SECTION 1 - ABSTRACTS OF CASES BY RULE NUMBER    

Section 1 prints the abstract from each case under those rule numbers listed at the beginning of the case. Thus readers can identify the cases that bear on their particular questions and ignore the rest. However, the abstract of a case may not mention every rule; therefore readers must turn to the case itself to see how the rule has been interpreted or illustrated.

SPORTSMANSHIP AND THE RULES

CASE 31
When the correct visual recall signal for individual recall is made but the required sound signal is not, and when a recalled boat in a position to hear a sound signal does not see the visual signal and does not return, she is entitled to redress. However, if she realizes she is over the line she must return and start correctly.

CASE 65
When a boat knows that she has broken the Black Flag rule, she is obliged to retire promptly. When she does not do so and then deliberately hinders another boat in the race, she commits a gross breach of sportsmanship and, therefore, of rule 2.

PART 1 - FUNDAMENTAL RULES

Rule 1.1, Helping Those in Danger
CASE 20
When it is possible that a boat is in danger, another boat that gives help is entitled to redress, even if her help was not asked for or if it is later found that there was no danger.

CASE 100
When a boat is not in danger, advice that she seeks and receives that will help her to complete the race is outside help, even if it is sought and received on a public radio channel.

Rule 2, Fair Sailing
CASE 27

A boat is not required to anticipate that another boat will break a rule. When a boat acquires right of way as a result of her own actions, the other boat is entitled to room to keep clear.

CASE 31
When the correct visual recall signal for individual recall is made but the required sound signal is not, and when a recalled boat in a position to hear a sound signal does not see the visual signal and does not return, she is entitled to redress. However, if she realizes she is over the line she must return and start correctly.

CASE 34
Hindering another boat may be a breach of rule 2 and the basis for granting redress and for action under rule 69.1.

CASE 47
A boat that deliberately hails 'starboard' when she knows she is on port tack has not acted fairly, and is liable to disqualification under rule 2.

CASE 65
When a boat knows that she has broken the Black Flag rule, she is obliged to retire promptly. When she does not do so and then deliberately hinders another boat in the race, she commits a gross breach of sportsmanship and, therefore, of rule 2.

CASE 73
When, by deliberate action, L's crew touches W, which action could have no other intention than to cause W to break rule 11, then L breaks rule 2.

CASE 74
There is no rule that dictates how the helmsman or crew of a leeward boat must sit; contact with a windward boat does not break rule 2 unless the helmsman's, or crew's, position is deliberately misused.

CASE 78
A boat does not break rule 2 by slowing another boat’s progress in a race, provided that this tactic is intended to benefit her own series result, that the boats are on the same leg and lap of the course, and that in using it she does not intentionally break a rule.

PART 2 - WHEN BOATS MEET

Part 2 Preamble

CASE 67
When a boat is racing and meets a vessel that is not, both are bound by the government right-of-way rules applicable to the area concerned. When, under these rules, the boat racing is the keep-clear boat and intentionally hits the other, she may be penalized for gross misconduct.

CASE 109
The IRPCAS or government right-of-way rules apply between boats that are racing only if the sailing instructions say so, and in that case all of the Part 2 rules are replaced. An IRPCAS or government rule may be made to apply by including it in the sailing instructions or in another document governing the event. A boat may protest another boat for a breach of the IRPCAS or government right-of-way rules, but not if the incident is one in which a boat sailing under the Part 2 rules meets a vessel that is not.

Section A - Right of Way

Rule 10, On Opposite Tacks
CASE 9

When a starboard-tack boat chooses to sail past a windward mark, a port-tack boat must keep clear. There is no rule that requires a boat to sail a proper course.

CASE 23
On a run, rule 18 does not apply to a starboard-tack boat overtaking two port-tack boats ahead of her. Rule 10 requires both port-tack boats to keep clear.

CASE 43
A close-hauled port-tack boat that is sailing parallel and close to a continuing obstruction must keep clear of a boat that has completed her tack to starboard and is approaching on a collision course.

CASE 50
When a protest committee finds that in a port-starboard incident S did not change course and that there was not a genuine and reasonable apprehension of collision on the part of S, it should dismiss her protest. When the committee finds that S did change course and that there was reasonable doubt that P could have crossed ahead of S if S had not changed course, then P should be disqualified.

CASE 75
Until an inside starboard-tack boat reaches the point in rounding a mark where her proper course is to gybe and she does so, an outside port-tack boat must keep clear under rules 10 and 18.2(a), and rule 18.4 requires the inside starboard-tack boat to sail no farther from the mark than needed to sail her proper course.

CASE 87
A right-of-way boat need not anticipate that the other boat will not keep clear.

CASE 88
A boat may avoid contact and yet fail to keep clear.

CASE 99
The fact that a boat required to keep clear is out of control does not entitle her to exoneration for breaking a rule of Part 2. When a right-of-way boat becomes obliged by rule 14 to ‘avoid contact . . . if reasonably possible’ and the only way to do so is to crash-gybe, she does not break the rule if she does not crash-gybe. When a boat retires as required by rule 44.1, whether out of choice or necessity, she cannot then be penalized further.

CASE 105
When two boats are running on opposite tacks, the starboard-tack boat may change course provided she gives the port-tack boat room to keep clear.

Rule 11, On the Same Tack, Overlapped
CASE 7
When, after having been clear astern, a boat becomes overlapped to leeward within two of her hull lengths of the other boat, the windward boat must keep clear, but the leeward boat must not sail above her proper course and must initially give the windward boat room to keep clear.

CASE 12
In determining the right to room at a mark, it is irrelevant that boats are on widely differing courses, provided that an overlap exists at the relevant time.

CASE 13
Before her starting signal, a leeward boat does not break a rule by steering a close-hauled course toward a windward boat.

CASE 14
When, owing to a difference of opinion about a leeward boat's proper course, two boats on the same tack converge, the windward boat must keep clear. There can be more than one proper course.

CASE 24
When a boat becomes overlapped to leeward from clear astern, the other boat must act promptly to keep clear. When she cannot do so in a seamanlike way, she has not been given sufficient room.

CASE 25
When overlapped boats have passed a mark, an inside windward boat is no longer entitled to room and only rule 11 applies.

CASE 51
A protest committee must exonerate boats when they are compelled by another boat to break a rule.

CASE 53
A boat clear ahead need not anticipate her obligation to keep clear before being overlapped to leeward from clear astern.

CASE 70
A boat entitled to room under rule 18 is relieved of her obligations under rule 11 only to the extent that rule 18 explicitly provides rights in conflict with rule 11 and only when room as defined is being denied her.

CASE 73
When, by deliberate action, L's crew touches W, which action could have no other intention than to cause W to break rule 11, then L breaks rule 2.

CASE 74
There is no rule that dictates how the helmsman or crew of a leeward boat must sit; contact with a windward boat does not break rule 2 unless the helmsman's, or crew's, position is deliberately misused.

