PART 3
While doing so, she may leave on either side a mark that does not begin, bound or end the leg she is sailing
Marks that begin a leg – particularly the first leg – are discussed under rule 28.2. A mark that bounds a leg will typically be one that keeps boats away from a hazard or from moorings. A mark that ends a leg will also begin the next leg, with the exception of a finishing mark. A typical example of a mark that can be ignored (and so can also be touched without breaking rule 31) is a buoy laid just to windward of the starting line to form the leeward mark of the run at end of the second leg. For the purposes of the first leg, it does not matter.
WS 58
Inner limit mark
Iris Daffodil
Limit marks of transit-based starting and finishing lines have always posed problems for race committees, competitors and rulemakers alike. Starting limit marks are discussed under rule 28.2. WS 58 looks at a finishing line issue.
The finishing line was from the shore mark to an outer mark, which the sailing instructions said was to be left to port, and which was laid to windward of the finishing line. Iris’s finishing time was taken when she crossed the finishing line, and Daffodil sought redress, claiming that it should have been taken when Iris completed the course at the inner limit mark. Redress was refused, and Daffodil’s subsequent appeal was dismissed.
If a buoy or other object specified in the sailing instructions as a finishing-line limit mark is on the post-finish side of the finishing line, a boat may leave it on either side…since the inner limit mark was beyond the finishing line, it did not ‘bound’ or ‘end’ the last leg of the course. Only when a limit mark is on, or on the course side of, the finishing line is it a mark, as that term is defined, and only then must a boat leave it on the specified side before, or when, finishing.
So the race committee was correct to take the time on the crossing of the line, while Iris could leave the buoy or the ‘wrong’ side or indeed touch it – it was as if it did not exist1
. Rule 28.2 – The String Test
What is this string? Because it is boats that have sides, not marks, it may be easier to think of it as a flat tape with a port side and a starboard side. When the course is affected by the geography, so is the string, suggests RYA 2000/5.
Question
Must the string referred to in rule 28.2, when pulled taut, lie in navigable water only? Answer
There is no direct guidance in the rule itself or in World Sailing cases. However, it would be curious for a boat’s track to be regarded as passing over dry land, and the pragmatic interpretation of rule 28.2 is that the string, when pulled taut, lies in navigable waters only, is caught on headlands, passes to one side of non-navigable shallows or prohibited areas, and follows the course of a river.
1 Daffodil would in any case be entitled to redress only if she could show that her finishing position had been affected by an improper action of the race committee. That is not discussed in the case, but it could only have been relevant if agreeing with Daffodil’s interpretation would have resulted in Daffodil gaining a place.
124 RYA The Racing Rules Explained
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