Top 5 Rules Changes for 2013

As the summer season begins for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it is an especially good time to brush up on the Racing Rules of Sailing.  ISAF makes revisions to the rules every four years, and 2013 is a “new rules” year.  There are a number of small changes, and a few big ones.  Here are my picks for the 5 biggest changes this year:

·       Don’t hit that “keep off” mark!  Due to a glitch in the old rules, the “keep off” floats frequently attached to the back of race committee boats were not technically part of the race committee boat and thus there was no penalty for hitting them.  They were not “marks” because they were attached only temporarily to the “mark” (i.e., the committee boat).  ISAF has fixed this bug by tweaking the definition of “mark” to remove the word “temporary.”  Remember – you are not entitled to mark-room at the committee boat – or the keep-off float – when approaching it to start, until you have passed it.

·       Mark-Room:  The definition of “mark-room” has changed again. Here is the biggest change: there is a new test for whether a boat entitled to mark-room gets to sail a course to the mark: she is entitled to do so only if her proper course would be to sail “close” to the mark.  This means that if, for example, you round a mark so wide that your proper course is to sail to the next mark, not the one you are rounding, you don’t get to “close the door” on boats rounding the mark (unless you have right of way over them and don’t break rule 16.1 in doing so).

·       Room: The definition of “room” has also been tweaked to make clear that when you owe someone room (such as when they are a keep clear boat and you alter course while you have right of way) you must give them room to honor their obligations under the rules of part 2 and rule 31.  So, for example, if you luff a windward boat quickly, and in her effort to keep clear of you, she fouls someone else, the fault lies with you!

·       Outside Help: Rule 41 is expanded so that you can receive outside help if one of your crew is in danger, such as when a crew member falls in the water.  You can still be penalized if you gain a significant advantage from the help, however.

·       Trash:  Rule 55 is new.  It states “a competitor shall not intentionally put trash in the water.”  This has often been a Sailing Instruction, and now it is a rule.  Like all rules, each sailor has a duty to self-police with respect to this rule.


There you have it – my top 5.  As always, feel free to contact me with questions (matt@unrulyracing,com) and check out my rules blog at unrulyracing.com