| Uncle Al's Racing Rules in
Pictures Definitions are quoted, then illustrated and explained as seems necessary. Definitions for instant access without scrolling, click on the selected definitions list below Leeward and Windward Tack, Starboard or Port Clear Astern and Clear Ahead; Overlap Racing Tacking Room Keep Clear Proper Course Obstruction Finish There are more definitions but these do not lend themselves to illustration. For the complete list and text of Definitions in the RRS, click here. This file is also available in PDF format. Click here to view or download. . |
| Leeward and Windward A boat's leeward side is the side that is or, when she is head to wind, was away from the wind. However, when sailing by the lee or directly downwind, her leeward side is the side on which her mainsail lies. The other side is her windward side. When two boats on the same tack overlap, the one on the leeward side of the other is the leeward boat. The other is the windward boat. |
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| In essence, the leeward side of the
boat is the
side on which the mainsail is (or was, if you're head to wind). The
other side is - obviously? - the windward side. ... |
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| Since Heider Funck in W6 is overlapped with
W3854
(Uncle Al) and off Al's leeward side, W6 is the leeward boat
and Uncle
Al is the windward boat - oddly enough. ... |
| Tack, Starboard or Port A boat is on the tack, starboard or port, corresponding to her windward side. |
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| When you face the bow of the boat, the side to
your right is the starboard side, and the left side is the port
side. Here the left (port) side of John Weakley's Opti
is
her windward side, and she is thus on port tack. ... |
| Clear Astern and Clear Ahead; Overlap One boat is clear astern of another when her hull and equipment in normal position are behind a line abeam from the aftermost point of the other boat's hull and equipment in normal position. The other boat is clear ahead. They overlap when neither is clear astern. However, they also overlap when a boat between them overlaps both. These terms do not apply to boats on opposite tacks unless rule 18 applies. |
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| W7663 is clear ahead of Laser 61007 and
W286 since the latter are behind an imaginary line drawn at a 90º
angle to the
centreline of W7663 (i.e. abeam) through the aftermost tip of W7663's
rudder blade (i.e. the aftermost point of her hull and equipment in
normal position).
Even if a brightly visible spinnaker sheet, for example, was dragging
several metres behind W7663, the other two boats would still not be
overlapped with 7663 since that would be equipment not in its normal
position. ... |
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| Y-Flyer 1760 (r) is overlapped with
Peter Rahn (black hull) since not all of his hull and equipment
are aft of the (imaginary) line drawn abeam from the aftermost point of
Peter's hull and equipment (in normal position). ... |
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| The red vertical line through Hans Gottschling's
spinnaker in the above photo
illustrates that the bow is not necessarily the forewardmost part of a
boat's hull and equipment. For example, on a spinnaker run, a boat
whose bow
is a few centimetres short of gaining an overlap, may well have
that
crucial overlap due to her spinnaker. ... |
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| The sharp turn Uncle Al is initiating on the
starting line above, will soon give Doug Netherton (left) a leeward
overlap as the red line swings around dramatically with the aft
part of Al's boat. ... |
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| Above, Uncle Al (9355) has an overlap on
Søren Jensen (10212) because Sten Madsen (9067) is between them
and overlaps both 10212 and 9355. Just in time to get buoy room
it was, too!! ... |
 ... |
| In the photo on the left above, W6732 and W286
are not talked about as being overlapped since they
are on opposite tacks and are not "about to round a mark ..." (i.e.
