Originally Posted by brucat
The key definition is At the mark, since anything before that is approaching, and after that is leaving.

Maybe Eric or Matt can find a reference, but I know that this has been discussed quite a bit at ISAF and US Sailing, and has been a topic at several seminars I've attended over the past year or two. I think there was an official call or interpretation issued recently, I just can't put a finger on it.

This one is easy for me, since I was on the protest committee that decided it. It's US Sailing Appeal 105 here.

That one little protest hearing at the 2010 JY15 Regional Championships has ticked off so many boxes it's uncanny. Appealed to the Detroit River Yachting Association (upheld), appealed to US Sailing (upheld), included in the US Sailing Appeals Book (because it defined a significant concept) and it's a hair's breadth from being included in the ISAF Case Book (approved by the ISAF Rules Committee and only needs approval from the Council). It's been featured in Sailing World and a photo of the hearing was used to illustrate another one of Dick Rose's articles in Sailing World.
[Linked Image]

And yeah, it's a marvelous photo of the reason you rarely see me without a hat.