Page 55 - Judge Manual 2017

explain it to the competitor, in the terms of the rule and the World Sailing
interpretations, after the race. Impartiality and objectivity in judging are crucial.
A second, third or subsequent penalty against a boat should be judged exactly
the same as the first. In order to achieve this goal, Judges shouldn't focus on
event results or yellow flag penalty count. They should instead rely on what they
see on the water each day and how the kinetics fit within the World Sailing
interpretations of rule 42.

One of the first indications that a competitor might be breaking rule 42 is that
one boat looks different from the others in the movement of the boat, rig or sails,
or the body of the crew. Judges have to observe both the actions and the effects
of those actions before they can conclude that a competitor has broken rule 42.

Judges will make decisions that are more objective and consistent if they go
through the following process before deciding to penalize:
• Be in the right position to observe the possible breach;
• Verbalize what they see;
• Connect the competitor’s movement to the effect on the boat or sails;
• Decide whether that movement is a prohibited action.

Some of the questions that Judges should ask themselves and each other
are:

Possible Pumping
• Are there surfing or planing conditions?
• Are the crew pumping the sail(s) while surfing or planing?
• Could the trim and release be a response to conditions?
• Is the repeated trim and release fanning the sail?
• Does negative pumping cause the flicking leach? (Permitted by Pump 4)
• Can you connect the flicking leach to body movement or is it caused by
other factors?

Possible rocking
• Is the competitor causing the boat to roll?
• Is the competitor accentuating background rolling?
• Is competitor-induced rolling helping to steer the boat?
• Is the amount of rolling consistent with the amount the boat turns?
• Is it in sync with the waves?

Possible Ooching

Downwind:
• Is the competitor stopping his or her forward body movement abruptly?

Upwind:
• Are there waves?
• Is the competitor’s movement in phase with the waves?
• Is the sail flicking?
• Could the flicks on the leach be caused by the waves?

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