Case 127

The definition Racing states that a boat that ‘finishes and clears the finishing line and marks’ is no longer racing. When does a boat ‘clear the finishing line and marks’?

A boat ‘clears the finishing line and marks’ when the following two conditions are met: no part of her hull, crew or equipment is on the line, and no finishing mark is influencing her choice of course.

For example, a boat that clears the finishing line and then continues to sail toward a finishing mark, where current sets her into the mark, is still racing and has broken rule 31. However, a boat that crosses the finishing line, and sails to a position at which no finishing mark is influencing her choice of course, is no longer racing. If, later, she hits a finishing mark, she does not break rule 31.