Rules for the Racing Rules of Sailing

Internationally published journalist and writer Roger Vaughan, with 18 books to his credit, sees topics and captures them in words. His biographies of National Sailing Hall of Fame inductees Ted Turner and Harry Anderson, and Olympic medal making coach Victor Kovalenko, are legendary.

With the Racing Rules of Sailing as a popular topic to embrace and criticize, Vaughan offers this observation:

All sports have rules that govern play, but sailing is different. The rules that govern sailing are based on the rules that govern traffic on the water; rules designed to prevent collisions.

Racing sailboats is very aggressive traffic all trying to get to the same place before the other guy does. The Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) are akin to the rules of the highway. The boat on starboard tack is a stop sign. The overtaking boat must keep clear just as an overtaking car on the highway must. And so on…

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