Basic Racing Rules

International Sailing Federation racing rules are broad and deep. To ensure that club racing is accessible, Humber Sailing Club has distilled these rules to a few basic rules that skippers and helmspersons must know.

You'll find that a few of the rules presented here are simply a restatement of particularly applicable COLREGS regulations and will already be known to skippers and helmspersons. With the exceptions noted later in this document that apply only to boats taking part in the race, COLREGS remain in effect including the requirement for all boats, including those with right-of-way, to avoid collision if possible. It should also be noted that while most boaters will respect a race course and go around, occasionally a boat will sail through a course.  Both Skipper and crew should be on lookout for the unexpected.

Penalties

Under club rules penalties are incurred for one of three reasons, 1) crossing the start line prior to the start signal (two turns), 2) fouling a boat with right of way by forcing it to take action to avoid collision (two turns), and 3) hitting a mark (one turn).

Humber Sailing Club does not operate a formal protest system. The committee boat, when a committee boat is used, will watch for fouls and penalties taken but ultimately we're reliant on the honour and sportsmanship of our members.

Taking a Penalty: After getting well clear of other boats as soon after the incident as
possible, a boat takes a one turn or two turns penalty by promptly making the required number of turns in the same direction, each turn including one tack and one gybe. Any boat that incurs a penalty during a race and does not take the penalty will be assigned a last place finish.

The rules

1. A boat on a starboard tack (Boat B) has right of way over a boat (Boat A) on a port tack.

2. A leeward boat (Boat A) has right of way over a windward boat (Boat B) if they are on the same tack. We'll see later in this document that racing rules introduce a specific exception to this rule but the rule does apply the majority of the time.

3. Prior to the start signal a leeward boat (Boat A) is permitted to alter its course up to head to wind even if this action results in a windward boat (Boat B) on the same tack being forced over the start line early or being force to circle back around for another run at the start line.  When race start has been signaled all boats must sail their proper course.

4. If you were to extend an imaginary line across the transom of a boat and any part of another boat crosses that line, overlap has been established. If overlap is established within three boat lengths of a mark, the inside overlapped boat (Boat A) must be given room to round the mark by the outside overlapped boat (Boat B).

Internet Resources

Title	Category	Date Added	Link
International Sailing Federation Racing Rules of Sailing	Race	2009/04/13
MAST: The Basic Sailboat Racing Rules All Racers Should Now	Race	2009/04/13
Speed and Smarts (see "Try A Test")	Race	2009/04/13
Uncle Al's Racing Rules In Pictures	Race	2009/04/13