Is sheeting directly from the boom legal

[Deleted]

Hi all,
I have raised for discussion an interpretation of Rule 16.4. You will find my interpretation on the front page of the website. I have started this thread for any discussion that people might want to get into about what i have said.
Cheers
Mark R

[Deleted]

Thanks to Mark for raising the topic. For convenience this links directly To Mark Roberts article: www.ok.yachting.org.au/default.asp?Page=65523

I'm a relative sailing newcomer, but I'll have a go, generally in agreement., and I would go a bit further, and say that you can also sheet off the boom when sailing close hauled to windward (but you may never pump when sailing to windward)  I would even say that you are also allowed to sheet off the boom to trim the sail even when off the wind and planing and surfing is possible, provided that you do not then pump even once; it is just that in those conditions it may be disadvantageous not to be allowed to have that one pump per wave or gust, and you already have adequate feel through the bottom block to trim your sail . (Does anyone ever manage to pump once through the bottom block to initiate planing / surfing,  and then transition to sheeting off the boom to maintain trim to stay on the plane / surfing?). Maybe in a Sabre...  

The starting point is   42 PROPULSION 42.1 Basic Rule ... a boat shall compete by using only the wind and water to increase, maintain or decrease her speed. Her crew may adjust the trim of sails and hull, and perform other acts of seamanship, but shall not otherwise move their bodies to propel the boat.  

This does not per se restrict trimming of sails and hull through movement of the body.   As I see it,  the sub-rule under discussion relates to "pumping" and not to trimming. I do not see that the rule restricts in any way using e.g. 1 to 1 off the boom to trim the sail, provided you are not in effect accelerating the boat by adding your own muscle force to push the boat forward faster than would be the case with a sail optimally trimmed to the wind as it varies from time to time.

There are times, especially in light and variable conditions, that it is advantageous to "feel" the weight of the wind in the sail to more easily adjust trim to gusts and lulls. It is of course another matter if you then allow the sail to ease and then vigorously sheet in to accelerate the boat forward. The line between pumping and trimming is a matter of judgement, but I thought we all have a fair idea when it is one or the other, and I guess on water jurors can certainly make that call. My own rule of thumb is that if you are only keeping relatively constant weight in the sail (plus or minus according to the strength and direction of puffs and lulls), you are are not pumping.  If you are adding extra force and weight not proportional to a gust or change of wind direction, then you are pumping. Another way of looking at it might be to say that allowing or even making the sail conform best to the current wind is trimming, but anything extra is pumping.

There are also times when the wind is very light, but there is considerable slop from waves or boat wake. I believe you are allowed to adjust your sail and your body position to follow the motion imparted by the waves so as to best maintain the wind flow over your sail. But you can't just pump away to try to power through it, relatively speaking.

Some people might hold the view that sheeting directly off the boom means that you are pumping end of discussion,  but I would respectfully disagree with that view and I don't see any rule that makes this direct connection. I think Mark has already made this point.

I would also add that I once informally raised this pumping/sheeting rule with a national judge, and I understood him to say that trimming is OK, pumping is not, and to warn against interpreting the rules to require sailors to be inactive and motionless in the boat.  But his comments were very much in passing without expressly reading the rules exactly as written, so I won't drop his name unless there is vehement disagreement on the issue and then the Association might seek formal clarification on the matter.

But first I would also draw attention to the ISAF document which I have just located: <[a href="http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/42interpretations2010final-[10193].pdf"]http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/42interpretations2010final-[10193].pdf[/a]>. Based on that,  I would correct what I've said above to refer to "fanning", and accept that it is irrelevant whether an action actually propels the boat forward,  including:

"... Fanning is moving a sail in and out not in response to wind shifts, gusts or waves.

PUMP 2 Pulling in and releasing a sail in response to wind shifts, gusts or waves is permitted, even if repeated (see rule 42.1) ...

Cheers, and thanks again to Mark for raising the topic,
Ron F.  AUS 618

[Deleted]

This has been discussed at length on the UK forum a couple of years ago, I have pasted the relevent conclusion by both Tony Woods and Okgorgeous who are well versed and respected in "Okology". If it is copyright many apologies
Re: Mainsheet - from block or boom?

Postby burt » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:37 pm
you can sheet off the boom for adjusment however your not allowed to pumpi sheet off the boom in light winds but when its above force 1 or 2 then its from the block

also thomas h-m has it 4 to 1 because he has bad elbows and he is no slouch!!

burt

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Re: Mainsheet - from block or boom?

