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Simplified Racing Rules
Racing Lasers doesn’t have to be complex at the beginning, and neither do the racing rules. I suggest you attempt to learn them slowly. Many of them are very similar to basic rules of the road that will keep you safe when you’re around other sailboats, whether you're racing or not.
At Quannapowitt Yacht Club (QYC) we have two days of racing per week – Sundays is the formal race day and on Wednesdays we hold the more casual evening races. Most clubs do something similar and it gives you an opportunity to “play around” without getting yourself in over your head. Once you have even a bit of an idea what’s happening you will be welcome to play in the more formal racing.
What rules do you need to sail near other boats? Try these four:
Starboard (right side) tack has the right of way, whether you’re racing or not. When you’re on starboard tack the boom is on the port (left) side of the boat. Perhaps even more important is to know that port tack boats must “keep clear.”
If you’re on the same tack, the boat that is clearly ahead has the right of way. Therefore, the boat behind must keep clear. “Clear ahead” means no overlap with any part of the boat behind.
The leeward (more downwind) boat has the right of way, whether you’re racing or not, and the windward boat must keep clear. If you’re close to a boat to leeward, start moving away to get a little distance between you so you have time to react if they change course (they must give you only a brief time to respond.)
You can never hit another boat even if you have the right of way, whether you’re racing or not. This means you have to be looking all around you all of the time. “The sail was in my way” isn’t an excuse.
That’s almost enough to get you started. The only problem comes at a turning mark. All you really have to remember is that most boats that are between you and the mark have a right to sail around the mark without you hitting them or their sail.
Marks present a problem to most beginning racers because everyone has to sail in the same small patch of water. You need to be able to control your boat; if you can’t, practice sailing a course and rounding marks.
To keep things a bit less chaotic at marks you need to remember that there is a zone (an imaginary circle) around the mark that starts three of your boat lengths away from it. At the beginning just remember to never tack while you’re inside the zone and to give anyone between you and the mark room until you learn differently. One way to handle marks, if you have people around you, is to sail a bigger circle than anyone else; as you get more comfortable, make your mark rounding tighter.
What if you make a mistake? You have two options, (1) you can get out of everyone’s way and sail your boat in a circle or two (clubs prescribe either a “360” or a “720”) and then keep racing, or (2) you can quite and sail off the course. Try the circles, but watch your head.
There is more to learn, but if you’re not too aggressive I wouldn’t be afraid to play around the edges of a race with these basics. At the start hang back a bit and follow the other boats across the line until you get a little experience and learn a few more rules.
One game I used to play as a beginner was to see if I could catch any of the boats I allowed to start ahead of me. Because they were ahead of me it was easier to see how they had trimmed their sails, how much they moved their rudder and how flat they kept their boat, etc. At marks watch how they sail around it.
As you sail the course and keep an eye on other boats, you will come up with a set of questions. At QYC one of the best resources is the other sailors. Between races we discuss situations that occurred, answer questions and we help beginners learn the fundamental rules.
Very quickly you will want to expand your knowledge and there are great tools to help. Try Dave Perry’s book, Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing. It will walk you through all the rules and give lots of examples. Just be sure you get the one that covers the 2009 to 2012 rules. Every Olympic year the rules are tweaked and you don’t want to put any effort into learning the old rules.
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