ISAF
has released a set of new Test Rules for Match Racing. These rules
will be tested in events worldwide in 2015, and, presumably, if the
tests go well, adopted in the 2017 match-racing rules.
The
Test Rules involve four changes to the Racing Rules of Sailing: they
add a new rule 7, 'Last Point of Certainty'; they replace rule 18
(Mark-Room) with a much simpler rule from the America's Cup; they
change the definition of 'Mark-Room'; and they replace rule 17 (On
the Same Tack, Proper Course) with a much more complicated rule from
the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. I quote each of the Test Rules
below, followed by my commentary. A zip file with the new rules,
official explanations of what the changes mean, and revised Match
Race Calls for these rules, can be found at
http://www.sailing.org/documents/racingrules/experimental-rules.php.
In that same zip file is an “Implementation Document” describing
how to write Notices of Race and Sailing Instructions to implement
the new rules.
It
is not clear yet what events will use these rules, but any event that
wishes to do so must obtain specific permission from ISAF (under rule
86.2) or their national authority (under rule 86.3). In the United
States, event organizing authorities should go to
http://www.ussailing.org/race-officials/rules/experimental-rules/
for
instructions about how to get permission under rule 86.3.
In
what follows, I designate Test Rules as “TR x.x” and current
rules as “RRS x.x”. Remember, these rules are for match
racing only.
Rules that are perfectly reasonable when there are only two boats
involved might not work at all well for larger groups of boats.
TR 7 LAST POINT OF CERTAINTY
When
there is doubt as to the relationship or change of relationship
between
boats,
the last point of certainty will apply.
My
comment: The
principle of Last Point of Certainty is already in the Match Race
Call Book, so this will not have any effect on match racing.
(The principle, as stated in the Call Book, is that “umpires
will assume that the state of a boat or the relationship with another
has not changed until they are certain that it has changed. For
example, a boat is not judged ‘beyond head to wind’ until the
umpires are certain that she is so.”)
TR
18 MARK ROOM
TR
18.1 When Rule 18 Applies
Rule
18 applies between boats when they are required to leave a mark
on
the same side and at least one of them is in the zone.
However, it does not apply between a boat approaching a mark
and
one leaving it.
TR
18.2 Giving Mark-Room
(a)
When the first boat reaches the zone,
(1) if boats are overlapped,
the outside boat at that moment shall thereafter give the inside boat
mark-room.
(2) if
boats are not overlapped,
the boat that has not reached the zone
shall
thereafter give mark-room.
(b)
If the boat entitled to mark-room
leaves
the zone,
the entitlement to mark-room
ceases
and rule 18.2(a) is applied again if required.
(c)
If a boat obtained an inside overlap
and,
from the time the overlap
began,
the
outside boat is unable to give mark-room,
she is not required to give it.
TR
18.3 Tacking or Gybing
When
an inside overlapped
right-of-way
boat must tack or gybe at a mark
to
sail
her
proper
course,
until she tacks or gybes she shall sail no farther from the
mark
than
needed to sail that course. Rule 18.3 does not apply at a gate mark.
My
comments: TR
18.1 is considerably shorter than RRS 18.1. Of the three conditions
in RRS 18.1 specifying when rule 18 doesn't apply, TR 18.1 keeps just one: TR 18 doesn't apply between a boat approaching a mark and one
leaving it. That means TR 18 applies at windward marks to boats on
opposite tacks, whereas RRS 18 does not. And because TR 18 applies to
them, boats beating on opposite tacks can now be overlapped when one
of them reaches the zone – which is generally not true of boats on
opposite tacks on a beat to windward under the RRS (see the last
sentence of the current definition 'Clear Astern; Clear Ahead;
Overlapped'). This is a huge change from the current rule.
RRS
rule 18.2(a), which grants mark-room to an inside boat when RRS
18.2(b) doesn't apply, is gone.
TR
18.2(a)(1) is just the overlapped part of RRS 18.2(b). If one of the
boats reaches the zone while the boats are on opposite tacks, the
inside boat gets mark-room throughout the rounding, regardless of
whether she tacks later or the overlap changes.
At
first glance, TR 18.2(a)(2) looks like the clear-ahead part of RRS
18.2(b), but it's not. Instead of the clear-ahead boat becoming
entitled to mark-room, under the Test Rules the boat that reaches the
zone first, either clear ahead or clear astern, gets mark-room.
This
worries me. When RRS 18 was written (and rewritten), the authors were
careful not to use the order of entry into the zone as the criterion
for which boat gets mark-room, for
the simple reason that the order of entry can be much harder to
determine than whether there was an overlap when one of the boats
reached the zone.
Frequently,
but not always, it's easy to see which of two non-overlapped boats
enters the zone first – she's the one in front. But not always, if
the boats are separated laterally. Consider the scenario shown below,
where the boats are coming to a starboard-rounding windward mark on
starboard tack, with Blue on the starboard-tack layline and Yellow
about 1.5-2 hull lengths ahead and to leeward of her. At position 3,
it's clear that both boats are in the zone. But which entered first?
