Originally Posted by Isotope42
Originally Posted by JeffS
I will state according to the new International Sailing Federation rules once you have established a position within the 3 boat length circle of a mark of the course you have the rights in order of when you came within that circle so if you are 1st it does not matter port or starboard you have the rights and all other boats must give you space to round in a seamanlike manner as long as you don't tack.

The RRS 2013-2016 have had several changes. That includes rewriting of the definition of mark-room and some tweaking of rule 18. Rule 18.2(b), however, has not changed. In what rule do you find "rights in order"? In the previous rules (2005-2008), if a rule of Section A or Section B conflicted with Section C (e.g. rule 18), then the A/B rule didn't apply. That meant that there were times that rule 10 could switch off. That confused a lot of sailors, so ISAF took that out of the current (2009-2012) rules. Rule 10 applies throughout mark roundings -- the starboard tack boat's actions may, however, be limited by rule 18. A port-tack boat entitled to mark-room may also be exonerated for breaking rule 10 (see RRS 18.5 or RRS 21 in the upcoming rules).

Quote
The more amateur your fleet the more space, for instance at the A Class worlds they would measure in inches at my club level I would give 4 or 5 feet because my seamanship is less than the world class, another example would be if I mucked up a spinnaker takedown because I was excited about coming first, am now under the mark limping up wind while the other spin boats are racing down, once I am in that circle 1st I have the rights no matter what speed is involved

There is not total agreement in the judging community about how much room is enough. While I agree that some consideration should be given to the base skill level of the event, the rules do not excuse poor seamanship at all. If a boat entitled to mark-room takes more room than necessary due to a mishandled spinnaker takedown, then she may break rule 10, 11, or 12 in the process.

Regards,
Eric


The rules state that as you enter the three boat length circle around the mark you establish your position as long as you sail in a seaman like manner on a proper course and that would mean rounding the buoy.
Heres another reason FDUB mucked up he didn't come close to allowing enough room for the inside cats to round in a seaman like manner
As far as proper rounding room goes if you or your tiller hits the mark you must do a circle as it's part of your boat, so my interpretation is if I am inside boat against the mark you must allow me to keep my bows on their current course until the rear of my centreboards is past the mark as I cannot roundup sooner without hitting the mark, furthermore you must allow my tiller to be fully extended and me to be on the wire if I need to for proper seamanship, so the inside area I need to round a mark correctly is much bigger than a dinghy sailor would anticipate. In proper wind a correct rounding could see me on the wire at the rounding adding just under 6ft to the width on my cat so you need to allow me 14ft from the mark in width with my head nearly touching the mark and about 11ft of length infront of the mark as I go round.

Jeff Southall
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