CASE 86
When rules 18.2(a) and 18.4 apply at a leeward mark, an outside windward boat must keep sufficiently clear of the leeward boat that the leeward boat is able to sail her proper course while passing the mark.

Rule 12, On the Same Tack, Not Overlapped
CASE 2

Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between a boat clear ahead and a boat clear astern if the boat clear astern reaches the zone before the boat clear ahead. Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between two boats that were not overlapped before the first of them to reach the zone does so. Rule 18.2(a) applies only while boats are overlapped and at least one of them is in the zone.

CASE 15
In tacking to round the mark, a boat clear ahead must comply with rule 13; a close-hauled boat clear astern is entitled to hold her course and thereby prevent the other from tacking.

CASE 24
When a boat becomes overlapped to leeward from clear astern, the other boat must act promptly to keep clear. When she cannot do so in a seamanlike way, she has not been given sufficient room.

CASE 41
If an obstruction can be passed on either side by two overlapped boats, the right-of-way boat, if she chooses to pass it to leeward, must give room to the other. If the right-of-way boat chooses to pass it to windward, she is entitled to room to do so, and the other boat must keep clear. There is no obligation to hail for room at a mark or obstruction.

CASE 77
Contact with a mark by a boat's equipment constitutes touching it. A boat obligated to keep clear does not break a rule when touched by a right-of-way boat's equipment that moves out of normal position.

CASE 91
A boat required to keep clear must keep clear of another boat’s equipment out of its normal position when the equipment has been out of its normal position long enough for the equipment to have been seen.

Rule 13, While Tacking
CASE 15

In tacking to round the mark, a boat clear ahead or a leeward boat must comply with rule 13; a close-hauled boat clear astern or with an inside overlap is entitled to hold her course and thereby prevent the other from tacking.

CASE 17
A boat is no longer subject to rule 13 when she is on a close-hauled course, regardless of her movement through the water or the sheeting of her sails.

Section B - General Limitations

Rule 14, Avoiding Contact
CASE 2

Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between a boat clear ahead and a boat clear astern if the boat clear astern reaches the zone before the boat clear ahead. Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between two boats that were not overlapped before the first of them to reach the zone does so. Rule 18.2(a) applies only while boats are overlapped and at least one of them is in the zone.

CASE 7
When, after having been clear astern, a boat becomes overlapped to leeward within two of her hull lengths of the other boat, the windward boat must keep clear, but the leeward boat must not sail above her proper course and must initially give the windward boat room to keep clear.

CASE 11
When an obstruction is a right-of-way boat about to be passed on the same side by two overlapped boats, the outside boat must give the inside boat room to pass.

CASE 13
Before her starting signal, a leeward boat does not break a rule by sailing a course higher than the windward boat’s course.

CASE 14
When, owing to a difference of opinion about a leeward boat's proper course, two boats on the same tack converge, the windward boat must keep clear. There can be more than one proper course.

CASE 25
When overlapped boats have passed a mark, an inside windward boat is no longer entitled to room and only rule 11 applies.

CASE 23
On a run, rule 18 does not apply to a starboard-tack boat overtaking two port-tack boats ahead of her. Rule 10 requires both port-tack boats to keep clear.

CASE 26
When a right-of-way boat could have, but did not, avoid a collision that resulted in damage, she must be penalized under rule 14.

CASE 27
A boat is not required to anticipate that another boat will break a rule. When a boat acquires right of way as a result of her own actions, the other boat is entitled to room to keep clear.

CASE 30
A boat clear astern that is required to keep clear but collides with the boat clear ahead breaks the right-of-way rule that was applicable before the collision occurs. A boat that loses right of way by unintentionally changing tack is nevertheless required to keep clear.

CASE 50
When a protest committee finds that in a port-starboard incident S did not change course and that there was not a genuine and reasonable apprehension of collision on the part of S, it should dismiss her protest. When the committee finds that S did change course and that there was reasonable doubt that P could have crossed ahead of S if S had not changed course, then P should be disqualified.

CASE 54
When a hailing boat observes no response to her hail, adequate notice of intent to tack requires a second, more vigorous hail.

CASE 75
An outside port-tack boat must keep clear of an inside starboard-tack boat under rules 10 and 18.2(a). Having right of way entitles the starboard-tack boat to sail a course of her own choosing, provided that she complies with rule 18.4’s requirement that until she gybes she sail no farther from the mark than needed to sail her proper course.

CASE 77
Contact with a mark by a boat's equipment constitutes touching it. A boat obligated to keep clear does not break a rule when touched by a right-of-way boat's equipment that moves out of normal position.

CASE 87
A right-of-way boat need not anticipate that the other boat will not keep clear.

CASE 88
A boat may avoid contact and yet fail to keep clear.

CASE 91
A boat required to keep clear must keep clear of another boat’s equipment out of its normal position when the equipment has been out of its normal position long enough for the equipment to have been seen.

CASE 92
When a right-of-way boat changes course, the keep-clear boat is required to act only in response to what the right-of-way boat is doing at the time, not what the right-of-way boat might do subsequently.

CASE 99
The fact that a boat required to keep clear is out of control does not entitle her to exoneration for breaking a rule of Part 2. When a right-of-way boat becomes obliged by rule 14 to ‘avoid contact . . . if reasonably possible’ and the only way to do so is to crash-gybe, she does not break the rule if she does not crash-gybe. When a boat retires as required by rule 44.1, whether out of choice or necessity, she cannot then be penalized further.

CASE 105
When two boats are running on opposite tacks, the starboard-tack boat may change course provided she gives the port-tack boat room to keep clear.

CASE 107
A boat that is not keeping a lookout may thereby fail to do everything reasonably possible to avoid contact. Hailing is one way that a boat may ‘act to avoid contact’. When a boat that has broken a rule of Part 2 retires she has taken a penalty and may not be penalized further for the same incident.

Rule 14(b), Avoiding Contact
CASE 19

An interpretation of the term 'damage'.

Rule 15, Acquiring Right of Way
CASE 2

Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between a boat clear ahead and a boat clear astern if the boat clear astern reaches the zone before the boat clear ahead. Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between two boats that were not overlapped before the first of them to reach the zone does so. Rule 18.2(a) applies only while boats are overlapped and at least one of them is in the zone.
CASE 7

When, after having been clear astern, a boat becomes overlapped to leeward within two of her hull lengths of the other boat, the windward boat must keep clear, but the leeward boat must not sail above her proper course and must initially give the windward boat room to keep clear.

CASE 13
Before her starting signal, a leeward boat does not break a rule by steering a close-hauled course toward a windward boat.

CASE 24
When a boat becomes overlapped to leeward from clear astern, the other boat must act promptly to keep clear. When she cannot do so in a seamanlike way, she has not been given sufficient room.

CASE 27
A boat is not required to anticipate that another boat will break a rule. When a boat acquires right of way as a result of her own actions, the other boat is entitled to room to keep clear.

