PENALTIES AT THE TIME OF AN INCIDENT
44.1: Taking a Penalty
A boat may take a Two-Turns Penalty when she may have broken one or more rules of Part 2 in an incident while racing. She may take a One-Turn Penalty when she may have broken rule 31. Alternatively, the notice of race or sailing instructions may specify the use of the Scoring Penalty or some other penalty, in which case the specified penalty shall replace the One-Turn and the Two-Turns Penalty. However,
- (a) when a boat may have broken a rule of Part 2 and rule 31 in the same incident she need not take the penalty for breaking rule 31;
- (b) if the boat caused injury or serious damage or, despite taking a penalty, gained a significant advantage in the race or series by her breach her penalty shall be to retire.
44.2: One-Turn and Two-Turns Penalties
After getting well clear of other boats as soon after the incident as possible, a boat takes a One-Turn or Two-Turns Penalty by promptly making the required number of turns in the same direction, each turn including one tack and one gybe. When a boat takes the penalty at or near the finishing line, her hull shall be completely on the course side of the line before she finishes.
44.3: Scoring Penalty
- (a) If specified in the notice of race or sailing instructions, a boat takes a Scoring Penalty by displaying a yellow flag at the first reasonable opportunity after the incident.
- (b) When a boat has taken a Scoring Penalty, she shall keep the yellow flag displayed until finishing and call the race committee’s attention to it at the finishing line. At that time she shall also inform the race committee of the identity of the other boat involved in the incident. If this is impracticable, she shall do so at the first reasonable opportunity and within the protest time limit.
- (c) The race score for a boat that takes a Scoring Penalty shall be the score she would have received without that penalty, made worse by the number of points stated in the notice of race or sailing instructions. When the number of points is not stated, the penalty shall be 20% of the score for Did Not Finish, rounded to the nearest tenth of a point (0.05 rounded upward). The scores of other boats shall not be changed; therefore, two boats may receive the same score. However, the penalty shall not cause the boat’s score to be worse than the score for Did Not Finish.