Nice takeaway Jake
The takeaway you have while racing is, if you are not absolutely positive that you have established or broken overlap before the zone, assume that you have not and proceed with this in mind.
Mike... "nice problem for the jury!!!" hmm.... maybe true but the rules are trying to NOT make for interesting cases...
The principle underlying Jake's take home is "You can take advantage of mistakes by others.. but the rules themselves are not a weapon to use to win in the corners.
I would add... the underlying notion that you can use the rules to gain an advantage at the corners is not valid and we can forget that...If you race into the corner with that mindset....chances are you foul...
old farts remember our younger impressionable days and remember lots of stories from the top of the fleet about how you did this kind of thing.... it was part of the game... the more balls you had.... the better the result.
The current rules requires an attitude adjustment.... to the bigger your balls... the more success you have mindset.
playing with big heavy monohulls drives home the principal... the rules are not weapons at the corners. If you haven't passed the guy... before the corner... don't push your luck.. chances are you can't prove you did not foul.
the powers that be are always trying to make the game a bit more "elegant" by trying to get the language they use just right and universally understood. Its tough!
