Rules

A few of my friends from my old sailing club in New Jersey are aware of this blog. Now I hear that one of them has written an article for the club newsletter drawing members’ attention to Proper Course.

Yes, that’s right. I’ve been “outed”.

I don’t think I ever mentioned the name of the club in the blog before… part of my feeble attempt at relative anonymity for myself and the people I sail with. But I guess the least I can do now is to write a post providing any readers from the club a road map to the various stories that I’ve written here about their club…

I have many fond memories of the years I spent at Hunterdon Sailing Club whose home waters are Spruce Run reservoir near Clinton, NJ. It’s not a swanky yacht club with a restaurant and a bar. Just a group of sailing enthusiasts who keep their rescue boats and other gear in a shed at the reservoir; who compete furiously in their racing program — but don’t take themselves too seriously; who are wonderfully welcoming to newcomers; and who do a terrific job of promoting the sport through training programs and other efforts. They, and many other clubs like them, are the grassroots of our sport. And they are damn fine sailors too with a bunch of former national champions (and a few future ones I would dare say) in their membership.

I joined the club originally so that I could take part in their Wednesday night Sunfish racing. It’s one of the most competitive high quality one-design club fleets I’ve ever known. I wrote about a typical evening in Wednesday Night Sailing. The winds on Wednesday evenings weren’t always very reliable, as I described in Idiot Wind, and sometimes Wednesdays were very frustrating for me such as in the story Full of Woe.

I consider myself primarily a Laser sailor, so I used those Wednesday evenings to practice various sailing skills, such as starts in Crossing the Line. I was never very good at the Sunfish but one Wednesday evening I just made a few Tweaks to the boat and sailed like a champ. Sometimes it wasn’t even so much about the racing as just being out on the water and savoring Memories of a Moment.

One week another new sailor showed up for Wednesday night racing. “Who is that guy?” I wondered. HSC members can probably guess. Another week I was in charge of race committee on a bitterly cold, wet Wednesday early in the season and wrote about the Perfectionist.

One of the best things about Wednesday nights was beer and pizza after sailing where the conversation got pretty wild at times as in Liars Poker, and other times I actually learned something as in the chat about Sailor’s Edge.

A friend and I started a Laser fleet at HSC and in early 2005 I was hassling various local Laser sailors to join us… and dealing with their Excuses. We raced on Sundays with the club’s other one design classes. I had a lot of fun sailing my Laser in that fleet such as one heavy air day when I was Feeling Good. It’s not always easy to capture why we all enjoy sailing so much but I made an attempt in Sailor’s High to describe why I got such a kick out of our Sunday racing in the Laser fleet. At first I was faster than other sailors in the fleet, but it’s no fun winning all the time, so I was actually pleased to get beaten occasionally, such as the day I pondered What’s Wrong With Being Number Two? I spent many weekends at that club and wrote about a typical (or perhaps not) experience in Lake Weekend.

We started an annual Laser regatta and I wrote about the first of these in Regatta Cast and The Regatta. I won the regatta that first year, but didn’t do so well in the Second Annual Collander Cup.

There was always a friendly rivalry going between the Laser and Force 5 fleets at the club. I never understood why anyone would prefer a Force 5 but its fans say it’s more Comfortable.

There are a couple of regattas at the club where all the classes sail together. One is the Commodore’s Cup which is a Portsmouth handicap regatta. I won this a couple of years, so in the third year I felt like a Marked Man and was the object of some Banter from one of my competitors, and this fellow, my Nemesis, did beat me in the regatta.

The other multi-class event is the annual pursuit race every year on July 4th. Triple A Blues is actually a story about why I did not make it to that regatta one year.

The club also hosts an annual regattas for The Juniors in the club and another for new sailors, The Rookies. It was very gratifying being able to help in making both these regattas a success back in 2005.

I helped out with the sailing classes for kids in the summer a couple of times. One of the fun things about working with kids is that they do ask you the strangest things such as “What’s A Histogram.” We also had fun in the winter at events like the First Annual Burning of the Socks Day.

Like all passionately competitive sailors, sometimes there was a bit of aggro between the sailors at HSC. A few years ago there were rumblings about suspicions that some sailors were stretching the limits of the Illegal Propulsion Rule. So one winter another sailor and I gave a talk on Rule 42 which we hoped would clear the air. But, even so, the next spring I found myself serving on a protest committee for an alleged Rule 42 violation, No Contest.

