Sunday, February 3, 2013

RRS on One Page

Knowledge of the Racing Rules of Sailing is always a relative thing.  Yesterday over post-race beers we were rehashing a tangle at the downwind mark and it was a clear case of a relatively new sailor violating Rule 18.2(b). She was clear astern of another boat entering the zone, but as the boat entitled to mark room started going a bit wide to round the mark closely, she dashed inside, yelling "overlap" and no doubt thinking she had been clever.  The helm of the boat entitled to mark room begged to differ and in any case it was too late and they bumped each other.

So, we started to set up a reconstruction of the event on the table, using beer mugs and iPhones representing the mark, boats, etc.  As the new sailor began to argue her case in an animated fashion with all the props, I innocently asked "OK, but first - where is the zone?"  She replied "What's that?"

So, I explained what the zone is and the basics of Rule 18.  She understood, admitted her mistake and took it all in good grace. The bumped boat entitled to markroom likewise took it in stride and all was forgiven.

This morning, the helm of the bumped boat sent the following chart to all members of the club and I wanted to share it here - it is excellent.



14 comments:

  1. very cool - as a recreational sailor that enterains the thought of maybe racing, something like this is very helpful!

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    1. Glad you find it useful - but my best advice is get racing as soon as you can with even a minimum knowledge of the rules. I had never done it before a couple of years ago. It is really fun and really teaches you to sail. Plus when you are out there, all the cares of the world fade away and you become completely absorbed in the racing. Go for it! You won't regret it.

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    2. oh, I know I should! I just haven't been able to mesh my summer schedule and it's random sailing opportunities with the times the local club has a race scheduled. plus, I'm really good at coming up with excuses!

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    3. Wow, KR. I couldn't have said it any better!

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  2. Gee, how does anyone keep that straight? =8-o

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  3. Great diagram, thanks for posting

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  4. Fantastic post. Please can you ask your friend if he/she is OK with other clubs using the 'RRS on a page'? It would be a great handout for a Rules Evening we are organising.

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    1. Hello Mark - sure, please feel free to hand it out - on 2 conditions. First, I would appreciate receiving any good material you use in your Rules Evening since we are also on the lookout for good materials; second, on your next trip to Abu Dhabi you must come sailing with us and buy me a beer afterward.

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    2. Thanks, I'll send you anything we put together. If I'm ever in Abu Dhabi I'll look you up and come sailing - not sure what temperatures you have there at the moment, but certain it beats the south coast of the UK!

      Cheers, Mark (http://slippermusings.blogspot.co.uk/)

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    3. This time of year is great - shorts during the day and a light windbreaker at night. Of course the summer is pretty brutal. But the good news is that we sail every weekend year round.

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  5. That "Rules on one page" chart was actually published in Understanding the Racing Rules through 2004 by Dave Perry. I think that book is republished every 4 years when the rules are updated so it may be in other editions too. It credits the illustrations to Brad Dellenbaugh.

    Actually now I look more closely that must be a more recent version of the Perry/Dellenbaugh chart as I see they have erased the part about Rule 17.2 (which was deleted some time after 2004) and there are some other minor changes.

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    1. Thanks for that good sleuthing. I will post the info with links to the gentlemen.

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