racing, is an obstruction at all times.

Now let’s consider how the Part 2 rules apply to the three situations shown in the diagrams. In each case Ivan and Olga are two overlapped boats on the same tack sailing toward a starting mark. The inside boat, Ivan, asks the outside boat, Olga, for room to pass to leeward of the mark. Olga holds her course and refuses to give Ivan room. The three situations are very simple and easy to visualize, but the rules that apply depend on which mark the boats are approaching, and when they are approaching it. I will discuss each incident in the diagrams under four different assumptions about the time when it occurs. The times are shown in bold below.

In all cases, the only Part 2 rules that apply are Rule 11, requiring the windward boat, Ivan, to keep clear of the leeward boat, Olga, and Rule 14, requiring both boats to avoid contact if reasonably possible. In addition to the Part 2 rules, Rule 16.1 does not apply because Olga holds her course. Rule 31 must be considered in addition to the Part 2 rules. A boat breaks Rule 31 if, while she is racing, she touches a starting mark after her preparatory signal and before she completes the first leg of the course.

The incidents occur after the preparatory signal while both boats are on their final approach to the mark to start: At the committee boat or the small buoy, both of which are surrounded by navigable water, Rules 18 and 19 do not apply. Provided Ivan does not force Olga to change course, neither boat breaks a rule. Ivan is “barging” and, to avoid breaking a rule, he must pass the mark on the wrong side.

At the pier, the starting mark is not surrounded by navigable water, and the mark has a required side—that is, it must be left to starboard (see Rule 28.2). Rule 18 applies because the boats are required to leave the mark on the same side (see Rule 18.1) and, for the same reason, Rule 19 does not apply (see Rule 19.1). Rule 18.2 requires Olga to give Ivan mark-room, and, while taking that mark-room Ivan must, if possible, keep clear of Olga. If she doesn’t leave enough space for him to keep clear, then he is exonerated for breaking Rule 11 under Rule 18.5(a).

The incidents occur after the preparatory signal but before the boats begin their final approach to the mark to start: Let’s say there are 3 minutes to go until the starting signal, and Ivan and Olga are approaching the line to confirm which end is favored. Because they are not on their final approach, the Section C preamble does not “switch off” the Section C rules. Nevertheless, Rule 18 does not apply because the boats are not yet required to leave the mark on the same side (see Rule 28.2).

Because both the committee boat and the pier are obstructions, Rule 19 applies as the boats pass either of them (see Rule 19.1). Under Rule 19.2(b), Olga as the outside boat is required to give Ivan room to pass between her and the obstruction. As Ivan takes room given to him by Olga, he is required by Rule 11 to keep clear of her. If, as shown in the first diagram, Olga denies Ivan room, then she has broken Rule 19.2(b).

At the small buoy, Rule 19 does not apply because the mark is not an obstruction. Rule 11 applies, and, because Olga is denying him room, Ivan must leave that buoy to starboard.

Suppose that Ivan and Olga are in different classes with different starting times and that the incidents occur after Ivan’s preparatory signal but before Olga’s preparatory signal: Ivan is racing, but Olga is not (see the definition Racing). If Olga interferes with Ivan in any way, she breaks Rule 23.1. At all three marks Olga denies Ivan room that he would obviously have had if she had stayed out of the area where the boats racing were maneuvering to start. Therefore, Olga does break Rule 23.1, and, because she is not racing, she cannot take a Two-Turns Penalty (see Rule 44.1). Her penalty is to retire. My advice to Ivan is, even though he is annoyed by Olga interfering with his starting plans, he should keep clear of her as required by Rule 11 and, if possible, avoid contact as required by Rule 14. If he were to break either Rule 11 or 14, or both, he could take a Two-Turns Penalty and continue to race. If he were to touch the mark, he could take a One-Turn Penalty. However, if Olga’s interference compelled him to break Rule 11, 14, or 31, then he would be exonerated under Rule 64.1(c).

The incidents occur before the preparatory signal for either boat: Rule 23.1 does not apply between them because it only applies between two boats when one of them is racing and the other is not. Other Part 2 rules do apply between them because they are sailing in the starting area and intend to race (see the Part 2 preamble). Rule 31 does not apply to either of them because they are not yet racing.

At the committee boat and at the pier, Rule 18 does not apply because the mark does not yet have a required side for either boat. But Rule 19.2(b) does apply, and it requires Olga to give Ivan room to pass between her and the obstruction. Ivan is required by Rule 11 to keep clear of Olga. If one of the boats breaks a Part 2 rule, she cannot be penalized and is therefore under no obligation to take a Two-Turns Penalty. However, if there is damage or injury, she may be liable for the costs incurred (see the US Sailing prescription to Rule 68).

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Fight For Your Spot

Better late than never, right? Ed Baird helps us get off to a good start with a last-minute approach to the line. “If you see a nice, juicy spot with your name on it, just glide in there and hold on to it until the start,” writes Baird in “Fight For Your Spot,” from SW‘s September 1993 issue. “If it looks dicey or you’re early, duck behind the starboard group and take the next hole that pops up.” Read more here.

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Recover from a Bad Start

Terry Hutchinson explains how to get in the clear after a bad start: “You know you’ve had a bad start when you can’t execute the game plan determined before the race. Two critical things must happen if you wish to recover: the helmsman has to sail the boat as fast as possible while in dirty air, and you need to decide where to go to get clean air.”

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