Rule 18 does not apply
to them). W9235 and W7700 (above right) are however about to round the red mark I have "drawn in" (it was down there somewhere - I know! I nearly hit it!!). Thus Rule 18 applies, and if Roger Shepherd (7700) can just turn on the afterburners, he can get an overlap in time to claim "buoy room/water" from Brian Jeffs (9235). ... |
| Racing A boat is racing from her preparatory signal until she finishes and clears the finishing line and marks or retires, or until the race committee signals a general recall, postponement, or abandonment. |
| Al's
note: This definition is important since the the
pre-amble to Part 2 of the RRS (right-of-way rules and such like)
specifies that "a boat not racing
shall
not be penalized for breaking one of these rules, except rule 22.1 ". For the common good,
we are of
course expected to
obey all these Rules whenever we are in the race area - even when we
can't be penalized for breaking them because we're not actually racing. |
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| Above, W864 (Nick, blue hull) has just
tacked across the finish line and has finished. But he has not yet
"cleared the finish line" and is therefore still racing. If
Nick had tacked a second or two later, he might have fouled Gale
Shoemaker (red hull). In that case, Nick would have had
to do his penalty turns and finish one more time - this one to
count!! Likewise, a 360 and a re-finish will be required, if Nick
should hit the finish mark - even after getting his “beep”. ... |
| Al's
note: There
is
no longer a definition of "tacking" in our "new"
Rules. The old Rules
more or less defined tacking as the period of time from the
moment a
boat turns beyond head to wind until she is on a close-hauled course.
That definition must now be inferred from Rule 13 as follows: 13 While Tacking After a boat passes head to wind, she shall keep clear of other boats until she is on a close-hauled course.... For illustrated coverage of Rule 13, click here. ... |
| Room The space a boat
needs in the
existing conditions while manoeuvering promptly in a seamanlike
way. Al's note: The pre-amble to RRS #18 further clarifies: In rule 18, room is room for an inside boat to round or pass between an outside boat and a mark or obstruction, including room to tack or gybe when either is a normal part of the manoeuvre. |
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| In the photo above, W825 (Ed Tait) is the leeward
boat
and
has right-of-way. Since CL523 (Colin Junkin) has an inside overlap
however,
825 is
required by Rule 18 to give
523 room
to round the mark. This
means that 523 is expected by the Rules and the above definition of room,
to round in a seamanlike manner, i.e. keep his boat under
reasonable control for the conditions, get his board down in time for
the upcoming beat, get his sails in promptly and round as
close to the mark as prudence and good
seamanship would indicate in the prevailing conditions. In the
conditions above, with the mark and the boats bouncing
around, 523 is entitled to more room than he would be in 5
knots of
breeze, flat water and no current. ... |
| Keep Clear One boat keeps clear of another if the other can sail her course with no need to take avoiding action and, when the boats are overlapped on the same tack if the leeward boat can change course in both directions without immediately making contact with the windward boat. |
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| Above, Len Macdougall in Wayfarer 6732 (on port
tack) has kept
clear of Nick Seraphinoff in W864
who had no need to take avoiding action. W2960, Don Thwing, on the
other hand, has
reached the danger zone: Within the next second or so, Nick in 864 will
have to
begin avoiding action or face breaking Rule 14
in a possible collision
with 2960. Unless 2960 tacks immediately (or even more riskily, bears
away radically now), he will not be keeping clear of
the
starboard boat, 864, and will have fouled the latter. ... |
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| In the photo above, Marc Bennett (W6) is keeping
clear of Tanya Wharton in the
white-hulled Wayfarer to leeward of him, but Tanya has
sailed so close to W3854 that Uncle Al can no longer "change course in
both directions without immediately making contact with the windward
boat". Ergo, Tanya is not keeping clear of 3854 and has
fouled
Uncle Al under Rule 11. ... |
| Proper Course A course a boat would sail to finish as soon as possible in the absence of the other boats referred to in the rule using the term. A boat has no proper course before her starting signal. |
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| There is a widespread belief that proper
course is the same thing as sailing the rhumbline (i.e. straight
towards the next mark) on
anything except an upwind leg of the course. This, in fact, is rarely
the
case. In the photo above for example, Rule 17.2
requires Ed Tait in W825 not
to sail below his proper course - but that does not
necessarily mean Ed must sail straight at the next mark. He is simply
required to sail the course that he feels would get him around the
course in the fastest possible time "in the absence of the other boats
referred to in the Rule using the term", i.e. CL523 would be the "other
boat" (the leeward boat, in this case) referred to in Rule 17.2 which
