Bumping the committee boat
The situation
Reaching in for a boat-end start, Luca misjudges the layline and his bow bumps the committee boat just before the gun.
The question
The committee boat isn't a rounding mark — does touching it count?
The ruling
Yes. The committee boat is a starting mark, and a boat that is racing — you're racing from your preparatory signal — must not touch a mark (rule 31). Luca must take a One-Turn Penalty (one tack and one gybe) once he's clear of other boats, under rule 44. The same goes for the pin. If another boat had forced him onto it while he was entitled to room, he'd be exonerated (rule 43), but a simple misjudgement means he does his turn.
The committee boat and pin are marks — touch one and it's a One-Turn Penalty (rule 31).
Opens the situation on the boat-length grid — scrub it and see exactly how the boats meet. Free, no account needed.
Rules cited
See the underlying rule: Rule 31 — Touching the Committee Boat.
Related cases
- Barging at the committee boat · Starting
Seconds before the start, two boats reach toward the committee-boat end of the line on the same tack. Green is the leeward boat; Blue is overlapped to windward, a little ahead, and runs out of room between Green and the committee boat.
- Over early — going back · Starting
The start gun fires and the race committee hails sail numbers and flies code flag X (individual recall). Maya sees she was over the line early (OCS) and turns back to restart, sailing back toward the pre-start side while the rest of the fleet beats away on starboard.
- Round-the-ends (I flag) · Starting
With the fleet pushing the line, the committee starts the sequence with code flag I. In the last minute before the gun, Sam is over the line early, near the middle.
- Crowding the stern · Upwind / Beating
Same tack upwind, Ada is just clear ahead of a faster boat coming up from astern. The astern boat noses right up close behind and starts to slide alongside to leeward.