Lately,
there's been some talk about removing rule 16.2 in team racing, and
some people say, “If it's a good idea to remove this rule from team
racing, and it's already more or less deleted for match racing, why
have it for fleet racing?”
I
think there are several good reasons for keeping rule 16.2 in the
rulebook.
Before
we get into those reasons, let's see what we're talking about. Rule
16 reads, in its entirety:
16
CHANGING COURSE
16.1
When a right-of-way boat changes course, she shall give the other
boat room to keep clear.
16.2
In addition, when after the starting signal a port-tack boat
is keeping clear by sailing to pass astern of a starboard-tack
boat, the starboard-tack boat shall not change course if
as a result the port-tack boat would immediately need to
change course to continue keeping clear.
Rule
16.1 is very straightforward. It protects keep-clear boats from
attacks from which they cannot escape. By comparison, rule 16.2 is a
bit complicated. It addresses one situation only: a port-tack boat
is trying to pass behind a starboard-tack boat, and, loosely
put, the rule prohibits dial-downs (or when sailing down wind,
dial-ups) when the boats are close. Dial-downs are aggressive
maneuvers, and close dial-downs are, essentially, vicious attacks.
In match racing, where viciousness is a virtue, that's OK. Arguably
the same goes for team racing, which is becoming more and more like
match racing. But I think most sailors would agree that vicious
attacks have no place in fleet racing, which is all about getting
around the race course fast and safely, and having fun doing it.
Thus
the primary reason for keeping rule 16.2 is that it preserves a game
we like. There's a nice balance to the fleet-racing rules – on the
one hand, racing is a competition and we want to give boats who have
right of way or who arrive at marks ahead of other boats the power to
defend their positions; on the other hand, we don't want the sport to
turn into a sequence of confrontations that risk boats and crews.
That's what distinguishes fleet racing from team racing and, more
dramatically, match racing.
The
second reason for keeping rule 16.2 is safety. Dial-downs are almost
uniquely dangerous, especially in high-performance boats. On a beat,
as soon as a port-tack boat bears off to duck, she accelerates. If
the starboard-tack boat bears off at the same time, the closing speed
between the two boats can be several times what it was before the
bear-off/dial-down – and now, instead of intersecting obliquely,
they are coming almost directly at each other. It's not too strong
to say that in planing boats there will be serious damage or somebody
will get badly hurt if there's contact. The same phenomenon occurs
off wind – the port -tack needs to reach up to pass astern and if
the other boat reaches up also, the closing speeds increase –
though this increase is nowhere near as dramatic as upwind.
But, I
hear you asking, doesn't rule 16.1 remove that danger? After all, if
there's a real danger of the boats hitting each other, then surely
the starboard-tack boat broke rule 16.1? I don't think rule 16.1
does solve the problem. While that rule says the starboard-tack boat
can't hit the port-tack boat or cause her to behave in an
unseamanlike manner, it still allows aggressive behavior right up to
the point of hitting her or forcing her to do something unseamanlike.
Rule 16.2 puts a little cushion or buffer in there.
To
look at an analogy, why have lines on roads, separating the cars
going one way from those going the other? Why not simply prohibit
cars from hitting the oncoming traffic or driving them off the road,
but let them wander around in the oncoming lanes as long as they obey
that law? I think most of us would not want to drive in such a
society. Rule 16.2 is, basically, the double line separating lanes
of opposing traffic.
The
third reason for rule 16.2 is basic fairness. Dialing down does not
speed the starboard-tack boat toward her goal of finishing the race,
and it does not protect her from a boat taking her wind or pinning
her out. By ducking, the port-tack boat is temporarily conceding her
position in the race to the other boat, and for the other boat to
attack her seems like hitting one's opponent when he's down. When
you hold a door open and let a stranger pass through it, you don't
expect him to kick you as he goes by.
The
final reason is that in some complex situations the port-tack boat
needs to plan ahead, and last-second dial-downs prevent her from
doing so. To see this, suppose there were no rule 16.2 and consider
a boat P in a crowded fleet, near the top of the first windward leg.
She's threading her way through the fleet in an effort to get to the
starboard-tack layline. There's a boat S1 coming toward her, but P
sees that if she ducks S1 she'll still be able to cross ahead of S2,
the starboard-tack boat behind and to windward of S1. After that she
can continue to thread her way through the fleet and tack above the
layline. So she bears off to duck.
Now
what happens if, after P has made her plans and has borne off to duck
S1, S1 dials down at her? P has already eased her sheets; if she
tacks now she'll slow down directly in front of S1, and besides, she
has formed her plan and wants to stick to it if possible. So she
responds immediately by digging deeper.
Finally
P makes it past S1. She hasn't had to do anything unseamanlike, so
S1 didn't break rule 16.1. But now, as P trims in to cross the other
boats she discovers that her carefully laid plan to thread her way
through the fleet is now in ruins. She's in danger of fouling S2, and
even if she manages to duck that boat, there's still S3, S4, and so
on – each of whom might dial down on her if she tries to duck them.
This is unfair and potentially dangerous; and it's what rule 16.2
prevents.
Of
course, we want a starboard-tack boat to be able to defend her
position. For example, if S1is on the layline and doesn't want P to
lee-bow her, she can bear off before P gets to her; now if P tacks, S
can luff back up to her previous line in clear air. And, if for some
reason S wants to prevent P from ducking her (maybe they're
contending for first place in the series), she is allowed to bear off
a little earlier, forcing P to tack instead of ducking. As long as
she does so early enough so P doesn't have to respond immediately,
that doesn't break any rules.
One
argument I hear sometimes is that rule 16.2 protests are rarely if
ever made. But that may be because, essentially, rule 16.2 is
working as intended. Sailors interpret the rule as saying “late
dial-downs are illegal,” and so dial-downs don't occur much. I
think most sailors are happy with that. Without rule 16.2,
dial-downs might become common – look at what happens in match
racing.
Match
and team racers are playing a different game, much more
confrontational and without large numbers of boats to deal with. If
the match and team racers want to delete rule 16.2, good on 'em. But
leave us fleet racers with a saner and less confrontational sport,
give us that safety buffer, and let us make our plans to weave our
way through the fleet on port tack. Keep rule 16.2 in the rulebook.