states: Except on a beat to windward, while a boat is less than two of her hull lengths from a leeward boat or a boat clear astern steering a course to leeward of her, she shall not sail below her proper course unless she gybes. Here, Ed (W825) can defend sailing low of the mark if he can convince the Protest Committee that because the spinnaker reach was quite close, he would have sailed below the direct course to the next mark, even if Colin in CL523 had not been there. .. |
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| Seconds later, CL523 is likewise required by 17.2 not to sail below
her proper
course because Chris Lansdown in W4678 is
within two lengths of CL523 and steering a course to pass to
leeward. Colin (523) could sail radically down onto Chris (4678) and
still defend it as his proper course, since he might well do
this to
get away
from 825's wind
shadow even if 4678 were not there. ... |
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| Before the start, we have no particular place to
go, and there is,
logically enough, no proper course before the start
signal is
made. Therefore, Rule 17 which
requires
sailing no higher than proper
course in some circumstances and no lower than proper course
in others,
does not "kick in" until after the start signal has been made. ... |
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| Upwind, proper course is basically any
close-hauled course that a boat may choose to sail. Above, Chris
Lansdown in W4678 (the leeward
boat) can pinch as high as he likes and Gary McIlroy in CL2679 (windward)
will
have to keep clear. Worrying about sailing proper course upwind
usually only happens just after the start: Let us assume for
...example, that these two have just started and that 4678 established a leeward overlap from clear astern while 2679 was "sitting" on the line with her sails luffing and waiting for the "gun". Once the gun went, 4678 became subject to Rule 17.1 which limits 4678 to sailing no higher than his proper course. Thus, W4678 had to bear away to close-hauled as soon as the start signal was made but is entitled to sail her proper course. If that is higher than 2679 is able to point, tough beans!! (Al's note: this is not the official ISAF terminology) |
| Obstruction An object that a boat could not pass without changing course substantially, if she were sailing towards it and one of her hull lengths from it. An object that can be safely passed on only one side and an area so designated by the sailing instructions are also obstructions. However, a boat racing is not an obstruction to other boats unless they are required to keep clear of her, give her room or, if rule 21 applies, avoid her. |
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| Apart from the obvious but rarely met obstructions
such as piers sticking out in front of us or a ferry coming
across, the obstructions that we face most regularly are
right-of-way boats of which we must keep clear, boats to whom
we must give room, or capsized boats. The photo above
illustrates a very common situation: 1305 is on starboard.
Since both port boats will very soon have to take avoiding
action for 1305, she ranks as an obstruction to both. The
leeward port boat (1131) could have called for "room to tack" for the obstruction
(see Rule 19) or
chosen to pass
astern of the obstruction (1305). If 1131 chooses the latter
course, she must - under Rule 18
- give room to 171 if the latter also wants to pass astern of
1305. It's
just as if 1305 were a moving mark. ... |
| Finish A boat finishes when any part of her hull, or crew or equipment in normal position, crosses the finishing line in the direction of the course from the last mark, either for the first time or after taking a penalty under rule 31.2 or 44.2 or, under rule 28.1, after correcting an error made at the finishing line. |
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| Stephan Nandrup-Bus (W4898) finished just
a split
second ago
when the first part of his spinnaker broke the plane of the finish
line. If his spinnaker had been allowed to flap loose to fly further
forward, or if his crew - God forbid - had been hanging off the bow
with an arm stretched forward, that would not have been gear in
normal position and the finish would have been taken at the
moment the
first part of his boat that was in normal position crossed the
line - likely his little mini-bowsprit (spinnaker sheet catcher). ... |
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| If this were a "buoys to starboard" course,
then this RC boat would be anchored on the "wrong" side for a
"buoys to starboard" finish. This happens frequently for a variety of
reasons, and is not, in itself, considered grounds for redress. The
finish definition makes it clear that in such an instance, the side the
mark was to be left on no longer matters, since a boat finishes when it
"crosses the finishing line in the
direction of
the course from the last mark". Thus CL1050 (Rob
Wierdsma with son, Ben) is finishing
correctly in the photo above, regardless of whether it was a buoys to
port or starboard course. |
|
Rules
in Pictures index
Definitions
Defintions PDFI have also made PDF's of the five items below - for those who want to print the material or work off line. These PDF's will not have the many links included in the on-line version, however. Part 2A Part 2A PDF Part 2B Part 2B PDF Part 2C Part 2C PDF Part 2D + penalty turns 2D PDF Photo-based Rules Quiz - 1 Photo-based Rules Quiz - 2 |