Page 12 - Case Book 2017 - 2020 April 18

be penalized unless the penalty for the rule she broke is However, she breaks rule 2, and possibly rule 69.1(a), if
a non-excludable disqualification. while using those tactics she intentionally breaks a rule.

PART 1 – FUNDAMENTAL CASE 138
RULES Generally, an action by a competitor that directly
affects the fairness of the competition or failing to take
an appropriate penalty when the competitor is aware of
Rule 1.1, Safety: Helping Those in Danger breaking a rule, should be considered under rule 2. Any
action, including a serious breach of rule 2 or any other
CASE 20 rule, that the committee considers may be an act of
When it is possible that a boat is in danger, another misconduct should be considered under rule 69.
boat that gives help is entitled to redress, even if her
help was not asked for or if it is later found that there
was no danger. RYA 1967/13
When a boat that starts and finishes deliberately uses
the right-of-way rules to ‘sail off’ another on the same
Rule 2, Fair Sailing leg of the course to benefit her own series position, she

CASE 27 does not break rule 2 or rule 24.2.
A boat is not required to anticipate that another boat RYA 1986/6
will break a rule. When a boat acquires right of way as When a boat abandons her attempt to sail the course,
a result of her own actions, the other boat is entitled to she may be deemed to have retired and, if she then
room to keep clear. manoeuvres against, and interferes with, another boat
CASE 31 that is racing, she will be penalized and the helmsman
When the correct visual recall signal for individual may be liable to disciplinary action.
recall is made but the required sound signal is not, and RYA 1988/8
when a recalled boat in a position to hear a sound When two overlapped boats are close-hauled on the
signal does not see the visual signal and does not same tack and L suddenly heels to windward, she
return, she is entitled to redress. However, if she maintains her rights provided her action is not
realizes she is on the course side of the line she must deliberate. If L’s action is deliberate, with the intention
return and start correctly. of causing W to break rule 11, she breaks rule 2.
CASE 34 RYA 1989/6
Hindering another boat may be a breach of rule 2 and the ‘Other documents that govern the event’ in the
basis for granting redress and for action under rule 69.2. definition Rule must be stated or referred to in the
CASE 47 notice of race and in the sailing instructions before they
A boat that deliberately hails ‘Starboard’ when she become mandatory for boats racing. When a race
knows she is on port tack has not acted fairly, and has committee considers it necessary for boats to adhere to
broken rule 2. local regulations or prohibitions, it must issue an
explicit notice of race and sailing instructions to that
CASE 65 effect. When no such notice or instructions are issued, a
When a boat knows that she has broken the Black Flag boat that does not comply with a local regulation or
rule, she is obliged to retire promptly. When she does prohibition does not break the Fair Sailing rule.
not do so and then deliberately hinders another boat in
the race, she commits a breach of sportsmanship and of RYA 1989/13
rule 2, and her helmsman commits an act of Use of standard, designed positions for equipment (e.g.
misconduct. a spray hood) not restricted by class rules or the sailing
instructions does not break rule 2, since there is no
CASE 73 clear-cut violation of the principle of sportsmanship.
When, by deliberate action, L’s crew reaches out and
touches W, which action could have no other intention RYA 1990/8
than to cause W to break rule 11, then L breaks rule 2. After an incident, a boat that knows she has broken a
rule cannot protect herself from the consequences of not
CASE 74 taking a penalty by citing the absence of a protest by the
There is no rule that dictates how the helmsman or crew other boat.
of a leeward boat must sit. Contact with a windward
boat does not break rule 2 unless the helmsman’s or RYA 1999/5
crew’s position is deliberately misused. When a give-way boat is already breaking a rule of
Section A of Part 2 by not keeping clear, deliberate
CASE 78 contact does not necessarily break rule 2.
In a fleet race either for one-design boats or for boats
racing under a handicap or rating system, a boat may RYA 2001/2
use tactics that clearly interfere with and hinder When a boat believes that she may have broken a rule
another boat’s progress in the race, provided that, if and retires in compliance with the Basic Principle, she
she is protested under rule 2 for doing so, the protest may revoke her retirement within protest or declaration
committee finds that there was a reasonable chance of time if she later realises that she did not in fact break a
her tactics benefiting her final ranking in the event.
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