Mark Room Rules for the Offset Mark

The offset mark can be a confusing place for the rules. Lots of things tend to be happening very fast – we’re bearing off, getting ready to hoist, and the rules situation is sometimes murky.

Does the offset mark count as a mark? Do the two marks count as some sort of long continuous mark? If I get room at the weather mark does that automatically mean I get room at the offset mark?

Let’s see:

In the racing rules of sailing, the definition of mark is:

An object the sailing instructions require a boat to leave on a specified side.

So is the offset mark mentioned in the SIs? Yes

Are we required to leave it on a specified side? Yes

So is it a mark? YES!

Since it’s a mark, Rule 18 applies just like at any other mark.

Is the offset mark its own mark, or does it just count as an “extension” to the regular weather mark?

Nothing in the rule book says anything about an offset mark being a special kind of continuous mark, so NO, it counts as a totally separate mark.

The key concept is that Mark Room is determined separately for each mark. Mark room is determined at the snapshot in time when the first boat reaches the zone for that mark. In this case, we look at whether there’s an overlap at each mark’s zone independently – both the zone around the weather mark, and the separate zone around the offset mark.

Here’s some scenarios to help clarify:

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Orcas Island Spring Regatta

The annual Spring Regatta was held in sunny Westsound on April 13/14, site of the 2019 NA's and likely the upcoming 2027 NA's.

6 very competitive 242's attended the Regatta, which was sailed primarily in windy conditions on Saturday out of the north, followed by lighter winds Sunday out of the north and south, and at the end of the 7-race Series Jeremy & Tara Smith ended up on top with 4 bullets, closely followed by newcomer Eric Bonetti who got the other 3 bullets (with Michael Clements and Adrienne Mennell on board).

Mike Cannon and family likely would have finished 2nd overall or even first but had to head home early to beat the weather, and as such missed the last 2 pivotal races. In addition, two races were blown off due to light air when Mike & Eric were in 1st & 2nd each time, so who knows what the results would have looked like if those two races would have counted.

Here's a link to video footage from the event, courtesy of Carl Davis, plus last year's cloudy event in Eastsound (note the epic wipeout this year by Eric Bonetti downwind).

Results can be seen here.

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