There is no reason for saying "May result in DSQ", it's now clear it's an empty threat and serves absolutely no purpose. If the RC wants the option to change the weight of a rule violation I don't see an issue with that. They just need to make sure the penalty is made clear before the teams push off the beach and stick to it.

As for the ground crew running the boats through the surf the last 100 yards. If the rules allow it then so be it, and chock it up as a lesson learned. I don't see this any differently than Rick White's Steeplechase rule regarding the use of paddles where you can paddle the whole freaking way if you want to.

According to RRS and SI that is not allowed at all.

"11.1 The finish shall be between two orange flags on the beach forming a gate, approximately
parallel to the surf..."

"11.2 ... A maximum of two ground crew from each team may be on the course side (OCS) of
the gate to assist a boat with finishing. If a boat receives assistance by more than two
ground crew while OCS and not finished, it may be subject to penalty and/or disqualification
at the discretion of the Race Committee. Emergency assistance may be provided
in the surf as per SI (10.6)"

Jake, get out your red flag next time!

David: I am pretty sure the SI always overrules anything that is said at briefings etc.
Thats why it is called a "briefing" i guess.

Agreed, and it absolutely needs to be in the SI's and made crystal clear. They even could have put it on the official notice board the morning of (if there is one) and it would have simply been a matter of fact. No drama no nothin, heck I don't even think Misha would have had an issue with it based on Jake's post.

And Jake, like Tony said... you gotta pull the flag and take it to the room.

I would suspect that the gub'ment won't take kindly to repeated violations of its exclusion zone. Therefore it would be in the best interest of this adventure race to not repeatedly "test" the enforcement of this exclusion zone by those guys in black RIBs. I guess those that did violate the zone have clean backgrounds, or else they probably would have been nuked by some circling Predator drone...!

At some point they'll send a sternly worded letter to the T500 organizers which might make future races more logistically challenging. (larger exclusion zone, stiffer regulation, having Coast Guard sit there and do inspections while the boats wait...etc)

What penalty is "fair"? That would have to be decided by race organizers and/or competitors. Most definitely BEFORE the leg is sailed, too.

I have been to events where the penalty didn't fit the crime, and some less than scrupulus competitors just ate the penalty and still came out ahead.

Stuff like that kind of feels a lot like that situation where top teams near the end of the regatta don't sail the last race as more of a strategic move..

I applaud those who owned up to their mistake, and especially those who backtracked once they realized their error.

Rick just called. 10 boats still have not made it out through the surf. Cat in the Hat has returned to the beach with some sort of problem.

Everybody was paddling, but with little or no wind, it is very difficult to get through even the relatively low surf.

Story and pix are up. Go to Headline Page at www.catsailor.com
Rick

Wow, Rick wasn't exaggerating when he told me, "What a mess!"

Interesting video of them launching:
Video Link

I remember a day like that when I launched. Same leg I think. Very painful launch. I remember thinking I was out and throwing my paddle back to the ground crew. Only to be smashed by more breakers later and having to paddle like crazy with my hands.

The good news is when that breeze comes in they will be smoking up the beach. I remember a rediculous deep reach double trapped and travelled all the way to the beam. We had to work the mainsheet the entire 100 miles. That was a serious workout.

I also remember some rivers coming in and getting hit with funny waves and current. They call them pissups. Nothing serious but definitely weird if you haven't experienced it before.

This is a long leg but I'm betting on a nice reach for a finish in the 6pm range.

When the NASA Guy talked to us a couple years ago, He basically told us they would be no exception for us going off course. It was a matter of national security, and threats would be dealt with promptly without discussion.
Cary
SEACATS

As far as I personally am concerned, I think that not going around any of those required marks should mean disqualification from the race, regardless of whether the reason for shortcutting is ignorance or arrogance.

Until this year, there was only one required mark in the Key Largo Steeplechase, and that was at the Key Largo Sheraton. We always had spotters at the hotel to make sure all the boats rounded it. If a boat skipped it, that boat would be disqualified from the race. And that mark was just required for publicity purposes for one of the race sponsors.

