Paul Cayar
Rob Weiland
Race assist?
Recently I hired a medium-sized Peugeot and after just 10 minutes on the road it was as if somebody grabbed the wheel: lane assist. It would have been nice to have been made aware that the car was fitted with such gadgets before letting me drive away, instead of learning about these features along the way. It was a long drive
and I started thinking about having similar features on boats. Unavoidably this will be the case, and for sure is already happening where rules permit, such as in the Cup and shorthanded racing. I wrote before that with current ocean racing technology it is
already possible to carry primarily service mechanics as crew, ideally with a talent for media too, I guess… but not necessarily top sailors. Though what is the point of that if it is the sport of sailing we are after? Then again, technological progress permits sailing more complex boats with fewer people, and once that door is open these complex boats will be designed, built, bought and raced. This will require adapting existing rules as well as introducing new ones. Racing Rules of Sailing No52 – Manual Power – reads: ‘A boat’s
standing rigging, running rigging, spars and movable hull appendages shall be adjusted and operated only by the power provided by the crew.’ As written this forbids any form of power not provided by the crew being used for the functions mentioned, so not just stored power but also ‘direct power’ from engines, solar panels, wind or hydro generators, and so on. And with that this rule implicitly dictates that its crew shall sail the boat, as in helm, trim sails, and adjust any kind of appendage as well as the rig. Class and/or event rules may amend RRS52 but rather than
doing so in detail this is often left to ‘the market’ to self-regulate. At the most organised level of racing, like the America’s Cup and the World Sailing classes, the class rules will control which variations of RRS52, and also of RRS41 Outside Help, are permitted; but most handicap racing lacks any clear policy on this and is certainly not following the same rules and practices from event to event. Which of course is highly impractical for those owning and racing
boats with these features. A text found in many NoRs for Maxi yachts is this: ‘If allowed by class rules, steering, ram and winch systems powered by force other than manual, as well as moveable appendages and water ballast are permitted if each feature is declared on the rating certificate.’ This modifies RRS52 and intro- duces non-manual power for many functions, but without addressing
36 SEAHORSE
who or what may trigger the actual use of this non-manual power… the crew or also a computer? Does the RRS and in particular RRS52 restrict to crew as the sole instigator of any action of steering wheels, rams and so on? I believe it does, but I am not the one in charge. If I am right on this, then while allowing powered systems to
adjust appendages etc, these can only be instructed to move by a crew member. So only by human action and not by computer/smart technology connected to dozens of sensors (unless of course expressly permitted elsewhere). As it is today, the crew may be ‘led’ by displays, but now I imagine
these instruments becoming more like car GPS navigation, not just showing you graphics but actually talking to you. And that you can choose the voice instructing you – imagine Ed Baird, Tom Slingsby or Bouwe Bekking whispering in your ear all day… and at a fraction of the cost of them being there in person (absurdly, each of them will now make the same decisions at the same time!). Or do we rely on RRS 42.1 – Basic Rule – to insist that only crew
may steer, trim, adjust, push a button: ‘Except when permitted in Rule 42.3 or Rule 45, a boat shall compete by using only the wind and water to increase, maintain or decrease her speed. Her crew may adjust the trim of sails and hull, and perform other acts of seamanship, but shall not otherwise move their bodies to propel the boat’? Not really convincing of course, as 42.1 is foremost about what may or may not propel the boat.
IRC 15 Manual Power 15.1 RRS 52, Manual Power, shall not apply. NoR can amend. 15.2 (a) The use of stored power for the hoisting of mainsails, or the reefing or furling of sails need not be declared. (b) Boats using stored power solely for the adjustment or operation of backstays shall declare this to the Rating Authority. (c) Boats using stored power for the adjustment or operation of running rigging other than as noted in Rules 15.2(a) & (b) shall declare this to the Rating Authority. (d) Boats shall not use stored power for steering unless specified by the Notice of Race.
ORC 204 Manual Power RRS 52 is modified. Non-manual power may be used for: a) canting keel, water ballast and any hydrofoil. b) halyards, sheets, backstay, vang or outhaul.
RICARDO PINTOI/SAILGP
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