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1. Start Section Start show We’re starting! We’re starting! Section Start Main Menu

2. Start Section Start show We’re starting! Rule 45 – afloat and off moorings at the preparatory signal 45 HAULING OUT; MAKING FAST; ANCHORING A boat shall be afloat and off moorings at her preparatory signal. Thereafter, she shall not be hauled out or made fast except to bail out, reef sails or make repairs. She may anchor or the crew may stand on the bottom. She shall recover the anchor before continuing in the race unless she is unable to do so. Section Start Main Menu

3. Start Section Start show We’re starting! We’re the BLUE boat. We catch up with YELLOW, another sailing boat that is cruising, not going to race. Which rules apply between us (and who has to do what)? At sea, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (IRPCAS) apply. IRPCAS is normally similar to RRS, but not here – overtaking boat (BLUE) keeps out of the way. Section Menu Next Section Previous Page Next Page Main Menu

4. Start Section We’re starting! Start show As we approach the committee boat shortly before our warning signal, we meet RED, another boat that has finished her race and cleared the finishing marks. Which rules apply between us – IRPCAS or RRS? …and can we protest RED for getting in our way? Section Start Main Menu

5. Start Section Start show We’re starting! As we approach the committee boat shortly before our warning signal, we meet RED, another boat that has finished her race and cleared the finishing marks. Racing Rules of Sailing apply. A protest is technically possible, but boats are not racing, so no penalty is possible. Section Start Main Menu

6. Start Section Start show We’re starting! A few seconds after our warning signal – the class flag – YELLOW (also in our race) gets in our way. Which rules apply? Can we protest her? Section Start Main Menu

7. Start Section Start show We’re starting! A few seconds after our warning signal – the class flag – YELLOW (also in our race) gets in our way. Which rules apply? Can we protest her? Once again, the Racing Rules apply, but normally no penalty can result from a protest until an incident between two boats that are racing, which is after the preparatory signal. Section Start Main Menu

8. Start Section Start show We’re starting! What are the normal preparatory signals the race committee can decide to use? Section Start Main Menu

9. Start Section Start show We’re starting! What are the normal preparatory signals the race committee can decide to use? In this case, the preparatory signal is flag P. Here’s how it’s done Section Start Main Menu

10. Start Section Start show We’re starting! Our preparatory signal has been made. Is penalization possible if a boat now breaks a rule of Part 2 (rules 10 to 23, when boats meet)? And are there any Part 2 rules that do not yet apply? • In general, penalization is now possible since the boats are now racing, but the following rules do not apply until after the starting signal: • Rule 16.2, Changing Course. (Rule 16.1 already applies) • Rule 17, On the Same Tack; Proper Course • Rule 23.1, Interfering with another boat Section Start Main Menu

11. Start Section Start show We’re starting! It’s three minutes before our starting signal, we’re BLUE and we’re doing some practice starts. YELLOW comes in from windward. Do we have to give her room to pass the committee boat? YES, at this length of time from the starting signal. The committee boat is an obstruction Section Start Main Menu

12. Start Section Start show We’re starting! It’s 20 seconds to our starting signal, and we are approaching the starting line to start. Yellow comes in from windward. Is she entitled to room to pass the committee boat, which is surrounded by navigable water? NO. When an obstruction is also a mark, it is rule 18, Mark-Room that would apply, but no rule of Section C applies, rule 18 included, applies at this moment. Section Start Main Menu

13. Start Section We’re starting! Start show We in BLUE are behind the starting line at our starting signal, but there are many boats on the course side (OCS). The race committee cannot identify them most of them, and signals a general recall. How it’s done Section Start Main Menu

14. Start Section Start show We’re starting! The wind then dies completely. The race committee signals a postponement. There is little chance of racing for some time. The race committee sends the fleet ashore. How it’s done Section Start Main Menu

15. Start Section Start show We’re starting! Back ashore, the race committee signals a two-hour postponement. Two hours from when? How it’s done Section Start Main Menu

16. Start Section Start show We’re starting! Back ashore, the race committee signals a two hour postponement. Two hours from when? Two hours from the original scheduled start time. Any change of the length of postponement is also timed from the original scheduled starting time. Section Start Main Menu

