Case 36

A boat in an offshore class, while close-hauled, had a crew member positioned, for several minutes on two occasions, next to the shrouds with his feet on the deck and his legs inside but touching the lifelines. While his torso was substantially upright, part of it was outboard of an imaginary line projected vertically from the top of the lifelines. The boat was disqualified under rule 49.2 and appealed.

The appeal is dismissed. To clarify the rule, the drawing shows possible crew positions. Position 6 is the position of the appellant’s crew member. Positions 1, 2 and 3 do not break the rule; positions 5 and 6 break it. On boats equipped with one lifeline, position 4 breaks the rule. On boats equipped with two lifelines, a crew member sitting facing outboard with his waist inside the lower lifeline and the upper part of his body outside the upper lifeline, as shown in position 4, does not break the rule.