The new rules attempt to clean up areas of confusion in the rules. The section on rounding marks has been completely rewritten which makes the changes confusing when you initially read them. Fortunately, little has actually changed. Download the new rules "showing changes" via the More Links section in the left navigation area.
At Marks:
Terminology change: "Room at the mark" has been changed to "mark-room."
The "about to round the mark" which was typically interpreted via the older "2-boat length zone" rule has been changed and effectively enlarged. The zone is now 3-boat lengths. This is good because so many boats are now faster (as we've known for a long time!).
Conceptual Change for Mark Rounding Rules
The old mark rounding rules shut off the basic right of way rules when "about to round the mark" in favor of the mark rounding rules. The new rules don't shut off the basic right of way rules at the marks Instead, the new mark rounding rules add rules to help the basic right-of-way rules when rounding marks. I think the new approach is better but it results in a couple of situations where the right-of-way boat at a mark gets "exonerated" for breaking a basic right-of-way rule while rounding the mark. The tactical situation at marks remains virtually identical to the old rules except for the "Game Changer" below.
The Biggest "Game Change" in the New Rules
Rule 18.4 (gybing at a leeward mark) does not apply at a gate mark. This may be the biggest "game change" in the new rules. When a leeward "gate" is being used, rule 18.4 does not apply (see rule 18.4). That means that when a boat is approaching a gate mark on the inside with right of way over other boats (and assuming that rule 17 does not apply; i.e., she did not become overlapped from clear astern which would require her to not sail above her proper course), she does not need to gybe to sail her proper course around that mark for as long as she remains the right-of-way boat. She may sail farther from the mark than needed to sail her proper course, even if she has no intention of sailing over to the other gate mark. She might do this because she is having difficulty lowering her spinnaker, or because she wants to push the outside boat outside of the zone or over to the other mark. Outside keep-clear boats will need to keep clear of her under rules 10 (port/starboard) or 11 (windward/leeward). The take-away here is, more than ever, outside boats should not have their bows "locked" outside of boats they are giving room to or keeping clear of at marks.
Other Rules Changes:
No More Proper Course (excerpt from Scuttlebutt 2755)
On January 1, 2009, the new edition of The Racing Rules of Sailing go into effect. Dave Perry, Chairman of the US SAILING Appeals Committee, explains some of the game changes that the new rules will create:
* Rule 17.2 (On the Same Tack; Proper Course) has been deleted. This means that a windward boat or a boat clear ahead no longer has a proper course limitation when sailing near other boats. She can sail below her proper course if she wishes, for instance to make it more difficult for a boat astern to pass or establish an inside overlap nearing a mark. Windward boats must still keep clear of leeward boats under rule 11 (On the Same Tack, Overlapped).
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