17. Start Section Start show We’re starting! The wind picks up, and the fleet returns to the starting area in good time for the restart (flag P again). With a biased line, we start on port tack. This time, only one boat is OCS at the starting signal. The race committee makes the recall signal. How it’s done Section Start Main Menu

18. Start Section Start show We’re starting! The recalled boat turns back and heads straight for us, shouting ‘Starboard’. Who has right of way? Rule 21.1 applies because YELLOW is returning to start. BLUE has right of way, and it overrides rule 10 (port and starboard). 21.1 A boat sailing towards the pre-start side of the starting line or its extensions after her starting signalto start or tocomply with rule 30.1 shall keep clear of a boat not doing so until she is completely on the pre-start side. Section D preamble: When rule 21 or 22 applies between two boats, Section A rules do not. Section Start Main Menu

19. Start show We’re starting! Start Section Half way up the beat, the wind shifts 90 degrees. The race committee decides that the race is no longer fair, and signals abandonment of the race. How it’s done Section Start Main Menu

20. Start show We’re starting! Start Section We return to the starting area, and the course is reset on a fresh heading. This time, with time running out, the race committee uses the black flag as the preparatory. How it’s done Section Start Main Menu

21. Start show We’re starting! Start Section There is then another general recall! The race committee has the sail numbers of several boats that had crossed the starting line in the last minute. What happens next? Section Start Main Menu

22. Start Section Start show We’re starting! Finally, the race is started, with no boats OCS, and we beat towards the windward mark. In the process, we approach the shore and we need to tack, but we cannot do so because YELLOW is close on our heels and to windward. What can we do? Section Start Main Menu

23. Start Section Start show We’re starting! We hail YELLOW for room to tack (or ‘Water, please!’) Yellow tacks ASAP. Then we tack, also ASAP. Room to tack, please Section Start Main Menu

24. Start Section Start show We’re starting! Further up the coastline, we’ve tacked back in towards the shore, and once again we hail for room to tack. This time, YELLOW takes the other option open to her. You tack! Room to tack, please Section Start Main Menu

25. Start Section Start show We’re starting!Test your knowledge The preparatory signal is flag Z. Which one of the following is correct? • There is no penalty if a boat that is on the course side in the last minute has returned to the pre-course side at the starting signal. • There is no penalty for a boat OCS in the last minute if the race is then postponed. • There is no penalty for a boat OCS in the last minute if the race is abandoned after the starting signal and resailed. Section Start Main Menu

26. Start Section Start show We’re starting!Test your knowledge The preparatory signal is flag Z. Which one of the following is correct? • There is no penalty if a boat that is on the course side in the last minute has returned to the pre-course side at the starting signal. • There is no penalty for a boat OCS in the last minute if the race is then postponed. • There is no penalty for a boat OCS in the last minute if the race is abandoned after the starting signal and resailed. Section Start Main Menu

27. Start Section Start show We’re starting!Test your knowledge YELLOW crosses the finishing line and then touches the committee boat from which the finishing line extends. Which one is true? • YELLOW can take a penalty by gybing round the committee boat, then tacking and finishing. • YELLOW does not have to take a penalty, as she touched the mark after finishing. • YELLOW must return completely to the course side before starting a penalty turn. Section Start Main Menu

28. Start Section Start show We’re starting!Test your knowledge YELLOW crosses the finishing line and then touches the committee boat from which the finishing line extends. Which one is true? • YELLOW can take a penalty by gybing round the committeeboat, then tacking and finishing. • YELLOW does not have to take a penalty, as she touched the mark after finishing. • YELLOW must return completely to the course side before starting a penalty turn. Section Start Main Menu

29. Start Section Start show We’re starting!Test your knowledge • Which one of the following is correct? • When the race committee cannot identify every OCS boat, it must signal a general recall. • When the race committee cannot identify every OCS boat, it may signal a general recall. • A general recall can be used when boats are OCS, but not to stop the race when there has been an error in the starting procedure. Section Start Main Menu

30. Start Section Start show We’re starting!Test your knowledge • Which one of the following is correct? • When the race committee cannot identify every OCS boat, it must signal a general recall. • When the race committee cannot identify every OCS boat, it may signal a general recall. • A general recall can be used when boats are OCS, but not to stop the race when there has been an error in the starting procedure. Section Start Main Menu

31. GOING BY THE RULES What’s cooking?