PART 3
Rule 30.1 will apply to boat on the course side of the starting line’s extensions as well of the starting line itself, and may sometimes trap late arrivals to the starting area who are running down towards it in the last minute, by which time flag I will have been removed as the one-minute signal, and they will not be aware of what has happened. Once again, they will provoke a display of flag X after the starting signal even though they may not be ‘interfering with play’, which may confuse others. If by good fortune they sail over an extension of the line before starting, they will have complied with the rule, but running through the line itself without crossing an extension, even if some time after the starting signal, will result in an OCS score for that race. Race officers sometimes need an eye in the back of their heads to police rule 30.1, and sometimes that eye is Nelsonian.
In large fleets on long starting lines, the I flag can be counter-productive if it encourages bunching at the line ends where taking the penalty will take the shortest time, increasing the probability of a general recall and a move to the black flag.
When the usable part of the starting line is limited by inner or outer limit marks, the gap between those marks and (typically) the committee vessels they protect are not extensions, as the starting line is between the masts on those committee vessels1
.
Although the rule is commonly known as the ‘Round the End’ rule, that is not its title, and sailing round an end may not be necessary to comply with it.
When a boat complies with rule 30.1 in this way, there was doubt as to whether she had to be fully on the course side of the extension before returning. This has been addressed with a change to the rule, implying that it is not necessary. (I do not find it any clearer!) However, I believe this to be how the new rule works when the end mark is not rounded. The following all appear to comply with rule 30.1:
1. A boat (or her bow) has crossed the starting line in the last minute before the starting signal and she has returned through the line. She sails on the pre-course side of the mark to the pre-course side of an extension, partly crosses the extension, and then turns back without ever having been completely on the course side of the extension. She then returns to the pre-course side of the starting line and starts.
2. The bow of a boat has crossed an extension from the pre-course side in the last minute before the starting signal, and then she drops back to the pre-course side of the extension without ever having been completely on the course side of the extension. She then returns to the pre-course side of the starting line and starts.
3. As 1 and 2, but it was only at her starting signal that the boat was on the course side. 30.2
Z Flag Rule
If flag Z has been displayed, no part of a boat’s hull, crew or equipment shall be in the triangle formed by the ends of the starting line and the first mark during the last minute before her starting signal. If a boat breaks this rule and is identified, she shall receive, without a hearing, a 20% Scoring Penalty calculated as stated in rule 44.3(c). She shall be penalized even if the race is restarted or resailed, but not if it is postponed or abandoned before the starting signal. If she is similarly identified during a subsequent attempt to start the same race, she shall receive an additional 20% Scoring Penalty.
The ‘penalty zone’ for the Z Flag rule (and for the Black Flag rule) is a triangle whose base is the full length of starting line, not just that part of it inside a limit mark. Its apex is the first mark.
1 RYA 2004/9 138 RYA The Racing Rules Explained Not Round an End?
Starting line
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