CASE 53
A boat clear ahead need not anticipate her obligation to keep clear before being overlapped to leeward from clear astern.

CASE 54
When a hailing boat observes no response to her hail, adequate notice of intent to tack requires a second, more vigorous hail.

CASE 105

When two boats are running on opposite tacks, the starboard-tack boat may change course provided she gives the port-tack boat room to keep clear.

Rule 16.1, Changing Course
CASE 6

A starboard-tack boat that tacks after a port-tack boat has borne away to go astern of her does not necessarily break a rule.

CASE 13
Before her starting signal, a leeward boat does not break a rule by sailing a course higher than the windward boat’s course.

CASE 25
When overlapped boats have passed a mark, an inside windward boat is no longer entitled to room and only rule 11 applies.

CASE 26
When a right-of-way boat could have, but did not, avoid a collision that resulted in damage, she must be penalized under rule 14.

CASE 46
A leeward boat is entitled to sail up to her proper course, even when she has established a leeward overlap from clear astern.

CASE 52
Rule 16 does not restrict the course of a keep-clear boat. Manoeuvring to drive another boat away from the starting line does not necessarily break this rule.

CASE 60
When a right-of-way boat changes course in such a way that a keep-clear boat, despite having taken avoiding action promptly, cannot keep clear in a seamanlike way, the right-of-way boat breaks rule 16.

CASE 76
When a boat changes course to a new proper course, this may break rule 16.

CASE 86
When rules 18.2(a) and 18.4 apply at a leeward mark, an outside windward boat must keep sufficiently clear of the leeward boat that the leeward boat is able to sail her proper course while passing the mark.

CASE 92
When a right-of-way boat changes course, the keep-clear boat is required to act only in response to what the right-of-way boat is doing at the time, not what the right-of-way boat might do subsequently.

CASE 93
If two boats were on opposite tacks, rule 18.3 begins to apply when one of them completes a tack within the two-length zone. When rule 18.3(b) applies, and therefore rule 15 does not, a leeward boat is nevertheless subject to rule 16.1 if she changes course.

CASE 105

When two boats are running on opposite tacks, the starboard-tack boat may change course provided she gives the port-tack boat room to keep clear.

Rule 16.2 Changing Course

CASE 6
A starboard-tack boat that tacks after a port-tack boat has borne away to go astern of her does not necessarily break a rule.

CASE 26
When a right-of-way boat could have, but did not, avoid a collision that resulted in damage, she must be penalized under rule 14.

CASE 92
When a right-of-way boat changes course, the keep-clear boat is required to act only in response to what the right-of-way boat is doing at the time, not what the right-of-way boat might do subsequently.

Rule 17.1, On the Same Tack; Proper Course
CASE 7

When, after having been clear astern, a boat becomes overlapped to leeward within two of her hull lengths of the other boat, the windward boat must keep clear, but the leeward boat must not sail above her proper course and must initially give the windward boat room to keep clear.

CASE 14
When, owing to a difference of opinion about a leeward boat's proper course, two boats on the same tack converge, the windward boat must keep clear. There can be more than one proper course.

CASE 46
A leeward boat is entitled to sail up to her proper course, even when she has established a leeward overlap from clear astern.

Section C - At Marks and Obstructions

Part 2, Section C Preamble
CASE 70

A boat entitled to room under rule 18 is relieved of her obligations under rule 11 only to the extent that rule 18 explicitly provides rights in conflict with rule 11 and only when room as defined is being denied her.

Rule 18, Passing Marks and Obstructions

CASE 23
On a run, rule 18 does not apply to a starboard-tack boat overtaking two port-tack boats ahead of her. Rule 10 requires both port-tack boats to keep clear.

CASE 70
A boat entitled to room under rule 18 is relieved of her obligations under rule 11 only to the extent that rule 18 explicitly provides rights in conflict with rule 11 and only when room as defined is being denied her.

Rule 18 Preamble

CASE 21
The extent of the room that an outside right-of-way boat must give at a mark or obstruction depends on the existing conditions.

Rule 18.1, Passing Marks and Obstructions: When this Rule Applies

CASE 12
In determining the right to room at a mark, it is irrelevant that boats are on widely differing courses, provided that an overlap exists at the relevant time.

CASE 26
When a right-of-way boat could have, but did not, avoid a collision that resulted in damage, she must be penalized under rule 14.

CASE 81
When two boats on the same tack are about to round a mark, rule 18 applies even if the boats are on a beat. When one boat enters the two-length zone clear ahead of another boat on the same tack, rule 18.2(c) applies. If the boat clear ahead passes head to wind, rule 18.2(c) ceases to apply and she becomes subject to rule 13 and, aftershe is on a close-hauled course on port tack, rule 10.

CASE 84
Discussion of the phrase ‘about to round or pass’.

CASE 94
Rule 18 begins to apply when boats are about to pass a mark or obstruction; the distance from the mark or obstruction may vary depending on sea and wind conditions. However, the obligations between boats may still change before one of them reaches the two-length zone. It is only at the two-length zone that it can be determined whether rule 18.2(a) or rule 18.2(c) will govern the rounding.

CASE 95
Rule 18 applies when both boats are about to pass a mark or obstruction. If the boats are on the same tack approaching a windward mark, and the outside boat tacks, rule 18 does not apply, even if both boats are now about to pass the mark, since they are now on opposite tacks. If the other boat then tacks, she is subject to rule 18.3.

Rule 18.1(b), Passing Marks and Obstructions: When This Rule Applies
CASE 9

When a starboard-tack boat chooses to sail past a windward mark, a port-tack boat must keep clear. There is no rule that requires a boat to sail a proper course.

CASE 15
In tacking to round the mark, a boat clear ahead must comply with rule 13; a close-hauled boat clear astern is entitled to hold her course and thereby prevent the other from tacking.

CASE 43
A close-hauled port-tack boat that is sailing parallel and close to a continuing obstruction must keep clear of a boat that has completed her tack to starboard and is approaching on a collision course.

CASE 76
When a boat changes course to a new proper course, this may break rule 16.

Rule 18.2, Passing Marks and Obstructions: Giving Room; Keeping Clear
CASE 63

At a mark, when room is made available to a boat that has no right to it, she may, at her own risk, take advantage of the room so given.

Rule 18.2(a), Passing Marks and Obstructions: Giving Room; Keeping Clear

CASE 2
Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between a boat clear ahead and a boat clear astern if the boat clear astern reaches the zone before the boat clear ahead. Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between two boats that were not overlapped before the first of them to reach the zone does so. Rule 18.2(a) applies only while boats are overlapped and at least one of them is in the zone.

CASE 11
When an obstruction is a right-of-way boat about to be passed on the same side by two overlapped boats, the outside boat must give the inside boat room to pass.

CASE 12
In determining the right to room at a mark, it is irrelevant that boats are on widely differing courses, provided that an overlap exists at the relevant time.

CASE 21
The extent of the room that an outside right-of-way boat must give at a mark or obstruction depends on the existing conditions.

