Section D — Team Racing Rules

• (a) The format of an event consists of one or more stages.
• (b) In a round-robin stage, teams are divided into one or more groups, and each group is scheduled to sail one or more round-robins.
• (c) A round-robin consists of each team in a group sailing one race against each other team in that group.
• (d) A knockout stage consists of one or more rounds in which each team sails one match. A match is one or more races between two teams.

• (a) The notice of race or sailing instructions shall state the format and stages of the event, and any special scoring rules.
• (b) In order to conclude an event, the race committee may change or terminate any part of the format at any reasonable time taking into account the entries, weather, time constraints and other relevant factors.

• (a) Teams in a round-robin group shall be ranked in order of number of race wins, highest first. If the teams have not completed an equal number of races, they shall be ranked in order of the percentage of races won, highest first.
• (b) However, if a round-robin is terminated when fewer than 80% of its scheduled races have been completed, its race results shall not be included, but shall be used to break ties between teams in the group who all sailed each other in the terminated round-robin.
• (c) Results from a previous round-robin stage shall only be carried forward if stated in the notice of race or sailing instructions.

Ties in a round-robin stage shall be broken using results from that stage only.

• (a) If the tied teams have all sailed each other at least once in the stage, the tie shall be broken in the order below.
  (1) Percentage of races won in all races between the tied teams, highest first;
  (2) Average points per race in all races between the tied teams, lowest first;
  (3) If two teams remain tied, the winner of the last race between them;
  (4) Average points per race in all races against common opponents, lowest first;
  (5) A sail-off if possible, otherwise a game of chance.
• (b) Otherwise, the tie shall be broken using only steps (4) and (5) above.
• (c) When a tie is partially broken by one of the above, the remaining tie shall be broken in accordance with D4.4(a) or (b) as appropriate.

• (a) A round shall not be scored unless at least one race has been completed in each match in that round. The final and petit-final are separate rounds.
• (b) The winner of a match shall be the first team to score the number of race wins stated in the notice of race or sailing instructions. If a match is terminated, the winner shall be the team with the higher number of race wins in that match or, if this is a tie, the team that won the last race of the match.
• (c) (1) Teams that win in a round shall be ranked ahead of those that lose.
  (2) Teams that lose in a round and do not sail again shall be equally ranked.
  (3) In a round that is not scored, teams shall be ranked in order of their places in the previous stage of the event, with teams from different groups ranked separately.