Penalty for unreasonable flyings changed

From 1 May 2022, the penalty for an "unreasonable flying" in Japanese boat racing, known officially as motorboat racing and branded BOAT RACE, changed from same-day return home to an added suspension. Under the new rule, a racer who commits an unreasonable flying is, as a rule, no longer sent home the same day; instead, five days of non-appearance are added to the existing period of exclusion from races that follows a start accident¹.

An unreasonable flying is defined as a flying of 0.05 seconds or more, a definition introduced from races beginning on 1 November 2013¹. A flying occurs when a boat crosses the start line before the large clock reaches zero; passing after one second is a late start, and either results in disqualification and loss of the right to race¹.

The change applies to the penalty structure for start accidents. Under the previous system, an unreasonable flying brought same-day return home. From 1 May 2022, the standard exclusion period for a start accident is instead extended by five days¹.

Separately, from April 2023 the penalties for SG, G1 and G2 races were doubled¹. The source does not state how the five-day addition interacts with that doubling, and no further detail on the combined effect has been reported.

It does not state whether the five-day addition applies to each of these tiers or only to the unreasonable flying category.

What it means for players

Boat racing in Japan is one of the public sports, alongside keirin, horse racing and auto racing, and betting is through the pari-mutuel system: 75 percent of ticket sales goes to payouts, with the remainder split between the host municipality, prize money, wages and other costs¹. The penalty change affects the racers, not the bets, but it can affect what a player sees at the track.

A racer who commits an unreasonable flying is now more likely to be absent from later races in the same meeting rather than sent home immediately. A five-day addition to a suspension can therefore remove a racer from the rest of a set and beyond it.

For bettors, the practical point is that a racer's participation in upcoming races can change after a start accident. The source does not say how far in advance such changes are published, and no notice period has been reported.

Refunds are unaffected by the penalty change. If a race includes a boat that flew, started late or was withdrawn just before the start, all tickets for that race are refunded in full. If five or more boats in the same race fly or start late, including a mix of both, the race is void and all tickets for it are refunded¹.

What happens next

The five-day addition took effect on 1 May 2022. From April 2023, penalties for SG, G1 and G2 races were doubled¹. No further scheduled changes to the flying penalty are given in the source.