CASE 25
When overlapped boats have passed a mark, an inside windward boat is no longer entitled to room and only rule 11 applies.

CASE 33
A boat is entitled to room to pass to leeward of an obstruction under rule 18.2(a) even though she has tacked into the inside overlapping position. A mark being passed to leeward is not being ‘fetched’.

CASE 41
If an obstruction can be passed on either side by two overlapped boats, the right-of-way boat, if she chooses to pass it to leeward, must give room to the other. If the right-of-way boat chooses to pass it to windward, she is entitled to room to do so, and the other boat must keep clear. There is no obligation to hail for room at a mark or obstruction.

CASE 59
When a boat comes abreast of a mark but is outside the two-length zone, and when her change of course towards the mark results in a boat previously clear astern becoming overlapped inside her, rule 18.2(a) requires her to give room to that boat, whether or not her distance from the mark was caused by giving room to other boats overlapped inside her.

CASE 75
An outside port-tack boat must keep clear of an inside starboard-tack boat under rules 10 and 18.2(a). Having right of way entitles the starboard-tack boat to sail a course of her own choosing, provided that she complies with rule 18.4’s requirement that until she gybes she sail no farther from the mark than needed to sail her proper course.

CASE 86
When rules 18.2(a) and 18.4 apply at a leeward mark, an outside windward boat must keep sufficiently clear of the leeward boat that the leeward boat is able to sail her proper course while passing the mark.

CASE 94
Rule 18 begins to apply when boats are about to pass a mark or obstruction; the distance from the mark or obstruction may vary depending on sea and wind conditions. However, the obligations between boats may still change before one of them reaches the two-length zone. It is only at the two-length zone that it can be determined whether rule 18.2(a) or rule 18.2(c) will govern the rounding.

Rule 18.2(b), Passing Marks and Obstructions: Giving Room; Keeping Clear:Overlapped at the Zone
CASE 2
Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between a boat clear ahead and a boat clear astern if the boat clear astern reaches the zone before the boat clear ahead. Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between two boats that were not overlapped before the first of them to reach the zone does so. Rule 18.2(a) applies only while boats are overlapped and at least one of them is in the zone.

Rule 18.2(c) Rounding and Passing Marks and Obstructions: Giving Room; Keeping Clear: Not Overlapped at the Zone

CASE 2
Rule 18.2(c) does not apply between a boat clear ahead and a boat clear astern if the boat clear astern reaches the two-length zone before the boat clear ahead. Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between two boats that were not overlapped before the first of them to reach the two-length zone does so. Rule 18.2(a) applies only while boats are overlapped. When rules 18.2(a), 18.2(b) and 18.2(c) do not apply, right of way is determined by the relevant rule in Section A of Part 2.

CASE 15
In tacking to round the mark, a boat clear ahead or a leeward boat must comply with rule 13; a close-hauled boat clear astern or with an inside overlap is entitled to hold her course and thereby prevent the other from tacking.

CASE 16
When a boat clear astern overtakes two overlapping boats clear ahead, she may intervene between them only if there is room to pass between them.

CASE 29
When a leeward boat is a continuing obstruction to an overlapped windward boat and a third boat clear astern, the boat clear astern may sail between the two overlapped boats if there is room, as defined, to do so.

CASE 62
One boat is obligated to keep clear of another under rule 18.2(c) until both have passed the mark or obstruction.

CASE 81
When two boats on the same tack are about to round a mark, rule 18 applies even if the boats are on a beat. When one boat enters the two-length zone clear ahead of another boat on the same tack, rule 18.2(c) applies. If the boat clear ahead passes head to wind, rule 18.2(c) ceases to apply and she becomes subject to rule 13 and, aftershe is on a close-hauled course on port tack, rule 10.

CASE 94
Rule 18 begins to apply when boats are about to pass a mark or obstruction; the distance from the mark or obstruction may vary depending on sea and wind conditions. However, the obligations between boats may still change before one of them reaches the two-length zone. It is only at the two-length zone that it can be determined whether rule 18.2(a) or rule 18.2(c) will govern the rounding.

Rule 18.2(d) Rounding and Passing Marks and Obstructions: Giving Room; Keeping Clear: Changing Course to Round or Pass

CASE 75
An outside port-tack boat must keep clear of an inside starboard-tack boat under rules 10 and 18.2(a). Having right of way entitles the starboard-tack boat to sail a course of her own choosing, provided that she complies with rule 18.4’s requirement that until she gybes she sail no farther from the mark than needed to sail her proper course.

CASE 86
When rules 18.2(a) and 18.4 apply at a leeward mark, an outside windward boat must keep sufficiently clear of the leeward boat that the leeward boat is able to sail her proper course while passing the mark.

Rule 18.3 Rounding and Passing Marks and Obstructions: Tacking at a Mark

CASE 33
A boat is entitled to room to pass to leeward of an obstruction under rule 18.2(a) even though she has tacked into the inside overlapping position. A mark being passed to leeward is not being ‘fetched’.

CASE 95
Rule 18 applies when both boats are about to pass a mark or obstruction. If the boats are on the same tack approaching a windward mark, and the outside boat tacks, rule 18 does not apply, even if both boats are now about to pass the mark, since they are now on opposite tacks. If the other boat then tacks, she is subject to rule 18.3.

Rule 18.3(b) Rounding and Passing Marks and Obstructions: Tacking at a Mark

CASE 93
If two boats were on opposite tacks, rule 18.3 begins to apply when one of them completes a tack within the two-length zone. When rule 18.3(b) applies, and therefore rule 15 does not, a leeward boat is nevertheless subject to rule 16.1 if she changes course.

Rule 18.4, Passing Marks and Obstructions: Gybing
CASE 75

Until an inside starboard-tack boat reaches the point in rounding a mark where her proper course is to gybe and she does so, an outside port-tack boat must keep clear under rules 10 and 18.2(a), and rule 18.4 requires the inside starboard-tack boat to sail no farther from the mark than needed to sail her proper course.

CASE 86
When rules 18.2(a) and 18.4 apply at a leeward mark, an outside windward boat must keep sufficiently clear of the leeward boat that the leeward boat is able to sail her proper course while passing the mark.

Rule 18.5, Passing Marks and Obstructions: Passing a Continuing Obstruction
CASE 16

When a boat clear astern overtakes two overlapping boats clear ahead, she may intervene between them only if there is room to pass between them.

CASE 29
When a leeward boat is a continuing obstruction to an overlapped windward boat and a third boat clear astern, the boat clear astern may sail between the two overlapped boats if there is room, as defined, to do so.

CASE 30
A boat clear astern that is required to keep clear but collides with the boat clear ahead breaks the right-of-way rule that was applicable before the collision occurs. A boat that loses right of way by unintentionally changing tack is nevertheless required to keep clear.

CASE 33
A boat is entitled to room to pass to leeward of an obstruction under rule 18.2(a) even though she has tacked into the inside overlapping position. A mark being passed to leeward is not being ‘fetched’.

