I have been receiving emails from a number of NCESA members about bowsprit use and concern about heavy traffic near the gate at the end of the run for the 2008 regatta. Also, several had heard that ISAF was going to change the zone of Rule 18 from two lengths to three lengths. I have been talking to a member of the ISAF/USSA Rules Committee and several of my fellow senior judges about these issues and their place in the Rules. With their counsel, I have requested adoption of the following policy to which the class leadership has agreed.
Bowsprits are not mentioned in the rules per se, but are treated as any other form of sail handling equipment such as spinnaker poles and reaching struts. The main concepts governing them are as follows:
- A bowsprit may be extended only when being used for its intended purpose of hoisting, flying, or retrieving an asymmetric spinnaker.
- When deployed for the purpose of managing an asymmetric spinnaker, a bowsprit is considered equipment "in normal position", and as such becomes part of the boat for determining the establishment of an overlap or finishing for a downwind finish when an asail is being carried.
- It may not be extended at other times for other purposes such as preventing port tack boats from crossing or establishing an overlap when nearing a mark. Forgetting that it has remained extended is no excuse.
- A good practical limitation for extending the sprit at the windward mark is to prohibit extension until a yacht has "overlapped" the mark on a starboard tack.
As a practical matter for judging the NCESA regatta this means that the sprit may not be deployed until the process of hoisting the spinnaker has begun, or until overlapping the windward mark on a starboard tack. It must be retracted as part of a continuous process of retrieving the spinnaker. This would imply that the sprit would never be deployed prior to "overlapping" the weather mark, but may be required to be deployed much later if the spinnaker hoist is not begun until a later time. In like manner, when the spinnaker is retrieved, the sprit must be retracted immediately thereafter at the latest.
Rule 18, currently, does not stipulate whether the bowsprit can be part of the length that determines the "two-length zone" in the 2005 (current) rulebook. In the 2009 rulebook, there will be a "three-length zone" which will stipulate
hull lengths. The intention here is to discourage yachts from leaving the sprit extended to establish an inside overlap more easily.
I, and a number of class members, feel it would be a good idea to adopt this larger zone and the limitations on sprit use for the NCESA 2008 Championship Regatta. The class leadership has agreed. Therefore, the following two paragraphs will be included in the regatta sailing instructions,
ROUNDING AND PASSING MARKS AND OBSTRUCTIONS
The establishment of a
two-length zone is changed to a
three-hull-length zone, and Rules 18.2.b and 18.2.c are modified to assess positions at the edge of a
three-hull-length zone instead of a
two-length zone. For rounding or passing the subject mark or obstruction, Rule 18 shall begin to apply at that point. A bowsprit or any other crew or equipment item shall not be included in determining the extent of this zone."
SETTING AND SHEETING SAILS
Rule 50 is modified to include, "A bowsprit may be extended only when being used for its intended purpose of flying an asymmetric spinnaker. It may not be deployed until the process of hoisting the spinnaker has begun, or until the yacht is overlapping the windward mark on a starboard tack. It must be retracted as part of a continuous process of retrieving the spinnaker.
Ted Beier
Chairman, NCESA Rules Committee
Jury Chairman, 2008 NCESA Championship Regatta