Note that 'Last Point of Certainty' doesn't help in this situation –
the last time we're certain about anything, both boats were outside
the zone.
TR
18.2 is copied verbatim from the rules for the 34th America's Cup,
where it was used in both the lead-up series in AC 45's and the match
race series in AC 72's. But those boats carried systems which tracked
the boats in real time to within a couple of centimeters and not only
informed the crew of exactly when their boat entered the zone but
also notified the other boat of that fact, by means of bright lights
on bow and stern. Of course, other match races will not have access
to such technology, and I foresee a problem with scenarios like the
one shown here.
The
question in my mind is, why this change? The criterion in RRS 18.2(b)
is just as short and uncomplicated, easier to judge, and in cases of
doubt can be resolved by the Last Point of Certainty (i.e., RRS
18.2(d)).
The
application of rule 18 to boats on opposite tacks on a beat to
windward will have substantial impact on match-race tactics for
beats. For example, consider the scenario shown above and suppose the
mark is displaced to the left in that diagram, so it's clear that
Yellow entered the zone first. Then, even though she's the left-hand
boat on the beat, she's entitled to mark-room. So she simply goes to
the port-tack layline and tacks. Under TR 18.2, Blue has to duck her
and let her round the mark.
On
the other hand, under RRS 18 when boats are approaching a
starboard-rounding windward mark on opposite tack a starboard-tack
boat has a little problem, because when she tacks to round the mark
she risks breaking rule 13, Tacking. Under TR 18.2 she has no such
worries – she is entitled to mark-room regardless of whether she
tacks.
TR
18.3 limits the right-side boat's advantage, however, in that
scenario. Under RRS 18.2, the starboard-tack boat solves her problem
with rule 13 by dialing down (if she can force the port-tack boat to
go below the port-tack layline) or dialing up until the boats are
both nearly head-to-wind. Because the starboard-tack boat can tack
away or break off the dial-up when she wishes, she frequently gains
two or three lengths by that maneuver. But if the port-tack boat is
above the port layline, this play requires the starboard-tack boat to
extend her tack past the layline to intercept the other boat, and
under TR 18.3 she will no longer be allowed to do that – she must
tack for the mark when she reaches the layline. Of course, she can
tack and then luff, but that move risks getting rolled, and generally
is not nearly as effective as a dial-up.
TR
definition of Mark-Room
Mark-Room
Room
for a
boat to sail her proper
course to
round or pass the mark.
This
definition of Mark-Room is breathtaking in its simplicity and, I
think, will work for match racing. I do not think it would be good
for fleet racing. At a
leeward mark, a boat's proper course is a big, wide turn that allows
her to maintain her downwind speed through the mark rounding. The
current RRS definition of mark-room entitles a boat only room to sail
to the mark and round it – a much tighter rounding than her proper
course. In fleet racing the Test Rules definition would be
problematical because the inside boat would use up much of the zone
in her turn, forcing all boats outside her to sail even farther from
the mark (and outside the zone). In match racing, I think it will
make little difference to the game; but why change the perfectly good
definition in the RRS? In my opinion, if it ain't broke, don't fix
it.
TR rule 17 [ON THE SAME
TACK; PROPER COURSE] (with new parts
underlined):
After
the starting signal, if a boat clear
astern becomes overlapped
within two of her hull lengths to leeward
of a boat on the same tack,
she shall not sail above her proper course
while they remain on the same tack
and overlapped within
that distance, unless in doing so she promptly sails astern of the
other boat.
This
rule does not apply if the right-of-way boat is on a leg to a leeward
mark or
the finishing line, or if the overlap begins while
(a)
the right-of-way boat is on a leg to a leeward mark,
(b)
the windward boat is
required by rule 13 to keep clear,
or
(c)
both boats are OCS.
My
comments: Effectively,
this change means rule 17 only applies on windward legs and when the
overlap was established after the starting signal. This means the
sailors and umpires don't have to keep track of how overlaps were
established in the prestart, and it also means that on a leeward leg,
if the trailing boat can get a 'hook', that is, a leeward overlap
from astern, she can luff the other boat (subject to rule 16.1).
Under
RRS 17, if Blue establishes a leeward overlap on Yellow from astern
on a leeward leg, she is required to gybe for the leeward mark when
she is clearly at the layline to that mark. Under TR 17, Blue can
simply sail straight, holding Yellow out until Blue wants to jibe for
the mark – which could be when they've passed the mark completely
and have to beat back up to it, with Yellow in Blue's bad air. To my
mind, this allows an exciting tactic and eliminates a difficult and
inconsistent call. My only question is, why only downwind? It's much
harder for a boat to get a hook on a beat, and if one does, why not
let her luff the other boat?
All
in all, the Test Rules for Match Racing raise some questions about
suitability for non-instrumented boat, which will no coubt be
addressed by the authors in the next couple of years. They raise far
more questions about their suitability for fleet racing, and I'll
address some of those questions in another posting on this blog.
Meanwhile, remember: these Test Rules are only for match racing.
By
the way, the boats in the diagram above reach the zone
simultaneously, at position 3. See the same diagram, below, with the
zone drawn in.