Rule 19.1, Room to Tack at an Obstruction
CASE 3

A leeward port-tack boat, hailing for room to tack when faced with an oncoming starboard-tack boat, an obstruction, is not required to anticipate that the windward boat will fail to comply with her obligation to tack promptly or otherwise provide room, nor is the leeward boat obliged to bear away below the stern of the starboard-tack boat.

CASE 11
When an obstruction is a right-of-way boat about to be passed on the same side by two overlapped boats, the outside boat must give the inside boat room to pass.

CASE 33
A boat is entitled to room to pass to leeward of an obstruction under rule 18.2(a) even though she has tacked into the inside overlapping position. A mark being passed to leeward is not being ‘fetched’.

CASE 54
When a hailing boat observes no response to her hail, adequate notice of intent to tack requires a second, more vigorous hail.

Rule 19.1(b), Room to Tack at an Obstruction
CASE 35

When a boat is hailed for room to tack at an obstruction and replies 'You tack', and the hailing boat is then able to tack and avoid the hailed boat, the hailed boat has complied with rule 19.1(b).

CASE 101
When, in reply to her call for room to tack when close-hauled approaching an obstruction, a boat is hailed ‘You tack’, and when she does so and is then able to tack again to keep clear in a seamanlike way, the other boat has given the room required.

Rule 22.2, Interfering with Another Boat

CASE 78
A boat does not break rule 2 by slowing another boat’s progress in a race, provided that this tactic is intended to benefit her own series result, that the boats are on the same leg and lap of the course, and that in using it she does not intentionally break a rule.

 

PART 3 - CONDUCT OF A RACE

Rule 26, Starting Races

CASE 31
When the correct visual recall signal for individual recall is made but the required sound signal is not, and when a recalled boat in a position to hear a sound signal does not see the visual signal and does not return, she is entitled to redress. However, if she realizes she is over the line she must return and start correctly.

Rule 28.1, Sailing the Course

CASE 31
When the correct visual recall signal for individual recall is made but the required sound signal is not, and when a recalled boat in a position to hear a sound signal does not see the visual signal and does not return, she is entitled to redress. However, if she realizes she is over the line she must return and start correctly.

CASE 90
Interpretations of rule 28.1, the ‘string rule’.

CASE 106
When a boat’s ‘string’ lies on the required sides of starting marks, finishing marks or gate marks, it is not relevant that the marks also have been looped.

CASE 108
When exonerating herself after touching a mark, a boat need not complete a full 360° turn, and she may make her penalty while simultaneously rounding the mark. Her turn to round the mark may also rank as her exoneration if it includes a tack and a gybe, if it is carried out promptly after clearing the mark and other boats, and when no question of advantage arises.

Rule 28.2, Sailing the Course
CASE 58

If a buoy or other object specified in the sailing instructions as a finishing-line limit mark is on the post-finish side of the finishing line, it is not a mark.

Rule 29.1, Individual Recall

CASE 31
When the correct visual recall signal for individual recall is made but the required sound signal is not, and when a recalled boat in a position to hear a sound signal does not see the visual signal and does not return, she is entitled to redress. However, if she realizes she is over the line she must return and start correctly.

CASE 71
A hail is not a 'sound signal'. Answers to questions arising from requests for redress after a procedural error by the race committee.

CASE 79
When a boat has no reason to know that she crossed the starting line early and the race committee fails to promptly signal ‘Individual recall’ and scores her OCS, this is an error that significantly worsens the boat’s score through no fault of her own, and therefore entitles her to redress.

Rule 30.3, Black Flag Rule
CASE 65

When a boat knows that she has broken the Black Flag rule, she is obliged to retire promptly. When she does not do so and then deliberately hinders another boat in the race, she commits a gross breach of sportsmanship and, therefore, of rule 2.

CASE 96
When after a general recall a boat learns from seeing her sail number displayed that she has been disqualified by the race committee under rule 30.3 and believes the race committee has made a mistake, her only option is not to start, and then to seek redress. When a boat breaks the rule in the first sentence of rule 30.3, she is not entitled to exoneration because of a procedural error by the race committee that is unrelated to her infringement.

Rule 31.1, Touching a Mark
CASE 77

Contact with a mark by a boat's equipment constitutes touching it. A boat obligated to keep clear does not break a rule when touched by a right-of-way boat' 's equipment that moves out of normal position.

Rule 31.2, Touching a Mark

CASE 108
When exonerating herself after touching a mark, a boat need not complete a full 360° turn, and she may make her penalty while simultaneously rounding the mark. Her turn to round the mark may also rank as her exoneration if it includes a tack and a gybe, if it is carried out promptly after clearing the mark and other boats, and when no question of advantage arises.

Rule 32, Shortening or Abandoning After the Start

CASE 28
When one boat breaks a rule and in so doing causes another to touch a mark, the other boat is to be exonerated. The fact that a starting mark has shifted, for whatever reason, does not exempt a boat from the requirement to start as defined. A race committee may abandon under rule 32.1(d) only when the mark has moved a significant distance.

CASE 37
Each race of a regatta is a separate race; in a multi-class regatta, abandonment may be suitable for some classes, but not for all.

PART 4 - OTHER REQUIREMENTS WHEN RACING

Rule 41 Outside Help

CASE 100
When a boat is not in danger, advice that she seeks and receives that will help her to complete the race is outside help, even if it is sought and received on a public radio channel.

  Rule 42, Propulsion
CASE 8

While reaching at good speed, a boat does not break rule 42 when her helmsman, anticipating and taking advantage of waves generated by a passing vessel, makes helm movements timed to the passage of each wave. This is not sculling but using the natural action of the water on the hull.

Rule 42.1, Propulsion: Basic Rule

CASE 5
Recovering an anchor so as to gather way over the ground breaks rule 42.1.

CASE 8
While reaching at good speed, a boat does not break rule 42 when her helmsman, anticipating and taking advantage of waves generated by a passing vessel, makes helm movements timed to the passage of each wave. This is not sculling but using the natural action of the water on the hull.

CASE 69
Momentum of a boat after the preparatory signal that is the result of being propelled by her engine before the signal does not break rule 42.1.

Rule 42.2(d), Propulsion: Prohibited Actions

CASE 8
While reaching at good speed, a boat does not break rule 42 when her helmsman, anticipating and taking advantage of waves generated by a passing vessel, makes helm movements timed to the passage of each wave. This is not sculling but using the natural action of the water on the hull.

Rule 43.1(a), Competitor Clothing and Equipment
Case 89

A competitor may not wear or otherwise attach to his person a beverage container.

Rule 44.1 Penalties for Breaking Rules of Part 2: Taking a Penalty

CASE 99
The fact that a boat required to keep clear is out of control does not entitle her to exoneration for breaking a rule of Part 2. When a right-of-way boat becomes obliged by rule 14 to ‘avoid contact . . . if reasonably possible’ and the only way to do so is to crash-gybe, she does not break the rule if she does not crash-gybe. When a boat retires as required by rule 44.1, whether out of choice or necessity, she cannot then be penalized further.

