Rule C7.2: All Penalties

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.

C7.2

All Penalties

(a) A penalized boat may delay taking a penalty within the limitations of rule C7.3 and shall take it as follows:
- (1) When on a leg of the course to a windward mark, she shall gybe and, as soon as reasonably possible, luff to a close-hauled course.
- (2) When on a leg of the course to a leeward mark or the finishing line, she shall tack and, as soon as reasonably possible, bear away to a course that is more than ninety degrees from the true wind.
(b) Add to rule 2: ‘When racing, a boat need not take a penalty unless signalled to do so by an umpire.’
(c) A boat completes a leg of the course when any part of her hull crosses the extension of the line from the previous mark through the mark she is rounding, or on the last leg when she finishes.
(d) A penalized boat shall not be recorded as having finished until she takes her penalty and her hull is completely on the course side of the line and she then finishes, unless the penalty is cancelled before or after she crosses the finishing line.
(e) If a boat has one or two outstanding penalties and the other boat in her match is penalized, one penalty for each boat shall be cancelled except that a red-flag penalty shall not cancel or be cancelled by another penalty.
(f) If one boat has finished and is no longer racing, and the other boat has an outstanding penalty, the umpires may cancel the outstanding penalty.

Definitions in Context

Finish

A boat finishes when, after her starting signal, any part of her hull crosses the finishing line from the course side. However, she has not finished if after crossing the finishing line she

(a) takes a penalty under rule 44.2,
(b) corrects an error in sailing the course made at the line, or
(c) continues to sail the course.

After finishing she need not cross the finishing line completely. The sailing instructions may change the direction in which boats are required to cross the finishing line to finish.

Leeward and Windward

A boat’s leeward side is the side that is or, when she is head to wind, was away from the wind. However, when sailing by the lee or directly downwind, her leeward side is the side on which her mainsail lies. The other side is her windward side. When two boats on the same tack overlap, the one on the leeward side of the other is the leeward boat. The other is the windward boat.

Mark

An object the sailing instructions require a boat to leave on a specified side, a race committee vessel surrounded by navigable water from which the starting or finishing line extends, and an object intentionally attached to the object or vessel. However, an anchor line is not part of the mark.

Racing

A boat is racing from her preparatory signal until she finishes and clears the finishing line and marks or retires, or until the race committee signals a general recall, postponement or abandonment.