SAILBOARD
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The windward boat protests for room

The situation

Approaching the committee boat to start, Blue is overlapped to windward of Green and runs out of room. The boats touch, Blue can't fit, and Blue protests — “Green never gave me room at the mark!”

At first glance

It's a mark, Blue is the inside boat, and she got squeezed out with nowhere to go — surely Green owed her mark-room and is the one who fouled.

The question

Whose protest succeeds — Blue's, or does it flip onto her?

The ruling

It flips onto Blue. Rule 18 does not apply at a starting mark surrounded by navigable water while boats are approaching the line to start (Section C preamble), so Blue is owed no mark-room at all. That leaves plain rule 11: Blue, to windward, must keep clear of Green. By barging into a gap that wasn't there she broke rule 11 — and her protest only gets herself penalized. Green sails on.

Key point

There is no mark-room at a starting mark — the windward barger keeps clear, and her own protest sinks her.

Play this on the board

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 18.1 — No Room to Barge at the Start.

Related cases

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    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.

  • Shutting the door at the pin · Starting

    Lining up for a pin-end start, Ari is the leeward boat — right next to the pin — with boats stacked up to windward of her. To keep them off the favoured pin, she luffs up and holds them out.

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Related guide

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