Yes, I get that for a group of boats on port tack it will make them line up earlier like some class of school kids entering the museum, and round the mark in an orderly manner.

Thats the first level .... lets look at the next level, a starboard/port tack meeting at the mark .....

As I come in on starboard, I am watching the port tack boat closely (of course), and what I'm looking at are their bows ... if the bows fall off I'm going to use the WHOLE zone and drive the port tack boat as far away from the mark as possible as I do not lose my inside overlap rights UNTIL I go outside the zone. Now if their bows come up I'm going to "slam" gybe my boat around hard, shutting the inside door and if the port tack boat tries to go inside I WILL PROTEST THEM!!!! as they have no rights according to the new rules (Rules 18.2b/c,18.4)to manuver their boat into that space until the starboard boat crosses to be outside the zone.

Now ... the Law of Un-Intended Consquences

So what is the end result ... we will be rewarding people whom decide to use the risky strategy of coming into a leeward mark on starboard, making a 180degree turn, thereby allowing them to drive the port tack boats into the next county or state .... Starboard needs to learn to slow down early, come into the rounding in a controlled manner, and make the rounding with-in the Two Boat Length Zone. Which is entirely possible w/ reasonable boat handling judgement and skills.

The port tack boat whom as decided on a conservative, SAFE stratagy of rounding a leeward mark gets SCREWED. Also the port tack boat before had a reasonable idea of where the starboard tack boat had to gybe and round the mark, now it will be a 80-100' window where the starboard tack boat will gybe ... that's almost a 1/4 acre.

At those distances it will (???) pay for a port tack boat to foul the starboard tack boat ... round the mark and do a penalty turn and be on their way up the course. And if I am overlaped on port I have even less incentive to give starboard any room ... if starboard hits me they will then lose the protest. If they bail and protest me, I round the mark and do my circle ... most likely I will still be ahead ....

A zone of 3-4 boat lengths is just TOO large ... if your boat handling skills are not that good you shouldn't be rewarded for coming in on starboard

I like the new rules w/ a TWO Boat Length Zone once it gets much bigger it makes "Port" pay too high of price, and then "Port" WILL find a way to make the rules work to their favor ..... even if it involves doing circles

And if you think me crazy ... I came into the leeward mark on Starboard once ... a group of H17's on port left me NO, NONE, NADA room to round the mark so I "ate" the mark between the hulls ... by the time I had removed the mark from between my hulls the offending H17's had completed their penalty circles and were half way up to the windward mark ...... so I learned my lesson about starboard approaches to a leeward mark. The port tack H17's decided it was faster to "break" a rule, and take the penalty .... it was faster ....

IMHO this is where we are headed w/ this rule

Race SMART

Sail Flat, Sail Fast, Sail Safe
Harry Murphey
TheMightyHobie18/#9458, Fleet 54/Div11
P19MX/#86, CRAC-Open Class