Racing Rules

The Racing Rules of Sailing are updated and published by the International Sailing Federation (ISF) every four years. The most recent edition, good from 2005-2008, can be found on the ISF website, which is broken down into manageable section for easy downloading. If you have a fast Internet connection, you can download the rule book here (note: this is a large file that may take some time to download).

In addition to the Racing Rules of Sailing, many one-design classes maintain rules specific to that class of boats. For example, the Sunfish Class has rules that govern Sunfish racing. These rules supplement the Racing Rules of Sailing, and generally cover the boats themselves, rather than issues like right-of-way. For example, the Sunfish rules outline very specifically what alterations you can make to your Sunfish and still be legal for racing. In most regattas for one-design boats, skippers will be required to adhere to BOTH sets of rules.

If you would like to test your knowledge of the racing rules, or learn how to interpret and apply the rules, HK Halsey Sailmakers has a great tool that will show you an animation of a racing scenario and then let you make the ruling, afterwhich you can see what the ruling should have been. Even non-racers may find this interesting. You have to register to use the tool, but there is no obligation and it is worth it.