An interesting situation. Wouldn't blowing the jib make it harder to duck? Also, if the other boat had passed head-to-wind, wouldn't your bow have clipped her on her starboard stern - not port?
As presented, I can see it going one of two ways in the room:
- Because A had passed head-to-wind, rule 13 (while tacking) applied and she was required to keep clear of B (on starboard tack). Because she did not, she would be penalized. Because it was not reasonably possible for B to avoid contact, B did not break rule 14.
- If A had not passed head-to-wind, it could still be argued that even though her bow was pointed into the wind, A in fact changed course (from moving upwind to moving downwind). In this case, rule 16.1 would apply and A would be obligated to give B room to keep clear. Since B was unable to keep clear, A would be penalized. B would be exonerated under rule 64.1(c).
You are right that either way, A was not backing her sail so rule 21.3 is not relevant.
Regards,
Eric
I blew the jib to allow for the turn down without increasing speed. The other boat appeared to be past head-to-weather, but only just, as her sails hadn't backwinded - her speed down the wave face was pure gravity, not wind-driven. We
so very nearly made the duck - yes, our starboard bow hit the inside aft corner of their port hull, leaving a dime-sized chip in the gelcoat. Our bow was unscratched, so it might have been the bridle bolt that did the damage. This was a Hobie 16 event last month. It happened in a matter of about two or three seconds, start to finish with about five seconds to go in the starting sequence (no proper course) about one boat-length below the line and maybe two boat-lengths down the line from the RC boat. At the time we hit, I was sure we were taking a rudder off. It sucked. For everyone.
While I agree with your rule analysis, these are the facts as I saw them; the other team felt we had fouled them badly. There was no hail of protest, and it was expressed on the beach later that they didn't feel a hail should have been necessary. They felt that the fact they were backing up didn't matter, and my question about where we would have hit them if we hadn't ducked went unanswered; they were quite busy avoiding the leeward boat that had poked them up to begin with, and did not see us until the skipper looked back as the wave lifted their bows and they began their slide. At that point, we'd already begun to duck, so he never saw our original course. Further, if the guy ever read the forum, he might have a different recollection of the event altogether; you only have my side.