I used to be the editor for the HSC newsletter and was rather fond of inserting April Fool Jokes in the April issues. A couple of examples are Race Officer Guidelines and DHMO Scare. But there was another time when I was Fooled myself.

If you live near Spruce Run do go and check out Hunterdon Sailing Club. But If you sail at Spruce Run be resigned to Learning to Love Light Air. It’s a lake dude.

Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back

Just discovered a new blog devoted to helping “sailors, race officers, committee members, judges and umpires to get a better understanding of the Racing Rules of Sailing in general and of anything to do with protests.” It’s written by Jos Spijkerman who is an International Judge and International Umpire. He’s only been posting for a couple of weeks but there’s some excellent material up there already if rules are your thing.

Check out Racing Rules of Sailing Look to Windward. (Yeah, I know today’s post is in Dutch but most of the others are in English.)

Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back

“So is there much cheating go on here?” Tillerwoman stunned me with this question one evening over dinner while we were in Roses for the Laser Masters Worlds.

Cheating? Perish the thought. Of course not. Cheating just doesn’t happen at this level. At least that was my initial reaction.

Cheating? What’s cheating? To act dishonestly. To deceive. To deprive by fraud. That’s what the dictionary says.

Cheating? In the sailing context the word conjures up such nefarious acts as sabotaging a competitor’s boat (by stealing the drain plug just before he sets sail perhaps) or paying a coach to gather wind information from up the course and transmitting it to a secret radio receiver hidden behind your ear. No. I’m as certain as I can be that such stuff doesn’t go on at any level of Laser sailing. At least I’ve never seen it.

But then I started thinking. Well, yes maybe there is a gray area. I guess it all depends on your definition of cheating.

Another dictionary definition of cheating is to violate a rule of a game deliberately. The Laser class rules define cheating as, “doing something that you know is illegal.”

Hmmm. Rules. What rules must we follow when we are racing? There are the Racing Rules of Sailing of course. And the Laser Class Rules, which mainly define what you can and cannot do to change your boat and equipment. Also the Notice of Race, and Sailing Instructions have rules that you must follow.

So if I deliberately break any of those rules, I am cheating. Or am I?

What about some of the following hypothetical examples? Are any of these cheating?

• I am at the favored end of a crowded start line. A boat comes into a gap to leeward of me that is just big enough to squeeze through. She luffs slightly,I try to respond but there is another boat close to windward of me. There is slight contact between me and the boat to leeward. Nobody protests. We both start the race and sail on as if nothing has happened.

• The sailing instructions say that the regatta will be sailed under Laser class rules but I use a “practice sail” that is made by a sailmaker who is not approved by the Laser class.
• The end of my boom just brushes the windward mark as I am bearing away. Nobody else sees it. I don’t do a 360.
• The Laser class rules say that the inhaul shockcord must be attached to the outhaul cleat on the boom but I tie it to the mainsheet bain. What the hell difference does it make?
• The sailing instructions say that all sailors must wear PFDs that are US Coast Guard Approved but I use a PFD from a British manufacturer that is not USCG approved because it’s small and slim and it’s easier to squeeze under the boom when I am are tacking.

I’m sure you can think of other examples. Would you ever do any of the above? What are you to think if you were to see me breaking some of these rules? Am I cheating? Does it make a difference if I think I am not gaining an advantage by breaking a rule? Would you turn a blind eye? Would you call me on it?

Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back

Talking of mind games, one step further (perhaps one step too far) in the mental game of outwitting your opponents is the trick play. By this I mean a move that for a while tricks the opposition into thinking that something is happening which is totally different from what is really happening.

Take for example the “wrong ball play” as shown in this video.

Deceptive? Yes.

Successful? Yes

Unsportsmanlike? Maybe.

My question for you today, is whether some deceptive move along these lines is even possible in sailboat racing. The nearest I can think of is the fake tack when another boat is covering you. But a move in which the opposition essentially stops playing because they think the game is suspended or over, freeing you to make a huge gain against them? It’s hard to imagine. My general recall fiasco (shouting, “General Recall!” just after the start when the RC hasn’t signalled one) may be similar, but that was a mistake, not a deliberately deceptive play. Although it could be done with malicious intent. Hmmm. Should I?

And my other question is: If someone in sailing pulled a move as audacious as “wrong ball coach” would they be successfully protested under Rule 2… A boat shall compete in compliance with recognized principle of sportsmanship and fair play?

Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back

One thing I like about these group writing projects, such as our current one Learning Experiences, is that I don’t have to think of something new to write on my blog every day; the Tillerheads do all…

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Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back