A required mark is a required mark, no matter what the reason. It should not be something that can get off with a time penalty. There is no way to assess a penalty for something like that in advance in the rules, and anything assessed after the fact is going to be arbitrary, and unfair to others in the race.

Disqualification is the only proper verdict, and it should be in the rules. But that's just me, and I am old school, from the years that when you hit a mark, and nobody saw you, you dropped out of that race and requested a DSQ.

MIke, I agree with the 6PM call. Looks as if they are about 40 or miles out and averaging about 15. Hooray, maybe I can get some pix in the daylight.
When it becomes dark (as in Cocoa Beach) Walter Cooper and I (not that I am at the same level he is) just smile, have a **** and go to bed. Pix just don't work.

Camcorders do much better in low light, but SLR are horrible.
Rick

First finisher in at 5.30 ish
Whike of course!

Nine boats are in and three more close. Looks like all so far are Nacra 20's.

I told Mary I'd need some "Dutch courage" to stir this pot. So I got some.

There is no glory or respect to be gained by winning by cheating. Not sailing the proper course, no matter how you cut it, is cheating.

The only appropriate action any competitor failing to sail the proper course should take is to retire. We've all been there and hopefully have all taken the high road and done the right thing. I have.

I'll jump in here a little bit.

40 minutes in a race like this is a very large penalty. The fact that Micha can overcome that penalty is pretty amazing.

I did this race one of the first years they really enforced the exclusion zone. Rod Waterhouse cut the corner and I think was penalized 15 minutes. It ended up very close between him and the second place team in the end. Zhik was there that year and I'm sure remembers as he was in the hunt that year.

They give you 4 gps points to round. I believe two of them have bouys and 2 are "imaginary". However you are also supposed to stay out of the zone with an imaginary line around it. It's pretty hard to navigate this in reality. Especially with trying to go fast on top of it. It's easy for someone that might not have a crew that is a wiz with a gps to make a mistake.

The year I did it all the boats rounded the marks and cut back in after they rounded. More wind inside and more favored. So the year I did it we could have all been disqualified. I think Rod was the only one that actually skipped a physical mark which made him stand out a lot more.

I don't know what the answer is but rounding imaginary marks is a bit silly. I think most of the racers feel this way also. They want to follow the rules but the rules are very unclear to everyone on the water. Example " You are the first place boat and the second place boat jibes in and you are supposed to keep going out to sea?" It's just hard to do and enforce properly.

I guess the only way to enforce it would be to lay actual marks and have a rib out there running the exclusion zone with the leaders.

Mike,

I was going to suggest exactly that - but it would add costs!!!!

IIRC I did a race around the Solent and we were told we "should not" go near the shipping lanes in a certain area between the hours of X and Y as there may be submarine movements and they WILL NOT see us and we may not be able to get out of the way. Wolly sailing instructions are imposible.

I guess with someting like NASA thay can close you down if you do not play ball. However, adding simple GPS points as marks will not work when there are only 2 people on the boat and if ther is much wind they will be too busy to be watching the GPS all the time.

Well it looks like Mishca has done it again, another line honors! Doesn't everyone love a David and Goliath story.. maybe its just an Oz thing to root for the underdog.

Who would have thought an f18 would be out in front a this stage of the game? obviously the conditions are favoring the f18 design.

Given how well Carrie is going I would not be surprised if she has been trading nookie for sailing tips good for her!

professionals in any sport don't voluntarily retire as often as amateurs due to sponsorship commitments

fact of life

if he's winning day stages on the the other days being cut from the race for 1 infringement on 1 day would seem excessive

would it be better to add a further 20 minutes penalty?

would that change anything?

would it be legal?

would it open up a huge can of worms for future events if race penalties were subject to appeal and then argued for increase and/or decrease?

Yes.

"no boats cleared the surf in 10 minutes" ...

HEY! Team Seacats (it's about time) and Stray Cats put on a surf launching clinic yesterday! We were out with no problems and not one hitch. We punched through, Frank and I put our paddles down and lifted our heads to see Stray Cats right next to us and the entire fleet struggling while we set our kites together and turned left. I swear; Gaulden Reed whispered to us this morning and said "take two paddles today".