APPENDIX B - WINDSURFING FLEET RACING RULES

Rule 13 is changed to:

After a board passes head to wind, she shall keep clear of other boards until her sail has filled. During that time rules 10, 11 and 12 do not apply. If two boards are subject to this rule at the same time, the one on the other’s port side or the one astern shall keep clear.

Rule 16.1 is changed to:

When a right-of-way board changes course or the position of her equipment, she shall give the other board room to keep clear.

Rule 17 is changed to:

When, at the warning signal, the course to the first mark is approximately ninety degrees from the true wind, a board overlapped to leeward of another board on the same tack during the last 30 seconds before her starting signal shall not sail above her shortest course through the starting line to the first mark while they remain overlapped if as a result the other board would need to take action to avoid contact, unless in doing so she promptly sails astern of the other board.

The first sentence of rule 18.1(a) is changed to:

Rule 18 applies between boards when they are required to leave a mark on the same side and at least one of them is rounding or passing it.

Rule 18.2(a) is changed to:

• (a) When the first of two boards is rounding or passing the mark,
  • (1) if the boards are overlapped, the outside board shall give the inside board mark-room;
  • (2) if the boards are not overlapped, the board clear astern at that moment shall give the other board mark-room.

When a board is required to give mark-room by rule 18.2(a), she shall continue to do so for as long as this rule applies, even if later an overlap is broken or a new overlap begins.

Rule 18.2(b) is changed to:

• (b) Rule 18.2(a) no longer applies if the board entitled to mark-room passes head to wind.

Rule 18.3 is deleted.

Rule 18.4 is changed to:

When an inside overlapped right-of-way board must gybe or bear away at a mark to sail her proper course, until she gybes or bears away she shall sail no farther from the mark than needed to sail that course. Rule 18.4 does not apply at a gate mark.

Rule 22 is changed to:

22.1 If possible, a board shall avoid a board that is capsized or has not regained control after capsizing, is aground, or is trying to help a person or vessel in danger.

22.2 If possible, a board that is capsized or aground shall not interfere with another board.

Add new rule 23.3:

23.3 In the last minute before her starting signal, a board shall have her sail out of the water and in a normal position, except when accidentally capsized.

Rule 26 is changed to:

26.1 System 1 (for Upwind Starts)

Races shall be started by using the following signals. Times shall be taken from the visual signals; the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded.

*or as stated in the notice of race or sailing instructions

The warning signal for each succeeding class shall be made with or after the starting signal of the preceding class.

26.2 System 2 (for Reaching Starts)

Races shall be started by using the following signals. Times shall be taken from the visual signals; the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded.

26.3 System 3 (for Beach Starts)

• (a) When the starting line is on the beach, or so close to the beach that the competitor must stand in the water to start, the start is a beach start.
• (b) The starting stations shall be numbered so that station 1 is the most windward one. Unless the sailing instructions specify some other system, a board’s starting station shall be determined
  • (1) by ranking (the highest ranking board on station 1, the next highest on station 2, and so on), or
  • (2) by draw.
• (c) After boards have been called to take their positions, the race committee shall make the preparatory signal by displaying a red flag with one sound. The starting signal shall be made, at any time after the preparatory signal, by removing the red flag with one sound.
• (d) After the starting signal each board shall take the shortest route from her starting station to the water and then to her sailing position without interfering with other boards. Part 2 rules will apply when both of the competitor’s feet are on the board.

Rule 30.2 is deleted.

Rule 31 is changed to:

A board may touch a mark but shall not hold on to it.

Rule 42 is changed to:

A board shall be propelled only by the action of the wind on the sail and by the action of the water on the hull or its appendages. However, pumping and fanning the sail is permitted. The board shall not be propelled by paddling, swimming or walking.

Rule 44 is changed to:

44.1 Taking a Penalty

A board may take a 360°-Turn Penalty when she may have broken one or more rules of Part 2 in an incident while racing. Alternatively, the notice of race or sailing instructions may specify the use of some other penalty, in which case the specified penalty shall replace the 360°-Turn Penalty. However, if the board caused injury or serious damage or, despite taking a penalty, gained a significant advantage in the race or series by her breach, her penalty shall be to retire.

