Page 83 - Misconduct a Reference for Race Officials

RACING RULES GUIDANCE

PROTECTING COMMITTEE BOATS

The Problem

It is common practice for organizing authorities and race committees to borrow boats for use
as committee vessels. Many owners lend their boats but are aware that there is a
substantial risk of collision and resultant damage to the committee vessel, particularly during
the starting sequence. Therefore the race committee often protects the committee vessel
with objects such as fenders, dinghies or RIBs, sometimes securing them with a long line.

The definition Mark in the Racing Rules of Sailing excludes an object accidentally attached
to it; therefore an object temporarily, but not accidentally, attached to the mark is part of the
mark. Unless care is taken to comply with the definition Mark, an attachment to a race
committee vessel that forms one end of a starting line may become an obstruction that is not
a mark (or part of one) thus falling outside the scope of the Preamble to Part 2 Section C
rules. If so, boats may be permitted to barge in by claiming room at the start or to hail for
room to tack.

The Solution

This paper addresses the words of the definition Mark and recommends sailing instructions
to ensure the intentions of the race committee are achieved and are clear to competitors.
This requires that any attachment to the committee vessel can reasonably be considered
part of the committee vessel or is clearly defined as such. Alternatively additional starting
marks can be laid and, if laid, they must be defined in the sailing instructions.

Attachments

1. Attachments to a committee vessel not described in sailing instructions

A committee vessel becomes a starting or finishing mark by virtue of the definition Mark
when it is surrounded by navigable water and when a starting or finishing line extends
from it. There is no absolute test as to whether any particular attachment ranks as part
of the committee vessel. At one extreme, a pole projecting from inside the committee
vessel and any type of fendering are clearly a part of it; conversely a dinghy or other
vessel that has become entangled in the anchor line of the committee vessel must be
considered as attached accidently and therefore is not part of the committee vessel or
the mark.

Whilst the definition Mark will be sufficient in most cases, the RYA recommends that,
when the competitors may be in doubt about an attachment, any such attachment is
defined in the sailing instructions as described below.

2. Describing attachments to a committee vessel in sailing instructions

The sailing instructions may define any object as one end of a starting or finishing line by
giving it a required side for a boat (as is the case with inner limit marks), as one end of a
starting or finishing line and that may include a trailing dinghy, buoy or other object. It is
recommended that, when necessary, the mark is stated to comprise the vessel plus any

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