Postby Tony Woods » Wed Aug 17, 2011 5:38 pm
Hi Hugh, welcome to the class. It's a good one, you'll love it. There always seems to be confusion over the OK mainsheet rule, but if you read the rule it is quite simple and makes sense. In the first couple of years that I have sailed an OK i have been told off quite regulary for taking the boom straight from the 1st part of the mainsheet. The guy's doing the telling off have sailed OK's for years and they should have known better. Even at this years Worlds I had a lengthy discussion with a German sailor all the way down the run who also believed you couldn't hold the boom straight from the mainsheet rather than the mainsheet through the mainsheet block in the boat and he is on the International commitee. Even Burt's force 1-2 comment isn't quite right in that you can hold the boom from wherever you want regardless of wind strength untill you wish to pump in surfing conditions. At that stage rule 16.4 which is a class rule amendment to rule 42 kicks in, and if you wish to pump (legally) you need to take the mainshhet from the cockpit floor. In practice in light conditions downwind it makes sense to take the boom directly as you can feel what is happening in the sail. When surfing conditions apply you need to transfer the mainsheet via the block in the floor. This transfer is worth practicing because it's quite easy to make an arse of it. Been there, done that.
The rule makes sense and is a good one, cutting down on some of the downwind gymnastics that all classes take part in, and of course with the Finns 'free pumping' rule they have taken this a step further.
The interpretation of the rule seems to have got skewed along the way so that people have been arguing over it when it doesn't apply. You'll probably get some differant advice than the above but if they read the rule I don't understand how you wouldn't come to the same conclusion as I have. Good luck, and good question which the whole fleet can learn from.
Regards, Tony Woods

Tony Woods

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Re: Mainsheet - from block or boom?

Postby hughsheehy » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:14 pm
Hi Tony,

indeed, as you say, from reading the rule it's clear that you can do whatever you like unless you're pumping to plane/surf.

thanks

H
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Re: Mainsheet - from block or boom?

Postby okgorgeous » Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:51 am
I go with Tony's summary of this, as I over the years have had the same discussions on the water over the subject. My standard answer nowadays is " protest me then, and we will see what happens". To this date, nobody has done this yet, I guess they must have gone away and read the rule properly.

okgorgeous

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Re: Mainsheet - from block or boom?

Postby Bill B » Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:56 am
I agree with the above comments. There is no rule telling you how you adjust your sail trim. The rule in question is to control pumping- performed legally of course.

Tony's comment about practicing changing to sheeting from the floor and gathering up the slack sheet is a good one - it is easy to make a complete b***s of that bit.

Bill

[tim]

Well there u go...........I definitely fall into the group "who should have known better"............Many years ago, I was told it was a class rule (no one else sheeted above the block), I assumed they were right

[aus729]

I was one to make comment on the water.
Looks like I was incorrect in my statement.

That said.

Here is a definition from the interpretations link above.
PUMP 1 Fanning is moving a sail in and out not in response to wind shifts, gusts or waves. (Note not repeated)

Therefore adjusting the sail without a wind shift, gust or wave, it would be a PUMP, which is only allowed through the bottom block.

Sheeting through the bottom block requires 3 times as must sheet as directly from the boom. So you could easily adjust the sail too much, and be seen to be pumping or fanning.

I personally find sheeting from the boom difficult, and as the wind increase the so do the loads. I remember when I sailed a Finn guys would sheet from the boom, as they pull the sheet in their body would move inboard, not the best action.

[Deleted]

Andre raises a fair point.
Of course all pumping is illegal unless the precondition to Rule 16.4 is operative.
What I believe Andre is saying is that the on water jury are very wary of excessive leach movement, which from their on water position, is very easy to see. There is no doubt that 1:1 as opposed to 1:3 sheeting carries inherent risk because if you are overly exuberant (in a lapse of concentration or through miss- timing) then direct trimming in response to wind shifts or gusts might be seen as a deliberate attempt to obtain an unfair advantage. Though trimming through the bottom block is far less sensitive to these subtleties it most certainly caries less risk.

[Deleted]

Looking back at the rule:

“16.4 Pumping: In accordance with RRS 86.1(c), RRS 42.3(c) is amended as follows: On a free leg of the course, when surfing (rapidly accelerating down the leeward side of a wave) or planing is possible, the boat's crew may, in order to initiate surfing or planing, pump the sheet once for each wave or gust of wind. When the sail is pumped it shall be done through the bottom block with at least three parts of the mainsheet system.”

I was wondering what is a "free leg of the course". I thought there might be something in the RRS, but I can't locate it, perhaps it was an old version no longer applying?

The current RRS 42.3.(c) reads:

Except on a beat to windward, when surfing (rapidly accelerating down the front of a wave) or planing is possible, the boat’s crew may pull in any sail in order to initiate surfing or planing, but each sail may be pulled in only once for each wave or gust of wind.

so I'm thinking that class rule 16.4 should be updated to the new terminology "except on a beat to windward"

My question then becomes, what is a beat to windward? Obviously a leg that requires tacking close hauled is a beat to windward, but what about a soldier's course that requires no tacking, say a close reach? Well, it's probably not a beat unless the optimum course is close hauled.

And a beat to windward would have to be determined by the direction between marks and the wind direction at the time, a leg does not become free by a sailor just choosing to sail low? But what happens if the leg starts as close hauled, but a wind shift comes along, does the leg become free for as long as the wind stays shifted? This can happen often on lake sailing, and bay sailors get the occasional squall or persistent shift too, don't they? Can they get that pump in while it lasts?

Any takers?

(I need to do more sailing and less thinking, but the lake levels are dropping and this weekend might be it for a while until we get some decent rain! I might try some sailing in Geelong for a while ...)