CASE 107

A boat that is not keeping a lookout may thereby fail to do everything reasonably possible to avoid contact. Hailing is one way that a boat may ‘act to avoid contact’. When a boat that has broken a rule of Part 2 retires she has taken a penalty and may not be penalized further for the same incident.

Rule 45, Hauling Out; Making Fast; Anchoring
CASE 5

Recovering an anchor so as to gather way over the ground breaks rule 42.1.

Rule 46, Person in Charge
CASE 40

Unless otherwise specifically stated in the class rules, notice of race or sailing instructions, the owner or person in charge of a boat is free to decide who steers her in a race, provided that rule 46 is not broken.

Rule 48, Fog Signals and Lights

CASE 109
The IRPCAS or government right-of-way rules apply between boats that are racing only if the sailing instructions say so, and in that case all of the Part 2 rules are replaced. An IRPCAS or government rule may be made to apply by including it in the sailing instructions or in another document governing the event. A boat may protest another boat for a breach of the IRPCAS or government right-of-way rules, but not if the incident is one in which a boat sailing under the Part 2 rules meets a vessel that is not.

Rule 49.2, Crew Position
CASE 4

A competitor may hold a sheet outboard.

CASE 36
Positioning of crew members relative to lifelines.

CASE 83
Repeated sail-trimming with a person's torso outside the lifelines is not permitted.

Rule 50.3 Setting and Sheeting Sails: Use of Outriggers
CASE 97
A jockey pole attached to a spinnaker guy is not an outrigger.

Rule 50.3(a), Use of Outriggers
CASE 4

A competitor may hold a sheet outboard.

PART 5 - PROTESTS, HEARINGS, MISCONDUCT AND APPEALS

Rule 60, Right to Protest and Request Redress
CASE 39

A race committee is under no obligation to protest a boat.

CASE 80
A protest hearing and decision must be limited to a particular incident that has been described in the protest. Without a hearing, a boat may not be penalized for failing to sail the course.

Rule 60.1, Right to Protest and Request Redress
CASE 1

A boat that breaks a rule while racing but continues to race may protest over a later incident, even though she is disqualified for the breach of a rule after the race.

Rule 61.1, Informing the Protestee

CASE 85
Class rules may not change a racing rule unless rule 86.1(c) permits the change.

Rule 61.1(a), Informing the Protestee
CASE 72

Discussion of the word 'flag'

Rule 61.2, Protest Contents
CASE 80

A protest hearing and decision must be limited to a particular incident that has been described in the protest. Without a hearing, a boat may not be penalized for failing to sail the course.

Rule 61.2(c), Protest Contents
CASE 22

A protest committee's refusal of a protest cannot be justified by the fact that the rule alleged to have been broken and cited in the protest as required by rule 61.2(c) was not the right one.

Rule 62, Redress
CASE 44

A boat may not protest a race committee for breaking a rule. However, she may request redress, and is entitled to it when she establishes that, through no fault of her own, an improper act or omission of the race committee made her finishing position significantly worse.

CASE 80
A protest hearing and decision must be limited to a particular incident that has been described in the protest. Without a hearing, a boat may not be penalized for failing to sail the course.

Rule 62.1, Redress
CASE 68

The failure of a race committee to discover that a rating certificate is invalid does not entitle a boat to redress. A boat that may have broken a rule and that continues to race retains her rights under the rules of Part 2 and her right to protest or appeal, even if she is later disqualified.

CASE 71
A hail is not a 'sound signal'. Answers to questions arising from requests for redress after a procedural error by the race committee.

Rule 62.1(a), Redress

CASE 37
Each race of a regatta is a separate race; in a multi-class regatta, abandonment may be suitable for some classes, but not for all.

CASE 45
When a boat fails to finish correctly because of a race committee error, but none of the boats racing gains or loses as a result, an appropriate and fair form of redress is to score all the boats in the order they crossed the finishing line.

CASE 82
When a finishing line is laid so nearly in line with the last leg that it cannot be determined which is the correct way to cross it in order to finish according to the definition, boats are eligible for redress, and either direction is acceptable.

Rule 62.1(b), Redress
CASE 19

An interpretation of the term 'damage'.

CASE 110
A boat physically damaged from contact with a boat that was breaking a rule of Part 2 is eligible for redress only if the damage itself significantly worsened her score. Contact is not necessary for one boat to cause injury or physical damage to another. A worsening of a boat’s score caused by an avoiding manoeuvre is not, by itself, grounds for redress. ‘Injury’ refers to bodily injury to a person, and ‘damage’ is limited to physical damage to a boat or her equipment.

Rule 62.1(c), Redress
CASE 20

When a boat, without being asked to do so, goes to the assistance of another that was not actually in danger, she is nevertheless entitled to redress.

Rule 62.1(d), Redress
CASE 34

Hindering another boat may be a breach of rule 2 and the basis for granting redress and for action under rule 69.1.

Rule 62.2, Redress
CASE 102

When a boat requests redress over an incident she claims affected her score in a race, and thus in a series, the time limit for making the request is the time limit for the race, rather than a time limit based on the posting of the series results.

Rule 63.1, Hearings: Requirement for a Hearing
CASE 1

A boat that breaks a rule while racing but continues to race may protest over a later incident, even though she is disqualified for the breach of a rule after the race.

Rule 63.2, Time and Place of the Hearing

CASE 48
Part 5 of the racing rules aims to protect a boat from miscarriage of justice, not to provide loopholes for protestees. A protestee has a duty to protect herself by acting reasonably before a hearing.

Rule 63.3, Right to be Present
CASE 49

When two protests arise from the same incident, or from very closely connected incidents, it is advisable to hear them together in the presence of all the boats involved.

Rule 63.5, Validity of the Protest
CASE 22

A protest committee's refusal of a protest cannot be justified by the fact that the rule alleged to have been broken and cited in the protest as required by rule 61.2(c) was not the right one.

Rule 63.6, Taking Evidence and Finding Facts

CASE 104
Attempting to distinguish between facts and conclusions in a protest committee's findings is sometimes unsatisfactory because findings may be based partially on fact and partially on a conclusion. A national authority can change a protest committee’s decision and any other findings that involve reasoning or judgment, but not its findings of fact. A national authority may derive additional facts by logical deduction. Neither written facts nor diagrammed facts take precedence over the other. Protest committees must resolve conflicts between facts when so required by a national authority.

Rule 63.7, Conflict between Rules

CASE 98
The rules listed in the definition Rule apply to races governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing whether or not the notice of race or sailing instructions explicitly state that they apply.However, a sailing instruction, provided it is consistent with any prescription to rule 87, may change or delete some or all of the prescriptions of the national authority. When a boat races under a handicapping or rating system, the rules of that system apply, and some or all of her class rules may apply as well. Generally, neither the notice of race nor the sailing instructions may change class rules. When the notice of race conflicts with the sailing instructions, neither takes precedence.