44.2 360°-Turn Penalty

After getting well clear of other boards as soon after the incident as possible, a board takes a 360°-Turn Penalty by promptly making a 360° turn with no requirement for a tack or a gybe. When a board takes the penalty at or near the finishing line, her hull shall be completely on the course side of the line before she finishes.

Rule 50.1(a) is changed to:

• (a) Competitors shall not wear or carry clothing or equipment for the purpose of increasing their weight. However, a competitor may wear a drinking container that shall have a capacity of no more than 1.5 litres.

Rules 45, 48.2, 49, 50.1(c), 50.2, 51, 52, 54, 55 and 56.1 are deleted.

Rule 60.2(a)(1) is changed to:

• (1) If the protestor is a board, she shall hail ‘Protest’ at the first reasonable opportunity. She shall also inform the race committee of her intention to protest as soon as practicable after she finishes or retires.

Add to rule 60.3(a):

This rule does not apply to a race in an elimination series that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event.

In rule 60.4(a)(2), delete ‘or did not see’.

In rule 61.4(b)(2) and 61.4(b)(3), change ‘injury or physical damage’ to ‘injury, physical damage or capsize’.

Add to rule 63.4:

However, for an elimination series race that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event, protests and requests for redress need not be in writing; they shall be made orally to a member of the protest committee as soon as reasonably possible following the race. The protest committee may take evidence in any way it considers appropriate and may communicate its decision orally.

Rule 63.5(d) is changed to:

• (d) If the protest committee is in doubt about a matter concerning the measurement of a board, the meaning of a class rule, or damage to a board, it shall refer its questions, together with the relevant facts, to an authority responsible for interpreting the rule. In making its decision, the committee is bound by the authority’s reply.

Add to rule 63.6(b):

This rule does not apply to a race in an elimination series that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event.

Rule 70.3(b) is changed to:

• (b) that are essential to promptly determine the result of a race that will qualify a board to compete in a subsequent event (a national authority may prescribe that its permission is required for such a procedure);

Add new rule 70.3(e):

• (e) made in an elimination series that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event.

Add to rule 78.1: ‘When so prescribed by World Sailing, a numbered and dated device on a board and her centreboard, fin and rig shall serve as her measurement certificate.’

The last sentence of rule 90.2(c) is changed to: ‘Oral instructions may be given only if the procedure is stated in the sailing instructions.’

Rule A1 is changed to:

The number of races scheduled and the number required to be scored to constitute a series shall be stated in the notice of race or sailing instructions; see rule 90.3(a). If an event includes more than one discipline or format, the notice of race or sailing instructions shall state how the overall scores are to be calculated.

Rule A2.1 is changed to:

Each board’s series score shall, subject to rule 90.3(b), be the total of her race scores excluding her

• (a) worst score when from 5 to 11 races have been scored, or
• (b) two worst scores when 12 or more races have been scored (see rule 90.3(a)).

However, the notice of race or sailing instructions may make a different arrangement. If a board has two or more equal worst scores, the score(s) for the race(s) sailed earliest in the series shall be excluded. The board with the lowest series score wins and others shall be ranked accordingly.

Add new rule A5.4:

A5.4 For an elimination series race that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event, a board that did not sail the course, retired or was disqualified shall be scored points equal to the number of boards permitted to sail in that race.

Rule A8 is changed to:

A8.1 If there is a series-score tie between two or more boards, each board’s excluded race scores shall be listed in order of best to worst, and at the first point(s) where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favour of the board(s) with the best excluded race score(s).

A8.2 If a tie remains between two or more boards, each board’s race scores, including excluded scores, shall be listed in order of best to worst, and at the first point(s) where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favour of the board(s) with the best score(s). These scores shall be used even if some of them are excluded scores.

A8.3 If a tie still remains between two or more boards, they shall be ranked in order of their scores in the last race. Any remaining ties shall be broken by using the tied boards’ scores in the next-to-last race and so on until all ties are broken. These scores shall be used even if some of them are excluded scores.

Rule G1.3 is changed to:

The class insignia shall be displayed once on each side of the sail in the area above a line projected at right angles from a point on the luff of the sail one-third of the distance from the head to the wishbone. The national letters and sail numbers shall be in the central third of that part of the sail above the wishbone, clearly separated from any advertising. They shall be black and applied back to back on an opaque white background. The background shall extend a minimum of 30 mm beyond the characters. There shall be a ‘–’ between the national letters and the sail number, and the spacing between characters shall be adequate for legibility.