Sail racing through a restricted zone

[xuraax]

The other day we took part in a coastal race of about 16 miles. The fastest way to the finish was a straight line up the coast to the finish. At the time of the race, there was a Notice to Mariners in force which basically required all boats to keep 4 miles out along part of the course. One boat obeyed the instructions and sailed round the restricted zone thus increasing the distance by about 30% and obviously finished last. The rest sailed a course right through the restricted zone.
If this boat made a protest who would win?

 

[WCB]

If it's restricted and it's in the NOR or SIs to respect that area, then all of those boats should be disqualified. I was in a protest against another boat that sailed into a restricted area, after we requested room to tack away from it, and they were DQ'd.

 

[Livia]

Does not even have to be in the NoR or SI
Not obeying the law is not fair sailing
End of story

 

[duncan (the other one)]

slam dunk [EDIT: maybe. What was the specific wording of the 'keep four miles out' ? ] , but negligent of the OA not to amend the SI's to warn everyone, so another competitor may have grounds to request redress from the OA and have the race effectively abandoned.

 

[Go Left]

Just spent two hours this Tuesday with the Puget Sound Coast Guard and VTS folks discussing how to safely mix sailboat racing and commercial traffic. Bottom line: Communication is key.

Based on my takeaway: If it's charted as a permanent restricted zone, it's a burden on the sailors. If it is an occasional inclusion in the Notice to Mariners, which frankly almost none of the racers read, then it is the job of the PRO and the local CG to communicate during the (required per the event permit) pre-race call from the RC to the the CG to discuss the restriction and the job of the RC to notify the racers at any mandatory check in or by posted Amendment. Everybody is reading the NOR and SIs on their iPhones anyway, so amendments can be alerted easily, not just posted on the clubhouse door.

The above procedure is probably not 100% by the book, but it gets the word out. Communication.

It was a very interesting evening with the CG. No fingerpointing, just how we all can do better.

 

[xuraax]

The wording was "mariners are warned to keep at least 4 miles from the coast....". They also gave the coordinates of the ends of the arc for the exclusion zone. The NOR did not include this notice since it was posted a few days earlier. But the starting officer did advise the racers that there was this warning in force before the start.

 

[dogwatch]

Warned is not prohibited.

Airspace makes precisely that distinction. Around here anyway.

SIs can be amended at short notice. SOP. Crap race officering to fail to do so.

 

[Firebar]

I think I agree that SIs should be amended to account for warning zones, if practicable.

However, sailors also need to not be rules lawyers about things introduced at the last minute. E.g. last year in the Solent QHM Portsmouth requested JOG to change a race course at the last minute to keep the fleet clear of a manoeuvring aircraft carrier. It contradicted the SIs but was clarified by the committee that this was to be accepted and racing continued with no issues and the fleet following the slightly altered course.

 

[dogwatch]

However, sailors also need to not be rules lawyers about things introduced at the last minute.

They wouldn't get very far. The RC can change a leg of the course any time before the first boat begins on it. RRS 33. OK, unusual on a passage race but the rules allow it.

 

['Bacco]

Rule 48.2 (a) A Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) shall be understood to mean an area shown on a nautical chart, or in the notice of race or sailing instructions, as a TSS.

By the rules, a TSS is considered an obstruction.

I think a case could be made that "shown on a nautical chart" is the same as a Notice To Mariner's restriction. It's a stretch but could be avoided if the SI's were updated the day of, or something was posted on the Offical Notice Board.

 

[dogwatch]

I don't think being warned to stay away from the coast is a TSS. Does anyone have the actual wording?

 

[WCB]

Does not even have to be in the NoR or SI
Not obeying the law is not fair sailing
End of story

A notice and a law are two very different things.
End of story

 

[WCB]

The wording was "mariners are warned to keep at least 4 miles from the coast....". They also gave the coordinates of the ends of the arc for the exclusion zone. The NOR did not include this notice since it was posted a few days earlier. But the starting officer did advise the racers that there was this warning in force before the start.

I think that you're out of luck. I agree with others that it was a fail by the organizing authority to not amend the SIs and make it part of the race.

This happened to us in a less severe way many years ago. I was racing in Newport, RI and we were out in front of the Naval College. A Navy RIB came up to us mid race and told us to tack/turn around because they were testing torpedoes. There was nothing in the SIs about Navy testing and it affected our race but we didn't sweat it too much.

