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Hi All
Penalty bouy rule passed through at Monday Nights' committee meeting.

Motion for amendment to offshore rules.

To have a penalty bouy as part of the offshore course

Rule:
A penalty bouy is to be set off to one end of the course, preference is to the left hand end away from and between bouys one and two. Where there is insufficient room due to available water it is to be set off away from and between bouys four and five on a typical ‘M’ course.
Boats missing a bouy during any lap must exit the course in an outside lane, round the penalty bouy and then return to the course. Any boat doing a penalty must give way to all other boats racing during the penalty.
Any boat missing a bouy and failing to complete their penalty will be penalized two laps for each missed bouy.

Reasons:
1)Safety. Firstly and foremostly it makes a safer system for rescue boat operators. In a situation where there are dead boats at a bouy, the race director can instruct the other racers to cut that bouy and run around the penalty bouy, thereby taking the race line and potential for a racing boat to hit the rescue boat away.

2) The system becomes largely self policing, in tha,t if for example you are chasing a boat ahead of you and they cut a bouy, then it is seen and the offending driver gets told “hey do your penalty” thereby allowing the chasing boat the advantage of grabbing the lead. This take out most of the ‘honesty’ issues of drivers not owning up to missing bouys and having to be penalized laps. This then is easier on lap counters and allows the race to continue to flow.

Over all this is a reasonable and fair system that has been tested and proven to work. There is no disadvantage to anyone and provides to enhance the safety aspects of our racing, as we have people in rescue boats on the water amongst the racing boats and this is another step in minimizing the risk of injury which must now be a guiding factor in any event we run.