Rule 64.1(a), Penalties and Exoneration

CASE 22

A protest committee's refusal of a protest cannot be justified by the fact that the rule alleged to have been broken and cited in the protest as required by rule 61.2(c) was not the right one.

CASE 66
A race committee may not change, or refuse to implement, the decision of a protest committee, including a decision based on a report from an authority qualified to resolve questions of measurement.

Rule 64.1(b), Penalties and Exoneration
CASE 3

A leeward port-tack boat, hailing for room to tack when faced with an oncoming starboard-tack boat, an obstruction, is not required to anticipate that the windward boat will fail to comply with her obligation to tack promptly or otherwise provide room, nor is the leeward boat obliged to bear away below the stern of the starboard-tack boat.

CASE 10
When two boats make contact, both may be exonerated when a third boat that broke a rule caused the incident.

CASE 28
When one boat breaks a rule and in so doing causes another to touch a mark, the other boat is to be exonerated. The fact that a starting mark has shifted, for whatever reason, does not exempt a boat from the requirement to start as defined. A race committee may abandon under rule 32.1(d) only when the mark has moved a significant distance.

CASE 49
When two protests arise from the same incident, or from very closely connected incidents, it is advisable to hear them together in the presence of all the boats involved.

CASE 51
A protest committee must exonerate boats when they are compelled by another boat to break a rule.

Rule 64.2, Decisions on Redress

CASE 45
When a boat fails to finish correctly because of a race committee error, but none of the boats racing gains or loses as a result, an appropriate and fair form of redress is to score all the boats in the order they crossed the finishing line.

CASE 71
A hail is not a 'sound signal'. Answers to questions arising from requests for redress after a procedural error by the race committee.

Rule 69, Allegations of Gross Misconduct
CASE 67

When a boat is racing and meets a vessel that is not, both are bound by the government right-of-way rules applicable to the area concerned. When, under these rules, the boat racing is the keep-clear boat and intentionally hits the other, she may be penalized for gross misconduct.

Rule 69.1, Action by a Protest Committee
CASE 34

Hindering another boat may be a breach of rule 2 and the basis for granting redress and for action under rule 69.1.

CASE 65
When a boat knows that she has broken the Black Flag rule, she is obliged to retire promptly. When she does not do so and then deliberately hinders another boat in the race, she commits a gross breach of sportsmanship and, therefore, of rule 2.

Rule 70.1, Appeals; Confirmation or Correction of Decisions; Rule Interpretations
CASE 55

A boat has no right of appeal from a redress decision when she was not involved in the hearing. When she believes that her finishing place has been made significantly worse by the arrangement reached in that decision she must herself request redress. She may then appeal the decision of that hearing.

CASE 104
Attempting to distinguish between facts and conclusions in a protest committee's findings is sometimes unsatisfactory because findings may be based partially on fact and partially on a conclusion. A national authority can change a protest committee’s decision and any other findings that involve reasoning or judgment, but not its findings of fact. A national authority may derive additional facts by logical deduction. Neither written facts nor diagrammed facts take precedence over the other. Protest committees must resolve conflicts between facts when so required by a national authority.

Rule 71.4, Appeal Decisions
CASE 61

When the decision of a protest committee is reversed upon appeal, the final standings and the awards must be adjusted accordingly.

PART 6 - ENTRY AND QUALIFICATION

Rule 78.3, Compliance with Class Rules; Certificates
CASE 57

The measurer referred to in rule 78.3 must be officially appointed for the race or series; it is not open to an outside measurer to lodge a report within the terms of that rule. An in-date, duly authenticated certificate, presented in good faith, by an owner who has complied with the requirements of rule 78.1, cannot be retrospectively invalidated after a race or series is completed.

PART 7 - RACE ORGANIZATION

Rule 85, Governing Rules
CASE 44

A boat may not protest a race committee for breaking a rule. However, she may request redress, and is entitled to it when she establishes that, through no fault of her own, an improper act or omission of the race committee made her finishing position significantly worse.

CASE 66
A race committee may not change, or refuse to implement, the decision of a protest committee, including a decision based on a report from an authority qualified to resolve questions of measurement.

Rule 86.1(c), Rule Changes
CASE 85

Class rules may not change a racing rule unless rule 86.1(c) permits the change.

Rule 87 Changes to national authority prescriptions

CASE 98
The rules listed in the definition Rule apply to races governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing whether or not the notice of race or sailing instructions explicitly state that they apply.However, a sailing instruction, provided it is consistent with any prescription to rule 87, may change or delete some or all of the prescriptions of the national authority. When a boat races under a handicapping or rating system, the rules of that system apply, and some or all of her class rules may apply as well. Generally, neither the notice of race nor the sailing instructions may change class rules. When the notice of race conflicts with the sailing instructions, neither takes precedence.

Rule 89.2(c), Sailing Instructions
CASE 32

A competitor is entitled to look exclusively to written sailing instructions and to any written amendments for all details relating to sailing the course.

APPENDIX J – NOTICE OF RACE AND SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

Rule J1.2(8) Notice of Race Contents

CASE 98
The rules listed in the definition Rule apply to races governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing whether or not the notice of race or sailing instructions explicitly state that they apply.However, a sailing instruction, provided it is consistent with any prescription to rule 87, may change or delete some or all of the prescriptions of the national authority. When a boat races under a handicapping or rating system, the rules of that system apply, and some or all of her class rules may apply as well. Generally, neither the notice of race nor the sailing instructions may change class rules. When the notice of race conflicts with the sailing instructions, neither takes precedence.

Rule J2.2(7) Sailing Instruction Contents

CASE 98
The rules listed in the definition Rule apply to races governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing whether or not the notice of race or sailing instructions explicitly state that they apply.However, a sailing instruction, provided it is consistent with any prescription to rule 87, may change or delete some or all of the prescriptions of the national authority. When a boat races under a handicapping or rating system, the rules of that system apply, and some or all of her class rules may apply as well. Generally, neither the notice of race nor the sailing instructions may change class rules. When the notice of race conflicts with the sailing instructions, neither takes precedence.

APPENDIX F– APPEALS PROCEDURES

CASE 104
Attempting to distinguish between facts and conclusions in a protest committee's findings is sometimes unsatisfactory because findings may be based partially on fact and partially on a conclusion. A national authority can change a protest committee’s decision and any other findings that involve reasoning or judgment, but not its findings of fact. A national authority may derive additional facts by logical deduction. Neither written facts nor diagrammed facts take precedence over the other. Protest committees must resolve conflicts between facts when so required by a national authority.

DEFINITIONS

Clear Astern and Clear Ahead: Overlap
CASE 12

In determining the right to room at a mark, it is irrelevant that boats are on widely differing courses, provided that an overlap exists at the relevant time.

