Dr. Rules – Serious

DR. RULES ON SERIOUS

DAMAGE & COLLISION

Anyone who has sailed more than a few races has probably been involved in some form of “bumper boats”. In fact, reports from recent Wednesday night races indicate that some of you need to read all of “Section 2 of the RRS- When Boats Meet” and commit them to memory.

The rules admonish us to avoid contact, penalize a right-of-way boat if they cause serious damage and deny a burdened boat who causes serious damage from exonerating her foul (RRS 14, 44.1, 60.4). But how do we determine what constitutes “serious damage”? As “serious damage” is not a defined term, we must look for guidance elsewhere, such as the Case Book and jury rulings to see how the rule should be applied.

I hate to generalize, but I would bet that many of you Wednesday Nighters have never read the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) all the way through and I’d bet that MOST Wednesday Nighters have never read, or even heard of, the Case Book. The Case Book looks at various situations and shows how the rules should be applied. In this instance, Case 19 asks the question “Is there a special meaning of ‘damage’ in the racing rules?”

Case 19 Answer: No. It is not possible to define ‘damage’ comprehensively, but one current English dictionary says ‘harm or injury impairing the value or usefulness of something, or the health or normal function of a person.’ This definition suggests questions to consider. Examples are:

1.      Was the current market value of any part of the boat or of the boat as a whole, diminished (Dr. Rules comment: not to be confused with whether the skipper of the offending boat is an a-hole).

2.      Was any item of the boat or her equipment made less functional?

3.      Was any member of the crew injured?

A love-tap that chips a little gelcoat or breaks off rubrail certainly wouldn’t be called serious damage. On the other hand the recent Decision vs. Titan match-up in Key West (see picture below by Rich Roberts) is an easy one – if the boat is incapacitated, it’s pretty serious.  But where do you draw the line?

Leg 5 of the current Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) presented a very interesting case. On the first night of the leg from Rio to Miami, SEB attempted to duck illbruck during a routine port-starboard upwind crossing. Travelling at roughly 8 knots, SEB’s helmsman (who to this day remains unnamed) misjudged the cross and hit illbruck at the port hull/deck joint approximately 1 meter forward of the transom, ripping out illbruck’s stern pulpit, which included the base for their spinnaker turning block, and leaving a fist-sized hole. SEB immediately performed a 720-degree turn for breaking RRS 10. The damage to SEB was more serious, as the collision ripped a large hole in their sacrificial bow (see below). illbruck decided not to protest further, however the VOR Race Committee wasn’t going to let the matter drop.

Standard Sailing Instruction 1.6.1 of the VOR obliged the Race Committee to protest SEB for having caused serious damage during the collision with illbruck. While they ruled that serious damage was not inflicted to illbruck, the RC protested SEB for the damage caused to herself during the collision. “The loss of non-structural skins and damage to the underlying foam forward of the collision bulkhead on SEB does not, in our opinion, constitute ‘serious’ damage. However, other damage to SEB, specifically the partial crushing of the forward collision bulkhead and the associated damage to the hull immediately aft of that bulkhead, has compromised the watertight integrity of the hull in an area frequently immersed during sailing. In the opinion of the Race Committee, this constitutes ‘serious damage’.”

VOR Sailing Instruction 1.7.2 (c) (ii) states that a penalty breach, such as the port-starboard collision between the two boats, which results in serious damage will result in either a five-place penalty or disqualification. With SEB having finished 4th in an 8 boat fleet, any penalty would result effectively in a last place finish plus one, or zero points for the leg.

If SEB was able to quickly plug the hole and sail on then was the damage serious? SEB skipper Gunnar Krantz argued whether a seriously damaged boat could go from last place to finishing fourth? The collision bulkhead had been holed but, he argued, they had seen more water get in below from a leaky padeye.

Witnesses were brought in to argue the case on behalf of the Race Committee and Team SEB. Volvo Ocean 60 class measurer Nick Nicholson argued the case for the Race Committee and maintained that a holed boat did constitute serious damage. SEB called Pat Shaughnessy, Senior Designer of Farr Yacht Design, as their expert witness. who argued that despite the damage SEB was still structurally able to continue racing at full pace. Team SEB also called their shore crew/boat builder Neal Cox to attest to the minimal extent of the damage.

After the cases had been presented the Jury came up with their verdict and found in SEB’s favor. Their ruling read: “the damage had no significant impact on SEB’s performance. SEB was able to continue racing safely. The cost of repairs is minimal in comparison to the total value of the boat. The boats are designed and constructed to withstand damage far beyond what could be anticipated in close-to-shore racing. The design and construction of the boats must be considered when determining whether damage is “serious”. The damage to SEB is not considered “serious”.

Dr. Rules found this case and the ruling to be very interesting, but I still have some questions:

– Would the jury have felt differently if this had been a Southern Ocean leg, where risk of hitting icebergs is great and outside assistance or rescue is far away, instead of a relatively mild-weather leg that follows the South American coastline?

– What exactly does “minimal in comparison to the total value of the boat” mean? Does this mean that $5 in damage to an Optimist is comparable to $4,000 damage to a J-130? I would have thought that more consideration would be given to the lives of the crew than to the costs of the boat and the repair.

By reading the Case Book and using the jury decision, one has a much clearer understanding of what the rule-makers meant when they said “serious damage”. Serious damage has much more to do with the damage in relation to the boat’s value and its ability to continue in the race in an effective manner. An owner’s emotional trauma at the sight of his or her beloved, well-maintained and prized vessel having been desecrated has nothing to do with it.

So keep your head out of the boat and your beer, relax and sail. If it’s a Wednesday Night race, give yourself some extra room and don’t take it as seriously. Don’t hit other boats, PERIOD!!!

I hear NOYC.org will have a camera on ya’ll shortly, but video in the protest room is a whole separate topic.  Don’t forget to submit your protests to the ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION SPECIALIST.

Dr. Rules