Mark room at the finish line.
Charlie Zechel
Reflecting on a close downwind finish.
Two boats are sailing downwind approaching the finish line near the right-hand finishing mark (as viewed from the boats). Boat A is on Port. Boat B is on starboard. Boat A gybes over onto starboard and is then leeward of Boat B, approx. 2 boat lengths away and slightly behind. Boat A assertively comes up to B and says “leeward”. Boat B at first gradually heads up to keep clear, and then instead of finishing heads up more leaving the finishing mark on his port side (doesn’t finish….ugh).
Boat A wins the race. Boat B doesn’t. But did Boat A follow the rules and win fair and square? Or did Boat A fail to give mark room to Boat B and steal a finish that rightfully belonged to Boat B. What should/could Boat B have done in this situation?
The rules that apply here are
11) ON SAME TACK OVERLAPPED, When boats on the same tack and overlapped, a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward boat.
18.2) GIVING MARK ROOM, (a) when boats are overlapped, the outside boat shall give the inside boat mark-room, unless rule 18.2 (b) There is a (c), (d), (e), and (f) to this rule. A good discussion of the entire rule 18.2 can be found here
https://sailzing.com/rule-18-2-giving-mark-room-racing-rules-of-sailing-2021-2024/
Before the next race Boat B and Boat A chatted briefly and Boat B mentioned mark room and the zone. The zone is a circle, imagined in the minds of the competitors, with its center at the mark, and with a radius equal to 3 of the competitors boat lengths. Cape Cod Mercuries are 15 feet long, so the zone in this case is a circle around the mark with a radius of 45 feet.
Boat B was forced to head up and away from the finish line by Boat A who was calling “leeward”. Boat A’s intent was to attack Boat B before getting to the zone such that when one of them reached the zone, Boat A would be positioned to bear off smartly and waltz across the finish line ahead. From Boat B’s perspective, when the zone had been reached Boat A failed to give mark room. This very well may have been the case. Boat B probably should have called for room, and kept the finishing mark to starboard and finished, perhaps in first place.
Before entering the zone, if you are the inside boat with an overlap, it is a good idea to start telling the outside boat that you have an overlap and you will need room at the mark. Agreement on this point in advance of reaching the zone helps everyone get around and past marks in a fair and competitive manner. In the absence of any chatter between competitors who are overlapped and approaching a racing mark, bad things will inevitably happen, as I’m afraid happened to Boat B in this case.
It can also be a tricky business agreeing on where the zone is. After all it is not like soccer where there are lines drawn on the field indicating with no ambiguity in bounds vs. out of bounds.
Here’s an idea which might help you sort out when you are in the zone. Instead of visualizing the size of the zone as the distance of 3 boat lengths, perhaps we could use time to the mark. How much time will it take your boat to sail 3 boat lengths? This could be an alternative reference for understanding when you are in the zone.
A mercury is 15 feet long so how long will it take you to sail 45 feet? It depends how fast you are sailing. Let’s start with max wind/max speed.
Some data:
Cape Cod Mercury waterline = 14’ +/-
The max theoretical hull speed = 1.35 X square root of waterline length (feet).
Therefore, max hull speed is 5.05 nautical miles per hour.
Let’s work this down to 45 feet.
One nautical mile = 6076 feet.
So a Mercury will sail approx. 8.52 feet per second at hull speed (sorry folks, that’s as fast as it goes).
Therefore, a Mercury will sail 45 feet in approx. 5.28 seconds on a nice windy day. Under no circumstance will you be able to sail 3 boat lengths in less than 5.28 seconds. It may take you considerably longer if the wind is lighter or your sails are not trimmed. One of the things I do before the start of a race is sail the length of the starting line to see how long it is in time, and to measure how long it will take me to sail 3 boat lengths in the prevailing conditions.
Confession time. I was Boat A. When I started coming up to Boat B I think we were more than 7-8 seconds from the mark in windy conditions, not quite at the zone yet. But was there a point when one of us crossed into the zone and I was required to give Boat B mark room. Yes. I needed to give Boat B mark room such that he would have been able to finish and maybe cross ahead of me. I should have made my move 10 - 15 seconds earlier. I think it would have worked. But as it was, I am afraid I may have pushed Boat B up and away when I should have given room. Boat B ought to have reminded me of our overlap and his right to mark room. Sometimes the chatter at a mark rounding sounds unfriendly and aggressive. While that can be the case it is not baked into mark roundings. Talk early in advance of getting to the zone, say 6 boat lengths. It is pretty easy to establish if there is an overlap that both parties can agree to. The chances are very good that an overlap at 6 boat lengths is still going to be an overlap at 3 boat lengths. And now to Boat B I say,” Nick, I owe you a nice glass of Merlot”. See you next Friday.
Charlie
Executive Director
Community Boating Inc.
21 David G. Mugar Way
Boston, MA 02114
PH 617-523-1038 ext. 12
FX 617-523-6959