CASE 91
A boat required to keep clear must keep clear of another boat’s equipment out of its normal position when the equipment has been out of its normal position long enough for the equipment to have been seen.

Finish

CASE 45
When a boat fails to finish correctly because of a race committee error, but none of the boats racing gains or loses as a result, an appropriate and fair form of redress is to score all the boats in the order they crossed the finishing line.

CASE 58
If a buoy or other object specified in the sailing instructions as a finishing-line limit mark is on the post-finish side of the finishing line, it is not a mark.

CASE 82
When a finishing line is laid so nearly in line with the last leg that it cannot be determined which is the correct way to cross it in order to finish according to the definition, boats are eligible for redress, and either direction is acceptable.

Keep Clear

CASE 30
A boat clear astern that is required to keep clear but collides with the boat clear ahead breaks the right-of-way rule that was applicable before the collision occurs. A boat that loses right of way by unintentionally changing tack is nevertheless required to keep clear.

CASE 50
When a protest committee finds that in a port-starboard incident S did not change course and that there was not a genuine and reasonable apprehension of collision on the part of S, it should dismiss her protest. When the committee finds that S did change course and that there was reasonable doubt that P could have crossed ahead of S if S had not changed course, then P should be disqualified.

CASE 60
When a right-of-way boat changes course in such a way that a keep-clear boat, despite having taken avoiding action promptly, cannot keep clear in a seamanlike way, the right-of-way boat breaks rule 16.

CASE 77
Contact with a mark by a boat's equipment constitutes touching it. A boat obligated to keep clear does not break a rule when touched by a right-of-way boat's equipment that moves out of normal position.

CASE 87
A right-of-way boat need not anticipate that the other boat will not keep clear.

CASE 88
A boat may avoid contact and yet fail to keep clear.

CASE 91
A boat required to keep clear must keep clear of another boat’s equipment out of its normal position when the equipment has been out of its normal position long enough for the equipment to have been seen.

CASE 93
If two boats were on opposite tacks, rule 18.3 begins to apply when one of them completes a tack within the two-length zone. When rule 18.3(b) applies, and therefore rule 15 does not, a leeward boat is nevertheless subject to rule 16.1 if she changes course.

Mark
CASE 58

If a buoy or other object specified in the sailing instructions as a finishing-line limit mark is on the post-finish side of the finishing line, it is not a mark.

Obstruction
CASE 10

When two boats make contact, both may be exonerated when a third boat that broke a rule caused the incident.

CASE 23
On a run, rule 18 does not apply to a starboard-tack boat overtaking two port-tack boats ahead of her. Rule 10 requires both port-tack boats to keep clear.

CASE 29
When a leeward boat is a continuing obstruction to an overlapped windward boat and a third boat clear astern, the boat clear astern may sail between the two overlapped boats if there is room, as defined, to do so.

CASE 41
If an obstruction can be passed on either side by two overlapped boats, the right-of-way boat, if she chooses to pass it to leeward, must give room to the other. If the right-of-way boat chooses to pass it to windward, she is entitled to room to do so, and the other boat must keep clear. There is no obligation to hail for room at a mark or obstruction.

Party
CASE 55

A boat has no right of appeal from a redress decision when she was not involved in the hearing. When she believes that her finishing place has been made significantly worse by the arrangement reached in that decision she must herself request redress. She may then appeal the decision of that hearing.

Proper Course
CASE 14

When, owing to a difference of opinion about a leeward boat's proper course, two boats on the same tack converge, the windward boat must keep clear. There can be more than one proper course.

CASE 46
A leeward boat is entitled to sail up to her proper course, even when she has established a leeward overlap from clear astern.

CASE 86
When rules 18.2(a) and 18.4 apply at a leeward mark, an outside windward boat must keep sufficiently clear of the leeward boat that the leeward boat is able to sail her proper course while passing the mark.

Racing
CASE 68

The failure of a race committee to discover that a rating certificate is invalid does not entitle a boat to redress. A boat that may have broken a rule and that continues to race retains her rights under the rules of Part 2 and her right to protest or appeal, even if she is later disqualified.

Room
CASE 16

When a boat clear astern overtakes two overlapping boats clear ahead, she may intervene between them only if there is room to pass between them.

CASE 21
The extent of the room that an outside right-of-way boat must give at a mark or obstruction depends on the existing conditions.

CASE 60
When a right-of-way boat changes course in such a way that a keep-clear boat, despite having taken avoiding action promptly, cannot keep clear in a seamanlike way, the right-of-way boat breaks rule 16.

CASE 70
A boat entitled to room under rule 18 is relieved of her obligations under rule 11 only to the extent that rule 18 explicitly provides rights in conflict with rule 11 and only when room as defined is being denied her.

CASE 93
If two boats were on opposite tacks, rule 18.3 begins to apply when one of them completes a tack within the two-length zone. When rule 18.3(b) applies, and therefore rule 15 does not, a leeward boat is nevertheless subject to rule 16.1 if she changes course.

CASE 103
The phrase ‘seamanlike way’ in the definition Room refers to boat-handling that can reasonably be expected from a competent, but not expert, crew of the appropriate number for the boat.

Rule
CASE 85

Class rules may not change a racing rule unless rule 86.1(c) permits the change.

CASE 98
The rules listed in the definition Rule apply to races governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing whether or not the notice of race or sailing instructions explicitly state that they apply.However, a sailing instruction, provided it is consistent with any prescription to rule 87, may change or delete some or all of the prescriptions of the national authority. When a boat races under a handicapping or rating system, the rules of that system apply, and some or all of her class rules may apply as well. Generally, neither the notice of race nor the sailing instructions may change class rules. When the notice of race conflicts with the sailing instructions, neither takes precedence.

Start

CASE 28
When one boat breaks a rule and in so doing causes another to touch a mark, the other boat is to be exonerated. The fact that a starting mark has shifted, for whatever reason, does not exempt a boat from the requirement to start as defined. A race committee may abandon under rule 32.1(d) only when the mark has moved a significant distance.

RACE SIGNALS
X

CASE 31
When the correct visual recall signal for individual recall is made but the required sound signal is not, and when a recalled boat in a position to hear a sound signal does not see the visual signal and does not return, she is entitled to redress. However, if she realizes she is over the line she must return and start correctly.

INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA

CASE 38
The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (IRPCAS) are intended to ensure the safety of vessels at sea by precluding situations that might lead to collisions. They effectively prohibit a right-of-way boat from changing course when she is close to a boat obligated to keep clear.

CASE 109
The IRPCAS or government right-of-way rules apply between boats that are racing only if the sailing instructions say so, and in that case all of the Part 2 rules are replaced. An IRPCAS or government rule may be made to apply by including it in the sailing instructions or in another document governing the event. A boat may protest another boat for a breach of the IRPCAS or government right-of-way rules, but not if the incident is one in which a boat sailing under the Part 2 rules meets a vessel that is not.