A race committee boat is anchored at the port end of the starting line. Boat X starts and immediately catches the race committee boat’s anchor line on her centerboard. Reacting quickly, X’s helmsman heels the boat while her crew goes to leeward, pushes the anchor line down and frees it from the centerboard. X does not touch the committee boat, nor does she do a turn after the incident. Boat Y protests. You are on the protest committee; how would you decide this?
Answer
Boat Y’s protest is disallowed. X does not break rule 31, Touching a Mark, because she does not touch the mark. The definition Mark reads, “An anchor line or an object attached accidentally to a mark is not part of it.” Furthermore, X does not propel herself by pulling on the anchor line; therefore she does not break rule 42, Propulsion.
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