OK I will add my 2 cents in this.

First, back to Bob Hodges initial scenario. Both boats screwed up in a big way. First the H 16 was on the port layline approaching the weather mark in a mixed fleet with spinnaker boats rounding. Why? That is plain stupid. Why place yourself in a situation where you have no rights and you have to weave through traffic? Frankly in a windy event with mixed skill levels present, you are just asking to get hit hard. Even if you get by the ones going downwind, now you have to tack at the windward mark with no rights. As far as the I 20 goes, delaying the spinnaker set a few seconds because there was a lot of traffic would have been a good idea. Hailing protest and following through with it would have been fine also. Yelling repeated insults on the race course is not acceptable although I have to admit getting mad enough to do it myself a time or 2. We all share the same water and are suposed to be having a good time.

As far as whether you could head a spinnaker boat up and make it flip, what would be the point? First off you might violate rule 16.1 if you are not careful. Secondly his mast is likely going to come down on top of you. By the time you extricate his mast from your shrouds, your race is over anyway, and you have an enemy for life. There is a good chance one or the other of you had some significant damage (think rule 14.2). Seems like a lose- lose situation for me.
This all brings up a good point. Different fleets have different values and norms. On a hobie 14 or 16 I wouldn’t think twice about enforcing my rights in a mark rounding, even if I know there will be chaos and a possible minor collision. Nor would I think twice about heading up a boat that was rolling me ½ boat length away. In the A cat, or a spinnaker boat I would not chance it, except in some cases at a Nationals. We all sail under the same rules, but the expectations are different depending on the fleet and the event.

Sail fast
Eric Anderson