With the “new” racing rules of sailing about to go into effect, now seems like a fine time to begin discussing the fundamental rules and those that will not change in 2013.  If you are new to racing or feel a little foggy on the rules (we all do at some point) then this will be a fun series of posts to build your knowledge with.

In fact, most of the rules and the spirit of the rules we’ve been sailing with will not be changed in 2013 and having a rock solid understanding of the basic rules will make understanding the more nuanced rules easier.  If you are new to the rules — this will be a great place to start your understanding of the racing rules of sailing.  They aren’t that complicated and it knowing these fundamental rules that govern when boats meet on the race course will help you have more fun and be a more confident racer.

Here is how this will work.  Regularly I will post a racing rules scenario and ask you – the readers – to post your answers and questions in the comment section of this post.  Over the coming weeks and months we will work our way through the rule book in an effort to get a better understanding of the rules.  If you really want to drill down deep, call the office to register for one of our winter racing rules seminars!

Note that while having a rule book is helpful it is not neccesary.  You can download the 2009-2012 rules as well as the 2013-2016 rules here!

Ok… here goes: