New rules

The postponement of the Olympic regatta this year means that competitors at next years’ regatta will be sailing to the new rules: fortunately for them, as well as for those of us sailing at home, few changes affect the rules as we apply them in practice.

However, there are many rule number changes, and things have moved around a little. In this feature,

I’ll take a look at the significant changes to the main body of the rules that apply to dinghies and crewed keelboats in fleet racing situations, and also a general look at the structure to help you to find your way around the latest rule book.

The rules are available to view and download from the World Sailing website: www.sailing.org, and the printed version, complete with RYA prescriptions, will be available from the RYA bookshop in December. I’d highly recommend the integrated e-book. This enables you to click on a defined term to get to the relevant definition instantly, and also cross references the rules to the casebook. What is the casebook? It’s a compendium of interesting cases, that are published to clarify the meaning of the rules in question, for the future.

Introduction

The introduction explains the structure of the