Protest Room logoProtest Room
RulesCasesAsk AI
Auth not available
  • Rules Explorer
  • Case Book
  • AI Judge
New protest
  1. Home/
  2. Rules/
  3. Rule C3.1

Part appendices

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.

C3.1

Starting Signals

The signals for starting a match shall be as follows. Times shall be taken from the visual signals; the failure of a sound signal shall be disregarded. If more than one match will be sailed, the starting signal for one match shall be the warning signal for the next match.

Time in minutesVisual signalSound signalMeans
7Flag F displayedOneAttention signal
6Flag F removedNone
5Numeral pennant displayed*OneWarning signal
4Flag P displayedOnePreparatory signal
2Blue or yellow flag or both displayed**One**End of pre-start entry time
1Flag P removedOne long
0Warning signal removedOneStarting signal

*Within a flight, numeral pennant 1 means Match 1, pennant 2 means Match 2, etc., unless the sailing instructions state otherwise.

**These signals shall be made only if one or both boats fail to comply with rule C4.2. The flag(s) shall be displayed until the umpires have signalled a penalty or for one minute, whichever is earlier.

Definitions in Context

Start

A boat starts when, her hull having been entirely on the pre-start side of the starting line at or after her starting signal, and having complied with rule 30.1 if it applies, any part of her hull crosses the starting line from the pre-start side to the course side.

Rule C3.2

- (a) Rule 29.1 is changed to: - (1) When at a boat’s starting signal any part of her hull is on the course side of the starting line or one of its extensions,...

© 2026 Protest Room. Open source and available under MIT License