Int Jury to conduct four Hearings in Lisbon over Traffic Zone breaches

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 27 May 2015 The ISAF-appointed independent international jury will be hearing four cases during the Lisbon stopover after alleged breaches of sailing rules during Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Team SCA are to answer two cases: that they sailed against the traffic flow in a Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), and, additionally, into a Rhode Island Sound exclusion zone.

Dongfeng Race Team and Mapfre are also facing protests that they sailed against the traffic flow in a TSS.

The Race Committee has brought all the cases to the jury, If a penalty is to be given, the jury has discretion on what it will be.

No date has yet been set for the hearings although race organisers say they want to have them settled as soon as possible following the fleet’s expected arrival in Lisbon on Wednesday (May 27).

In past cases the penalty for a breach of an Exclusion Zone has been the deduction of a point for the Leg (ie a place).

Abu Dhabi not happy
A blog entry by Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker has been removed from the 'From the Boats' section of the official website.

The report from the Team's OBR reads as follows:

“I wanted to be in front of Dongfeng so we could control them”, Ian said in frustration as he sat on the bow in the light wind. “Now because of all this Exclusion Zone business, they’ve managed to slip away from us.”

Just minutes earlier, we had gybed several times around an invisible mark in the ocean. The spectators on the last few power boats shadowing us would never have guessed it was there – there was no blinking buoy or square floating mark – it’s marked by GPS coordinates.

This specific mark was the corner of a larger box that forms a Traffic Safety Separation Exclusion Zone. Consisting of two lanes for incoming and outgoing ships with a figurative barrier between, oceangoing vessels use these TSS areas for safety in high traffic areas. Before the leg, race management decided that teams needed to either respect the correct flow of traffic in the lanes or not enter the zone at all.

Dongfeng, Mapfre, and SCA entered the zone.

We watched as their courses on the nav computer sailed deeper and deeper into the red colored box against the traffic flow. Their routes didn’t just cut the corner on a piece of open water with little significance – no, they were the equivalent of riding a bike across an eight-lane highway and then turning left into oncoming traffic.

They had raced several miles down the course while we had to perform several tacks to get around the zone. Ian, SiFi, and the rest of the guys – still buzzing on deck from the magnificent send-off in Newport – were furious at the loss.

The day has now turned to a familiar darkness and below deck you can hear the light drips of water on deck from the dense fog bank we’re sailing through. The deck is faintly glowing through a dull haze lit by the red instrument lights.

Chuny somehow managed to smuggle a half dozen bags of potato chips onboard before we left and just broke a bag open. Sharing it with all the guys gathered around the nav station, there’s a faint crunching sound as every eye is fixed on the gap that’s growing between Dongfeng and ourselves.

Will there be a penalty? We don’t know. All we can do now is chase them down as Lisbon grows nearer on the horizon.



Specifics of the Hearings are:

Case nº 11
Protest Race Committee vs TEAM SCA: Sailing against traffic flow in TSS
- Rules alleged to be broken: RRS 48.2; COLREG rule 10.b(i)

Case nº 12
Protest Race Committee vs TEAM SCA: Sailing into the Rhode Island Sound Exclusion Zone 2
- Rules alleged to be broken: RRS 28.1; Leg 7 Addendum 5 - SI 5

Case nº 13
Protest Race Committee vs DONG FENG RACING TEAM: Sailing against traffic flow in TSS
- Rules alleged to be broken: RRS 48.2; COLREG rule 10.b(i)

Case nº 14
Protest Race Committee vs TEAM MAPFRE: Sailing against traffic flow in TSS
- Rules alleged to be broken: RRS 48.2; COLREG rule 10.b(i)