Black Flag – Behind the Scenes By: Pete Levesque
Brought to you by Mauri Pro Sailing www.mauriprosailing.com
Typically, when a race committee displays the black flag, sailors will automatically lower their expectations for the next start knowing that they will have to be conservative in the next sequence. In the following article, I’m going to tell you about what is happening on the race committee boat during a black flag sequence so that you can use it to your advantage and have some of your best starts in black flag sequences.
Let’s start with what is causing the black flag. Normally a race committee will display the black flag only when they are convinced that an “I” flag start is not working well enough to keep the fleet behind the line. That means there are too many boats over the line at go for the race committee to keep track of and write them all down. So to keep the number of offending boats down, the race committee raises the penalty for being over. There is no penalty for being over during an “I” flag start that results in a general recall. However, there is a huge penalty for being over during a black flag start whether it results in a general recall or not. Sometimes race committees will run black flag starts and recall them until they have eliminated all aggressive or stupid boats from the start and the rest of the fleet can start civilly.
It is important to know what is happening on the race committee boat during a penalty flag (I, Z or Black) start. At major regattas, race committee boats will be well staffed. There will typically be a PRO who is responsible for overseeing all others onboard. They are the CEO of the race committee and don’t typically have a detail job. There is often a scribe, sometimes two. The job of the scribe is to write down boats that are called over, boats that file protests, boats that have been called clear and boats that have finished. Next you have a person whose job it is to sight the line. They will call the order in which boats finish, and call which boats are over the line under 1 minute. This person will typically talk into a recording device that is used to cross check finish order and boats over early or with what the scribes have written down. At regattas with large fleets there may be two people sighting the line, one or both of which will have binoculars to see sail or bow numbers of far away boats.
Knowing how the person sighting the line does his job is critical to black flag start success. This person has a difficult job to do perfectly because at 1 minute to go there is just a little bit of action close to the line. Just a handful of boats are close to the line and those numbers are probably visible. But, as time ticks down to zero, there are more and more boats closer to the line and numbers become hidden. So the line sight person keeps a running dialogue going into the recording device and the scribes write down numbers they hear. A typical start sequence passage might sound like this:
“1:20 to go and several boats are very close to the line, 13, 27, 51, 34, 28.”
“1 minute to go and boats 13, 27 and 34 are over the line.”
“50 seconds to go, boat 51 is close to the line”
“40 seconds to go, boat 37 is close; so is 88.”
“30 seconds, 37 is definitely over.”
“20 seconds, 43 is close”
“10 seconds 34 is over, 28 is close, 51 was close, 13 was close”
“At go 34, 27 48, are over there are more, check the recording.”
Lots of numbers and very little time. What happens if the scribe writes down 34 when they heard 43? Or if they wrote down 88 when that boat was only “close.” They are scored BFD. It’s nearly impossible for the person sighting the line to get all of the numbers that are over at go so they go back and check the recording and refresh their memory. They might know that there were 6 boats over early but aren’t totally sure which ones. So all of a sudden, some of the boats that were “close” become “over.” When they re-hear their commentary what was unsure becomes fact and boats are scored BFD. Recalling a start and running it over again is an ordeal and often times there are time limits or sunset in play so people want to be sure, or sound sure, so that the start counts.
Knowing now what is happening on the signal boat, how do we use this to our advantage? Re-read the dialogue, with a few exceptions, it actually pretty unclear who was truly over during the last minute. But if any of the boats in the recording are scored BFD, their presence on the recording makes it very difficult for them to win a redress hearing. The trick is to never be on the recording in the first place. During most starts, you want to be front row during the last minute and protect your position as best you can because there is relatively little risk to being on the race committee radar. We know that is not the case with a penalty start so we have to change our behavior.
How do we change our behavior? A port tack approach where you steal somebody else’s hole is a good way to not get noticed. Hang back in the second row, roaming for a hole rather than being on the line early and protecting one. Stay outside of the committee boat as long as possible since they aren’t looking that direction at all. The earlier you show up in the front row, the more you risk being seen and being on the race committee radar.
Showing up on the race committee radar isn’t limited to where you put your boat. One summer I thought it would be cool to have the sail number 0; I was OCS more that summer than any other in my life. Do nothing to stand out, no fancy numbers, no clothes that stand out, sail a white boat whenever possible. It’s easy for the race committee to just remember the 1 red boat was over, or the kids wearying neon green were over.
When the race committee flies the black flag, that doesn’t mean have a bad start 1 boat length behind the line simply out of fear. It means they can’t keep track of all of the offenders so they have made offending more costly. Make it hard for them to keep track of you too or at all. Now that you know what is happening on the race committee boat use it to your advantage.
No.
I asked Pete, in the first part, to clarify what point he is attempting to make. You may feel confident you know, but I prefer to ask Pete to better state his point.
I secondly asked you to weigh your point, clearly made, against the rules of racing.
It is you who are expressing sensitivity to your initial comment. Pete on the other hand has not responded.
