15, 16HM / PDDIEBOLTSemi-Finals Race 1 match 221/01/2000Z#Ȁ?´B˙´B€?€?´B€???QȀ?´B˙€@´B€?€?´B€???­î€?@Ŕ( ˙´B€?-CnC@Ŕ€???/,€?B˙˙P´B€?€ƒC–CB€???2Blue: Nippon Yellow : Stars and Stripes What the umpires saw: In position 1 just after having been head to wind, Yellow was bearing away with very little speed. In position 2, Blue, sailing much faster than Yellow, obtained an overlap to leeward of Yellow and started to luff. Yellow responded until she was nearly head to wind, but due to her lack of speed and maneuverablity, she was not able to continue luffing and she started to drift toward Blue. At position 5, Blue stopped luffing and bore away slowly. No contact and No Y flag. Question: If contact had occurred, what would the umpires decide? Yellow was unable to maneuver or do anything more than she had done in order to keep clear, because she was moving so slowly. Blue, having altered course toward Yellow, was required by rule 16 to give Yellow room to keep clear. Before the overlap was established by Blue, Yellow was entitled to stop her boat or make her less maneuverable, even if in so doing she was subsequently unable to respond to Blue's luff. When Blue became the right of way boat, she was required by rule 15 to initially give Yellow room to keep clear, and when she altered course toward Yellow thereafter, rule 16 required Blue to continue to give Yellow room to keep clear. In giving room to keep clear, Blue must be aware of the state of maneuverability of her opponent and must take that into consideration when maneuvering towards her. If Yellow is unable to respond because she has no speed, Blue might need to leave room for Yellow to make leeway toward her and Blue might even have to leave room for Yellow to bear away to gain enough speed to maneuver. Had there been contact in this situation, the umpires would have penalised Blue under rule 16. The umpires would also consider whether Yellow was trimming her sails to gain maneuverability or to stop her drifting toward Blue. In other words, was Yellow doing everything possible to keep clear. If not, the penalty could have been against Yellow, or, the umpires could have given "twin" penalties to both Blue and Yellow.Ȁ?´B˙˙˙´B€?€?´B€??? MS Sans Serif A€?HB˙˙P€ƒC–CB?€ŒC€ CHB€???1P€?–B˙˙P€ŒC€ CHB?€C¨C–B€???Y€?œB˙˙P€C¨C–B?ŽC€ŹCœB€???)p€?„B˙˙PŽC€ŹCœB?€”C¸C„B€???7‚€?†B˙˙P€”C¸C„B?€›CÁC†B€???ţ˙ýô€?˜A( ˙-CnC@Ŕ?}CtC˜A€???#+€?TB( ˙}CtC˜A?€•C€ŽCTB€????W€?–B( ˙€•C€ŽCTB?€ŸC€ŤC–B€???[’€?|B( ˙€ŸC€ŤC–B?€­CÉC|B€??? s™€?°A( ˙€­CÉC|B?€šC€ĚC°A€???"