Harvest Regatta -- Day 2 Controversy

Sunday: Sunny, North Wind, Averaging about 15 mph, Max 18 mph, Max Gust 26 mph

The forecast for wind was the same as Saturday. One difference being the earlier start time by two hours. The Lido fleet made an early decision not to race. Probably a wise choice even though the wind did not build to the same level.

After Day 1: Sea Bear was in first with three bullets and... three points. H2O Boa was in second with three seconds and... six points. Disaster Area was in third with three thrids and... nine points. (The math is killing me!)

With a couple exceptions, all the S20s left the dock with jibs. Similar to the Lidos, everyone expected 10 to 20 from the North. Early in our pre-race routine, we decided to go with the genoa as the wind speed actually decreased below 15.

Racing was tight again at the top. In the first race, we managed to beat Sea Bear for our first bullet of the regatta. In the second race, we were looking for a pin end start along with Sea Bear and DA. Fortunately for us, they were both over early and forced to restart. As expected, they made excellent recoveries in the long triangle, windward / leeward race. We managed to hang on for another bullet and had a boat between us and Sea Bear.

With the wind building, we made another head sail change... back to the jib and assessed our position in the regatta. We were now tied with Sea Bear with eight points going into the sixth and final race of the regatta. At this point, Sea Bear would win the tie-breaker (having more wins). Sea Bear knew they had to stay ahead of us and race clean. DA by this point in the regatta was not a threat.

As we raced up the first beat, we took the right. Boats that went left found more favorable conditions and rounded the first mark in the lead. We made some gains downwind and approached the leeward mark just outside of Sea Bear. We gave them room and began our douse... both of us holding our kites up until the last minute. As we began rounding the mark, I heard Sylvain yell, "the pole, the pole". As I looked over (a no, no), I saw their spin pole swinging toward us as it got away from their foredeck. One end of their pole (rigged end for end) hit the water between our boats and the other end bumped me in the back. I called out that they hit us and Gordon protested them.

The distraction made for a poor douse of the spinnaker and we ran over the leeward sheet. Going forward to recover it I slipped off the bow and went wading. Fortunately, the bow pulpit was there to grab and I pulled myself back on the deck and took care of the sheet. Paul on Aquila said that was the fastest MOB recovery he'd ever seen. Although my legs got wet, I never was completely "overboard".

Later up the beat, Sea Bear claimed we didn't give them enough room at the mark. We simply pointed out they neither hit the mark nor our boat (except for their wild spin. pole). It seemed like there was a good four to six feet between us as we rounded the leeward mark. At any rate, they never spun circles and although we carried our protest flag to the finish, we didn't file a protest. In the end, the race was a toss out for both of us (even if we had filed a protest and won).

So what might have been the outcome of a protest in this situation? In our opinion, we gave them sufficient room. As our boats rounded the mark, their pole swung away from their boat and made contact with our boat ... me. They claim we didn't give them room and that the pole was attached to their boat. What rule would you use to protest in this situation? Which boat was at fault?

Congratulations to Jason and Sea Bear on their win and to the other competitors of the Harvest Regatta.