The World Sailing website has a terrific array of information available that will not only help race officials play their role, but also sailors understand the rules. Race Management Policies for fleet, team and match racing are available which can be used as an excellent guide by any club in Australia.

Each type of Race Official will find useful documents including guides to equipment inspection, umpired fleet racing, recording race committee GPS positions and rule 42 interpretations. Any sailor or coach involved in fleets such as the Sabot or Optimist, or the ILCA or 420, could take advantage of the rule 42 interpretations there as well.

There is an excellent Q&A service, not dissimilar to Australian Sailing’s Rules Specialist Group Opinions here. These are not definitive interpretations of the rule, but helpful responses to questions from the sport. For example, in November 2022 a question was asked about modified trapeze harnesses. The Q&A answer was “It depends.” It is well worth reading these.

The definitive interpretations, helpful to Race Officials, sailors and coaches alike, are the Case and Call Books. Every case tries to clarify an important meaning of a rule or increase the understanding of a complex rule. The Call Books are specifically about Match or Team Racing, and help umpires, judges and competitors understand how incidents will be decided on the water.

There is so much available we could not list it all here. Race Officials accredited by Australian Sailing should periodically check the World Sailing website for new information or resources, and sailors should check out some of the information that will help with them with the rules.

World Sailing’s Resource Centre is here.
Australian Sailing’s Rules Hub is here.

By Glen Stanaway