Berkeley Midwinters

Not a super satisfactory day from a racing perspective but such a nice day from a sailing perspective - an interesting course. Because of the fixed mark on the Berkeley Circle and because a couple of them are missing right now, we ended up on a spinnaker leg to the 'windward' mark and upwind to the 'leeward' mark.

We had a good start, on the line, with speed. Unfortunately Wetsu, right below us was over early - they decided to take us up, which we did not understand because they had no room to tack back to the line and gybing not only would have been faster but a manoeuver they could have done without fouling anyone. It looks like this may not be allowed (see rule below) but this is just a midwinters race, so we really are not protesting.

Trouble is this put us DFL because by the time Westu did gybe, the entire fleet had gone by and we were blocked by them.

Ella (on the boat for the first time) made a very good point - too many people on Elise dealt with that incident. One person would have been enough. We could have gybed (fouled by Wetsu potentially but at least not block and back to the mark), we could have focused on sailing, and just be faster than Wetsu because we were windward of them.

In any case, it was a tough road ahead for us. We did catch up three boat on the first downwind. The first upwind (ie the second leg) we went down first, heading for the mark, but had to come up quite a bit to avoid the start/finish line that was restricted. The other boats in the fleet stayed further upwind and then fell down, so we were faster the first half of the upwind and slower the second half. 

The last leg, we also went off course as we thought that we were going to be doing a twice around - it looks like there was some confusion on board and really we were supposed to head for the finish which we did. We probably could have picked up Magic Bus and perhaps one other boat with a longer course.

Oh well :)

 

 

Preamble	When Rule 20 or 21 applies between two boats, Section A rules do not.
– Overview	Section D provides certain r-o-w and other miscellaneous rules.
– Basic	When either Rule 20 or Rule 21 applies the usual r-o-w rules of Section A do not.
– Related	The rules of Section A are primary and always apply unless (1) modified by a rule of Section C, (2) specifically turned off by a rule of Section C or (3) turned off because Rule 20 or 21 applies.
20	Starting Errors; Penalty Turns; Moving Astern A boat sailing towards the pre-start side of the starting line or its extensions to comply with rule 29.1 or rule 30.1 shall keep clear of a boat not doing so until she is completely on the pre-start side. A boat making penalty turns shall keep clear of one that is not. A boat moving astern by backing a sail shall keep clear of one that is not.
– Overview	Rule 20 governs which boat has r-o-w when one boat is returning to restart because over early, taking penalty turns or sailing backwards. Defined terms: Keep Clear.
– Basic	A boat that is either (1) sailing back to restart under Rule 29.1 (On the Course Side at the Start) because over early at her starting signal or (2) sailing to the pre-start side to clear herself under Rule 30.1 (I Flag Rule) [around-the-ends rule] must keep clear of other boats not also returning. This obligation continues until a boat has returned completely to the pre-start side of the line.
	A boat making penalty turns under either Rule 31.2 (Touching a Mark) or rule 44.2 (720° Turns Penalty) must keep clear of other boats not also taking penalty turns. Thus, all boats not taking penalty turns will have r-o-w over one that is. This rule will not often apply, however, because one of the obligations of a boat taking penalty turns under either Rule 31.2 or Rule 44.2 is to get well clear of other boats before beginning her penalty turns. If a boat she does that correctly then there should be no boats close enough for her to worry about keeping clear of.
	A boat that is backing up (moving backwards through the water) because she backed a sail must keep clear of other boats. Note, if a boat is moving backward through the water but did not back her sails then Rule 20 will not apply and the usual r-o-w rules in Section A will continue to apply.
– Advanced	When one boat is subject to Rule 20 the usual r-o-w rules in Section A are turned off. However, if two boats are both subject to Rule 20 (for example, two boats over early both returning to restart) then the usual r-o-w rules of Section A will continue to apply to those two boats (but only as between the two of them).
	Rule 20 starts to apply to a boat that must cross to the pre-start side of the line when she begins to change course to do so. At that time, she will lose r-o-w if she previously had it and, because her own actions caused her to lose r-o-w, under Rule 15 (Acquiring Right of Way) other boats will not be required to give her "room to keep clear." Thus, she must be careful to act only in such a way as to allow herself "room to keep clear" of other boats.

SAIL #	SKIPPER	BOAT NAME	BOAT MODEL	RATING	FINISH	ELAPSED	CORRECTED	PTS.	COMMENTS	YC
28137	Zachary Anderson	Motorcycle Irene	Ex 27	129	14:48:10	0:48:10	0:46:07	1		RYC
48	Rachel Fogel	Great White	Ex 27	129	14:49:47	0:49:47	0:47:39	2		BYC
11	Dan Pruzan	Wile E Coyote	Ex 27	129	14:50:29	0:50:29	0:48:20	3		EYC
18394	Ron Kell	Abigail Morgan	Ex 27	129	14:52:47	0:52:47	0:50:32	4		CYC
0	Steven Katzman	Dianne	Ex 27	129	14:52:53	0:52:53	0:50:37	5		LTWYC
113	Marcia Schnapp	Libra	Ex 27	129	14:53:18	0:53:18	0:51:01	6		SFYC
41	Marc Belloli	Magic Bus	EX 27	129	14:53:34	0:53:34	0:51:17	7		StFYC
101	Nathalie Criou	Elise	Ex 27	129	14:53:54	0:53:54	0:51:36	8		STFYC
70	Phil Krasner	Wetsu	Ex 27	129	14:56:47	0:56:47	0:54:21	9		RYC
28031	Donald Carroll	Take Five	Ex 27	129	14:59:01	0:59:01	0:56:30	10		SSS
8477	Terry Cobb	Mirage	Ex 27	129	14:59:22	0:59:22	0:56:50	11		SSS
18364	John Rivlin	Peaches	Ex 27	129	DNC	:	:	13		STFYC