Rules Question - Anchoring during a Race

[jmontani]

We had our final race of the series this weekend. The wind was blowing in low/mid 20s at the start and grew to gusts well north of 30 as the race progressed. (38.5 was my max on the day).

RC set a distance course with a downwind start to one mark and back.

3 of the 6 boats in our fleet competed.

In third place at the 1st mark, I realized that I was not going to better my position in the race so I retired (under rule 4) to take stress off the boat and keep crew safe. (and not melt my credit card on repairs) This resulted in a DNF, so a score of 4 points. This was good enough to finish 3rd in the series.

Based on the rules, could I have chosen to sail out of the wind to a protected area, anchor the boat, and request a finish in place (3rd) after the other 2 boats were finished?

Rule 45 it looks like "Hauling Out" and "Making Fast" are for repairs only and that "Anchoring" is not included in this restriction.

"
45 HAULING OUT; MAKING FAST; ANCHORING

A boat shall be afloat and off moorings at her preparatory signal.

Thereafter, she shall not be hauled out or made fast except to bail

out, reef sails or make repairs. She may anchor or the crew may stand

on the bottom. She shall recover the anchor before continuing in the

race unless she is unable to do so.
"

By doing so, I would have finished second in the series ahead of a boat that chose not to compete on Saturday.

Since the 1st boat rounded the first mark in time, total time would not have been an issue.

I know that anchoring is not what you normally think of to better your over all position in a series, but in this isolated case it seems to be a good play for total points.

Thoughts?

I have a note into our Rules Official to get his view on it as well.

[caprice 1050]

In our races here in SW Florida races are abandoned in winds above 20 knts sustained. I can't find my Rule Book, but I thought this was a US Sailing Rule.

[jmontani]

In our Sailing Instructions, we have a points formula that basically charts out a go/no go decision for RC.

It has points for water temp, wind speed, air temp, cloud cover/rain, and lightning.

Less than 60 points = race.
60 - 70 points = RC decides
71+ points = No racing
Lightning is rated at 71 points.

Last page of the attachment has the formula.

[Ndemauro]

Jack-
You could have anchored without a problem but unless you finish the race, within the time limit established by the SI's, you would not have gotten to claim third place. Most racers only anchor to keep from going backwards on the course due to current or lack of wind.

If it was an unsafe situation, the RC could have abandoned the race but if they don't, it's up to the skipper to decide if it is safe to start as well as finish the race (see rule 3.4 in the Racing Rules of Sailing) - sounds like you made the right call.

Good luck on the next series!
Nancy

[jmontani]

Thanks Nancy.

Where this gets interesting is that in our SIs, the RC has the ability to "finish boats in place" that either don't finish within 30 minutes of the first boat in the fleet or a specified total time.

We probalby need to clean up what "may" means in the SIs.

From our SIs...(sorry I didn't put this in)
11. TIME LIMIT:
The time limit for races on Courses A-E will be three (3) hours; The time limit for races on Courses 1-3 with be five (5)
hours. The Race Officer will abandon a race on Courses A-E if no boat has passed the first mark within 60 minutes from the
starting time. The Race Officer will abandon a race on Courses 1-3 if no boat has passed the first mark within 90 minutes
from the starting time. These time limits apply to each Class separately. Boats failing to finish within thirty (30) minutes
after the first boat finishes in their Class or within the time limit, whichever is later, may be assigned a finishing place. No
warning signal shall be made after 16:25.

[Nimue]

I have anchored in many races in the PNW, but only in no wind / adverse current situations. I once did a 90 mile race (Swiftsure) where the highest boatspeed we saw for 24 hours was 4.6 knots, while anchored. It was all current. We never sailed faster than 3 something the whole time.

Certainly any well-found boat will continue to make headway up into the higher wind ranges, and certainly it will get you finished quicker than anchoring and waiting it out.

The SI you state is very unusual, I have never been in a race where you could get a finishing score without sailing across the finish line.

[Ndemauro]

Wow, I can honestly say that is a very unusual SI. I would push your RC to clean that up as it could cause some pretty interesting protests.

But based on their SI, you could have pushed for 3rd place - a little weird since you never finished, but you could have filed a protest or asked for redress under that rule.

[jmontani]

It does need to be cleaned-up.

Based on the SIs...

Unless there is damage to the boat, hurt crew member, or weather there seems to be no reason to ever retire from a race (take a DNF).

It will be interesting to see what they come back with.

[jmontani]

I did get a response and here is the short version...

1. Finish in Place is in SIs as a way for RC to get in an additional race in that day if they need to. I guess a point to this is if you can't get the first race in without finishing boats in place, why would you start another one for that fleet?

2. It is not cosidered to be a way to "game the system" to avoid a DNF if you have no intention of continuing the race from anchor. Or if you stay at anchor for a period of time that will not permit you finish the remaining course in the alloted time. I agree with this portion and it is actually poor sportsmanship in my opinion.

That being said I could have done two other things in addition to immediatly dropping out of the race...

1. Anchor for a period of time to see if the conditions became more favorable and then complete the course in the alloted time.

2. Anchor for a period of time and if the conditions did not impove in time to complete the course, drop from the race.

[caprice 1050]

In our races here in SW Florida if a boat does not finish within 30 minutes of the first finisher in its class, she gets a DNF.