Eric, excellent job with all of these rule references. Your interpretations are spot on with what I'm seeing at the top end here in Newport.

A few things to note regarding some other posts here:

Flags. The intent of the rule changes regarding not requiring flags for small boats was partially due to making protesting easier. Too many protests were tossed on technicalities, which is BAD FOR THE SPORT. There are enough rules in place (as Eric has pointed out here and in similar threads) to allow PCs to move forward with hearing protests in certain situations.

The Hobie Class (IHCA) has siezed on this opportunity to state that flags are not required for ANY Hobie classes, regardless of length. This requires a proper SI, which is one of the items covered in our template.

Unfortunately, too many regattas go the other way. Youth events seems to be the worst. They want flags, hails, and RC notification at the end of the race. Good judges often allow protests without all of these things being met, if RRS and good judgement allow. Mainly, they want to use the hearings to help the kids learn.

Hailing "starboard." I agree with Mark, this is annoying and pointless, IF you are sailing in a good fleet, are comfortable with the ability of the boat on port, and they are looking at you. At the H16s NAs in Kingston in 2000, my crew was yelling starboard at every port boat she saw, until I told her to shut up (not quite in those words). I told her (and all my crews) that as long as someone on the other boat is looking at us, at that level, there's nothing to worry about.

Cross/tack. When I said earlier that you might want the port boat to cross rather than tack, this really has nothing to do with lee-bows. Generally, cats don't tack quickly enough to get in the proper position to pull this off, and the speed of our boats generally affects the airflow in such a way to make this ineffective. However, I don't want a pincher to tack under me, because that will kill me later on the leg. I tend to foot more than most, so almost everyone will outpoint me.

Mike