O
A boat which is RACING shall not receive help from any outside source.
If a coach holds your lunch, water or spare equipment while you race your cheating.
Spend more money and get a coach and you can take spare parts out and a lunch. This is fair how?
Another aspect not yet mentioned is that often the coach boats tow their boats to and from the course area. Not much of an issue when the distance is only short, but at some regattas it can be more than an hours sail. Over a 6 or 7 day regatta, this can impact on the fatigue levels experienced between the haves and have nots.
I definitely experienced that in Largs (2010 worlds). I think there were only 3 women (myself included) there without coaches so we had to launch first to try and get as close to the race course as possible and were still praying for the Sailing Clubs ribs to come and get you once they had laid marks etc to ensure you made the start. At coaches briefings they were told to tow anyone but of course they don't. This also meant the 3 of us without coaches were last in everyday. Not sure if the coaches on the mens course were any more helpful as a larger proportion of the fleet did not have their own coach/support boat.
You get this at Weymouth for pretty much any event too as if you are racing in the bay its a long old sail out there/back home!
A boat which is RACING shall not receive help from any outside source.
If a coach holds your lunch, water or spare equipment while you race your cheating.
Spend more money and get a coach and you can take spare parts out and a lunch. This is fair how?
Shouldn't the rule be changed so there are no coaches allowed on the water near the sailing course while racing is going on? For all ILCA sanction competition that should be the rule and we should all endorsed that type of changeOf course it's not fair.
But Rule 41 Outside Help only applies to boats that are racing and that is usually interpreted to mean that you cannot receive any information or physical assistance from a coach boat after the prep signal and before you finish. At any other time it's OK.
But you raise an interesting point: Is the mere act of "holding" food, drink, spare parts, spare clothing etc. while a sailor is racing in itself a kind of outside help? After all, if the coach weren't holding that stuff the sailor would have to carry it himself on his boat. The fact that the sailor is not carrying all that extra weight must be of some help to him in the race. I think you could make a strong argument that if a coach carries stuff for a boat which is racing then that is "outside help" and the boat infringes Rule 41.
I don't know if there's ever been a ruling of any kind on that idea. Best think is to file a protest the next time you are racing if you see a coach boat holding stuff for another boat while it is racing. If the local protest committee rule against you, then appeal it to the highest level. If you win it will be a major achievement for fair play and a level playing field in our sport.
Good luck!
Shouldn't the rule be changed so there are no coaches allowed on the water near the sailing course while racing is going on? For all ILCA sanction competition that should be the rule and we should all endorsed that type of change
Many regattas have a rule in the SIs that prohibit coach boats from being on or near the race course while boats are racing. But it is frequently ignored and usually there are no meaningful sanctions applied to the coaches infringing the rule or the competitors whom they are supporting. In any case just keeping the coach boats away while boats are racing still allows them to zoom in en masse between races and help their sailors.
What is really needed is a rule saying that a boat cannot receive any outside assistance from private support boats once it has left the dock for the day until after the finish of the last race of the day (as well as a rule keeping spectator boats at a reasonable distance from the race course.)
Many regattas have a rule in the SIs that prohibit coach boats from being on or near the race course while boats are racing. But it is frequently ignored and usually there are no meaningful sanctions applied to the coaches infringing the rule or the competitors whom they are supporting. In any case just keeping the coach boats away while boats are racing still allows them to zoom in en masse between races and help their sailors.
What is really needed is a rule saying that a boat cannot receive any outside assistance from private support boats once it has left the dock for the day until after the finish of the last race of the day (as well as a rule keeping spectator boats at a reasonable distance from the race course.)
US Sailing events have that rule. Once you left the beach there was no coaching until protest time was over. The fleets were a tad smaller than say a large National regatta though.
About three weekends ago, I participated in a multi-class race. My three kids were racing their Optimists and I asked their coach to carry my water bottle. After race one, wind started to shift and we have to wait 2 hours for the wind to settle before race two. It was great to have a support boat near with water, cookies and other stuff during the wait.
About three weekends ago, I participated in a multi-class race. My three kids were racing their Optimists and I asked their coach to carry my water bottle. After race one, wind started to shift and we have to wait 2 hours for the wind to settle before race two. It was great to have a support boat near with water, cookies and other stuff during the wait.
Did you give water and cookies and other stuff to the other hungry and thirsty kids without coach boats? The point is, if you did not, then your children had an unfair advantage.
I'm sure it was "great". But it did give you an unfair advantage over the other competitors. Tie your water bottle on your boat somewhere. Put your snacks in a pocket on your PFD if it has one or in a bag under an inspection hatch. Be a REAL Laser sailor.
kids without coach boats?
We were about 100 sailors (~40 Lasers and 60 Optimists) floating while the wind was changing. We gathered in groups around the 10 or 12 coach boats and the RC boat. We all shared water, coke, cookies and had a good time. None cared about "unfair advantages". Some kids jumped from their Optimists to our Lasers and played around. Others just enjoyed some good swimming.
None was left alone.