The RRS may be open to interpretation but one's interpretation speaks volumes about their point of view.
I choose to believe the following:
there is a distinction between knowingly breaking a rule - intentionally or not - and having done so without realizing it.
I accuse neither you nor Pete of having done either.
I further believe that it doesn't matter the circumstance, and the rules rightly don't distinguish between a)professional & non-professional events, B)between red & white hulls, between green or black shirts, c)whether an official (PRO, IJ or line judge) sees, there is no such thing as partial integrity or even temporary suspension of integrity.
To err is human, to penalize one's self is divine.
Play by the rules or don't play at all.
Hi again; Sorry for the confusion. John, your stance on integrity is very well taken in the abstract, but I think the "alls fair" comment was mis-taken a little bit however, as it was more of a casual, dare I say philosophical observation in response to the article. It was absolutely NOT direct advice to people to cheat. To immediately take it that way seems a bit sensitive, naive, or rushing to judgment on your part. However I do of course respect the idea that we should respect the sport.
Let me clarify, if even now you still somehow question my personal integrity or my ability to read a rule book: I do not advocate cheating. However, if we have to be completely on the high road, doesn't this very article imply, in several places, that being part of the herd (disguising your identity) is good, regardless of whether or not you are actually over? Should we not allow competitors to wear the same clothing and all use white boats?
Have I heard of people turning themselves in? Sure John, I have. Many times. I have done it myself. Have you (turned yourself in), every single time? How do you know you have? Maybe you were really over once or twice in an individual recall? By your logic, even if you thought you might be, then you really needed to go restart to fulfill your integrity. At the US Open, if the ball was outside the line, does the person winning the point always stop the game, argue against themselves, and give up the point?? Should they? Sure. Do they? Almost never. They rely on the official to make the call, and have to, right or wrong. You must dislike Derek Jeter now for sure, for faking being hit by a pitch so he could get on base for his team. Maybe Instant reply in the NFL is totally unnecessary; just tell the wide receivers not to fake, or imply, catching passes if the ball really, honestly, did hit the ground first. Instant replay, realistically, and practically, is an attempt to safeguard as much fair play as possible. There are endless of examples of this not only in sport but other walks of life. Yeah, it'd be great if everyone turned themselves in for even thinking they may have possibly done something wrong.... or maybe it wouldn't be great, come to think of it. But in reality, it doesn't happen.
Perhaps you have heard of 80+ boat world championship regattas, or even sailed in some of them, as I have, where surely there were boats that were missed being called that were over early, that sailed the race anyway, kept that score, and maybe even won the event. Are they breaking whatever rule you copied and pasted? I think what Pete is simply advocating here, a point you first seemed also to criticize, and now back away from after Ben's comment, is that more information is better than less, and knowing what it going on, on the committee boat, from a competitors point of view, helps you make better decisions. That's more the real world. And yes, sometimes at the professional level, "all's fair in love, war, and winning a regatta."
Initially I asked for clarification on the point Pete is seeking to make. I am more than willing to give him the benefit of doubt that he is not advocating purposefully breaking rules. However I do take issue with T.H.'s comment that 'alls fair' as long as you're not caught.
Be aggressive and get a great start, absolutely. But know you're OCS and not restart is not in keeping with the spirit of the game no matter what happens on the signal boat.
It seems to me that your argument is based on the fact that the sailor knows that he/she is over!
It is impossible for a sailor to know exactly where they are relative to the starting line at the starting signal... Lets say you are sailing in a large fleet of 24 foot sloops. The starting line might be well over 1000 feet long. Are you going to be able to determine if you were over by 18 inches?!
Almost every sailor has had a race in their life where they came of the line thinking, "holy cow, I'm launched, I must have been over." Are you suggesting they should retire or restart immediately to show good sportsmanship?
I've known Pete for a while -- He's definitely not advising sailors to try get away with anything.
...alls fair in love, war, and starting a sailboat race without penalty....
with the racing rules of sailing:
2 FAIR SAILING
A boat and her owner shall compete in compliance with recognized principles of sportsmanship and fair play.
Perhaps you have heard stories of competitors, having broken a rule without being 'caught', still take their penalty?
Corinthian spirit, respect for yourself and your competitors. Please think about it.
Y're all right here Pete - I've been both coaching Opti kids as well as sitting in the comittee boat so I can agree what you describe. But the strategy is not so uniqe - almost everyone is thinking the same and as a result are more conservative and stuggling for a 'stealth mode' start. More things to be avare of: It the BFD start goes off and then a general recall You must immediatly 'dive down' / bear off and hide. Many do the mistake to continue in close hauled course fully visible.
I find that if you set a square line and postpone when the wind shifts to bunch one end, the fleet gets less agressive. Eliminate the discards, say that you will not hail OCS boats, and use the V flag to warn that boats are over in the last two minutes and the fleet gets even less agressive. The object afterall is to have fair starts, not disqualify people.
Is it possible you are advocating being OCS provided you're not caught?