The Racing Rules of Sailing
Definition of Finish - Exception (a)
RRS Definition of Finish Exception (a) says that a boat has not finished if, after crossing the finishing line, she takes a penalty under Rule 44.2.
The Scenario
Boat A crossed the finishing line from the course side. The Race Committee recorded her finish time. Someone on the committee boat thought they saw Boat A touch the mark as she crossed the line. After crossing, Boat A promptly made a single tack. Boat A did not cross the finishing line again. After a few minutes, Boat A sailed away from the finishing area. No hail or communication was received from Boat A. The RC did not protest Boat A. No other boat protested Boat A.
Questions
1. Is a single tack (or single gybe) promptly after crossing the line enough to show that Boat A “takes a penalty,” so that Boat A should be scored DNF?
2. !!Alternate Facts!! After crossing the finishing line, Boat A completed both the required tack and gybe for a penalty turn, but did not cross the finishing line again. Would Exception (a) apply, and should Boat A be scored DNF?
3. Would the conclusions be different if the Race Officer was sure Boat A touched a mark?
The Scenario
Boat A crossed the finishing line from the course side. The Race Committee recorded her finish time. Someone on the committee boat thought they saw Boat A touch the mark as she crossed the line. After crossing, Boat A promptly made a single tack. Boat A did not cross the finishing line again. After a few minutes, Boat A sailed away from the finishing area. No hail or communication was received from Boat A. The RC did not protest Boat A. No other boat protested Boat A.
Questions
1. Is a single tack (or single gybe) promptly after crossing the line enough to show that Boat A “takes a penalty,” so that Boat A should be scored DNF?
2. !!Alternate Facts!! After crossing the finishing line, Boat A completed both the required tack and gybe for a penalty turn, but did not cross the finishing line again. Would Exception (a) apply, and should Boat A be scored DNF?
3. Would the conclusions be different if the Race Officer was sure Boat A touched a mark?
Created: Today 10:55
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None of situations (a), (b) or (c) are fullfilled, so :
Only the protest committee may take other scoring actions that worsen a boat's score.
The only possible action of the race committee is to protest boat A.
Loïc
You bypassed all the discussion I'd hoped for and got straight to it with the black and white of A5.1.
(I was hoping for a philosophical discussion on the logic of it all to arrive at the same conclusion...!)
Anyway, the reason for presenting this question is that I am not sure Finish(a) is that well understood by ROs and some competitors. At least I have seen similar scenarios which have resulted in DNF scores being applied by ROs.. Some of these are never get caught because even competitors can also be a little unsure to question it when it happens.
The bottom line here..
...There should not be a case when a RO can apply Finish(a) themselves.
It just isn't permitted by A5.1.
Apologies.
As I said, I think some ROs belive that Finish (a) is there for their use, requiring them to adjudge the boat's intent and score a boat DNF.
This is a breakdown in the RO training... Is be interested to see how this rule is trained to budding ROs.
Thanks.
In scenario 1, the boat has finished, there is no protest against her, so she should be scored in her finishing position.
In your alternate facts, the boat takes a penalty under 44.2. Since her hull does not return completely to the course side of the line before she finishes, she has not finished per 44.2 and Finish definition (a). Thus she has not sailed the course (Sail the Course definition part (c)) and the RC can score her NSC under A5.1(a)
Am I even correct that the RC/finish boat is allowed to give the competitor the lower of the two scores there? Does the competitor NEED to report that re-finishing in order to receive it? How much of that is on the RC / finish boat?