Racing Rules of Sailing

Section C — Match Racing Rules

Match races shall be sailed under The Racing Rules of Sailing as changed by this appendix. Matches shall be umpired unless the notice of race or sailing instructions state otherwise.

Note: A Standard Notice of Race, Standard Sailing Instructions, and Match Racing Rules for Visually Impaired Sailors are available on the World Sailing website.

C11

TIES

C11.1: Round-Robin Series

In a round-robin series competitors are assigned to one or more groups and scheduled to sail against all other competitors in their group one or more times. Each separate stage identified in the event format shall be a separate round-robin series irrespective of the number of times each competitor sails against each other competitor in that stage.

Ties between two or more competitors in a round-robin series shall be broken by the following methods, in order, until all ties are broken. When one or more ties are only partially broken, rules C11.1(a) to C11.1(e) shall be re-applied to them. Ties shall be decided in favour of the competitor(s) who

(a) placed in order, has the highest score in the matches between the tied competitors;
(b) when the tie is between two competitors in a multiple round robin, has won the last match between the two competitors;
(c) has the most points against the competitor placed highest in the round-robin series or, if necessary, second highest, and so on until the tie is broken. When two separate ties have to be resolved but the resolution of each depends upon resolving the other, the following principles shall be used in the rule C11.1(c) procedure:
- (1) the higher-place tie shall be resolved before the lower-place tie, and
- (2) all the competitors in the lower-place tie shall be treated as a single competitor for the purposes of rule C11.1(c);
(d) after applying rule C10.5(c), has the highest place in the different groups, irrespective of the number of competitors in each group;
(e) has the highest place in the most recent stage of the event (fleet race, round robin, etc.).

C11.2: Knockout Series

Ties (including 0–0) between competitors in a knockout series shall be broken by the following methods, in order, until the tie is broken. The tie shall be decided in favour of the competitor who

(a) has the highest place in the most recent round-robin series, applying rule C11.1 if necessary;
(b) has won the most recent match in the event between the tied competitors.

C11.3: Remaining Ties

When rule C11.1 or C11.2 does not resolve a tie,

(a) if the tie needs to be resolved for a later stage of the event (or another event for which the event is a direct qualifier), the tie shall be broken by a sail-off when practicable. When the race committee decides that a sail-off is not practicable, the tie shall be decided in favour of the competitor who has the highest score in the round-robin series after eliminating the score for the first race for each tied competitor or, should this fail to break the tie, the second race for each tied competitor and so on until the tie is broken. When a tie is partially resolved, the remaining tie shall be broken by reapplying rule C11.1 or C11.2.
(b) to decide the winner of an event that is not a direct qualifier for another event, or the overall position between competitors eliminated in one round of a knockout series, a sail-off may be used (but not a draw).
(c) when a tie is not broken any monetary prizes or ranking points for tied places shall be added together and divided equally among the tied competitors.

Definitions in Context

Committee

The protest committee, the race committee or the technical committee.

Rule

(a) The rules in this book, including the Definitions, Race Signals, Introduction, preambles and the rules of relevant appendices, but not the Basic Principles or titles;
(b) World Sailing Regulations that have been designated by World Sailing as having the status of a rule and are published on the World Sailing website;
(c) the prescriptions of the national authority, unless they are changed by the notice of race or sailing instructions in compliance with the national authority’s prescription, if any, to rule 88.2;
(d) the class rules (for a boat racing under a handicap or rating system, the rules of that system are ‘class rules’);
(e) the notice of race;
(f) the sailing instructions; and
(g) any other documents that govern the event.