Ironically it was the Naval College keep away buoys that I was referencing in my first post here. Same class of sailboat, many years later, other side of the bay right in front of the college. That time it was in the SIs and mentioned in the Skipper's meeting.

 

[JimC]

Warned is not prohibited.

I think that depends on the context. If mariners are warned that entering the exclusion zone is prohibited and they may be prosecuted that's an entirely different thing from the sort of warning that is no more than advice.

 

[dogwatch]

I think that depends on the context. If mariners are warned that entering the exclusion zone is prohibited and they may be prosecuted that's an entirely different thing from the sort of warning that is no more than advice.

We haven't seen the precise wording of this warning. However an analogy is the use of NOTAMs to promulgate changed airspace information and in that case, "warning" and "prohibited" are not used together in the way you suggest. Prohibited airspace means, if you violate it and get caught, which is quite likely these days, you get a sodding great fine from (in the UK) the CAA which is judge, jury and executioner.

Warnings, on the other hand, are advisory rather than mandatory in nature. Here is an example of a part of a warning in a NOTAM:

CURRENT AIRSPACE WARNING - SECURITY - HAZARDOUS SITUATION IN
MALI - REPLACE THE CURRENT ENTRY WITH THE FOLLOWING: UK CIVIL AIR OPERATORS ARE ADVISED TO TAKE POTENTIAL RISK INTO ACCOUNT WITHIN FIR NIAMEY (DRRR) AND FIR DAKAR (GOOO) WITHIN THE TERRITORY AND AIRSPACE OF MALI. POTENTIAL RISK FROM ANTI-AIRCRAFT WEAPONRY.

See "advised" not "prohibited". The language is legalistic and specific in its usage.

Same in the USA? Probably as most things in aviation are international. Same for marine restrictions? Probably, for the same reason.

 

[TJSoCal]

I don’t think the NTM would rank as a racing rule unless made so by the NOR or SI. Otherwise violations would be a matter between the boats and the Coast Guard, not subject to protest.

I feel like the RRS 2 angle would be a stretch.

 

[JimC]

After a little trawl through US notices to mariners they seem to have roughly three levels:
requested to navigate with caution
advised to keep clear
prohibited from entry
So an awful lot depends on the exact wording of the notice. A navigate with caution wouldn't preclude sailing through the area.

I took a look at RYA guidance for IRPCAS which has some other relevant material.

Racing under the IRPCAS

Guidance about racing under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (IRPCAS), the effect of Traffic Separation Schemes on race management and competitors, and the differences between the racing rules and the IRPCAS.

www.rya.org.uk

Other restrictions
Harbour byelaws often include regulations that are additional to the IRPCAS. The ‘moving obstruction’ regulation in Southampton Water is a well-known example. Elsewhere, there may be other authority byelaws and regulations. A boat that breaks these regulations will be answerable to the body making the regulations and, in addition, may be protested and penalised under the RRS when these regulations are listed in the notice of race as governing the event.

Organisers and race committees should take care to identify such rules and list them in the notice of race when they may have an impact on the fairness of the competition.

So the RYA opinion seems to be that if the organisers have not listed the Notice to mariners it's not enforceable *under RRS*.

It sort of surprises me that there isn't a general requirement in RRS to obey navigational restrictions that have legal force. Would it be appropriate to have a general requirement in SIs to conform to any prohibitions in notices to mariners to save this sort of situation?

 

[TJSoCal]

They wouldn't get very far. The RC can change a leg of the course any time before the first boat begins on it. RRS 33. OK, unusual on a passage race but the rules allow it.

I could read RRS 33 to be limited to changing the position of marks of the course that are described in the SIs, but I'm not sure it gives the RC the authority to add marks that aren't defined in the SI. So I'm not sure it would be possible to add the coordinates of the restricted area as marks, it that was necessary.

And if they wanted to use GPS coordinates rather than physical marks then World Sailing Appendix WP would have to be invoked in the NOR and SI.

 

[dogwatch]

That's certainly the standard use of RRS 33 but it does not say it is limited to that. You are right about Appendix WP. RORC standard SIs include it but UK JOG SIs do not.