APPENDIX B - WINDSURFING COMPETITION RULES

Windsurfing fleet races (including marathon races) shall be sailed under The Racing Rules of Sailing as changed by this appendix. The term ‘boat’ elsewhere in the rules means ‘board’ or ‘boat’ as appropriate. A marathon race is a race intended to last more than one hour. Note: Links to windsurfing rules for some other formats or
competitions can be found on the World Sailing website.

CHANGES TO THE DEFINITIONS
The definitions Mark-Room, and Tack, Starboard or Port are changed to:
Mark-Room
Mark-Room for a board is room to sail her proper course to round or pass the mark.

Tack, Starboard or Port
A board is on the tack, starboard or port, corresponding to the competitor’s hand that would be nearer the mast if the competitor were in normal sailing position with both hands on the wishbone and arms not crossed. A board is on starboard tack when the competitor’s right hand would be nearer the mast and is on port tack when the competitor’s left hand would be nearer the mast.

The definition Zone is deleted.

Add the following definitions:
Capsize
A board is capsized when she is not under control because her sail or the competitor is in the water.

Rounding or Passing
A board is rounding or passing a mark from the time her proper course is to begin to manoeuvre to round or pass it, until the mark has been rounded or passed.

B1 CHANGES TO THE RULES OF PART 1
[No changes.]

B2 CHANGES TO THE RULES OF PART 2

13 WHILE TACKING
Rule 13 is changed to:
After a board passes head to wind, she shall keep clear of other boards until her sail has filled. During that time rules 10, 11 and 12 do not apply. If two boards are subject to this rule at the same time, the one on the other’s port side or the one astern shall keep clear.

16.1 CHANGING COURSE OR POSITION OF EQUIPMENT
Rule 16.1 is changed to:
When a right-of-way board changes course or the position of her equipment, she shall give the other board room to keep clear.

17 ON THE SAME TACK BEFORE A REACHING START
Rule 17 is changed to:
When, at the warning signal, the course to the first mark is approximately ninety degrees from the true wind, a board overlapped to leeward of another board on the same tack during the last 30 seconds before her starting signal shall not sail above her shortest course through the starting line to the first mark while they remain overlapped if as a result the other board would need to take action to avoid contact, unless in doing so she promptly sails astern of the other board.

18 MARK-ROOM
18.1 When Rule 18 Applies
The first sentence of rule 18.1(a) is changed to:
Rule 18 applies between boards when they are required to leave a mark on the same side and at least one of them is rounding or passing it.

18.2 Giving Mark-Room
Rule 18.2(a) is changed to:
(a) When the first of two boards is rounding or passing the mark,
(1) if the boards are overlapped, the outside board shall give the inside board mark-room;
(2) if the boards are not overlapped, the board clear astern at that moment shall give the other board mark-room.
When a board is required to give mark-room by rule 18.2(a), she shall continue to do so for as long as this rule applies, even if later an overlap is broken or a new overlap begins.

Rule 18.2(b) is changed to:
(b) Rule 18.2(a) no longer applies if the board entitled to mark-room passes head to wind.

Rule 18.3 is deleted.

18.4 Gybing or Bearing Away
Rule 18.4 is changed to:
When an inside overlapped right-of-way board must gybe or bear away at a mark to sail her proper course, until she gybes or bears away she shall sail no farther from the mark than needed to sail that course. Rule 18.4 does not apply at a gate mark.

22 CAPSIZED; AGROUND; RESCUING
Rule 22 is changed to:
22.1 If possible, a board shall avoid a board that is capsized or has not regained control after capsizing, is aground, or is trying to help a person or vessel in danger.
22.2 If possible, a board that is capsized or aground shall not interfere with another board.

23 INTERFERING WITH ANOTHER BOARD; SAIL OUT OF WATER
Add new rule 23.3:
23.3 In the last minute before her starting signal, a board shall have her sail out of the water and in a normal position, except when accidentally capsized.

B3 CHANGES TO THE RULES OF PART 3

B3.26 STARTING RACES
Rule 26 is changed to:

B3.26.1 System 1
Races shall be started by using the following signals. Times shall be taken from the visual signals; the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded.

Minutes before starting signal	Visual signal	Sound signal	Means
5*	Class flag	One	Warning signal
4	P, I, U or black flag	One	Preparatory signal
1	Preparatory flag removed	One long	One-minute
0	Class flag removed	One	Starting signal

*or as stated in the sailing instructions
The warning signal for each succeeding class shall be made with or after the starting signal of the preceding class.

B3.26.2 System 2
Races shall be started by using the following signals. Times shall be taken from the visual signals; the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded.

B3.26.3 System 3 (for Beach Starts)
(a) When the starting line is on the beach, or so close to the beach that the competitor must stand in the water to start, the start is a beach start.

(b) The starting stations shall be numbered so that station 1 is the most windward one. Unless the sailing instructions specify some other system, a board’s starting station shall be determined

(1) for the first race or round of the event, by draw, or

(2) for any race or round after the first one, by her place in the previous race or heat (The first place on station 1, the second place on station 2, and so on.).

(c) After boards have been called to take their positions, the race committee shall make the preparatory signal by displaying a red flag with one sound. The starting signal shall be made, at any time after the preparatory signal, by removing the red flag with one sound.

(d) After the starting signal each board shall take the shortest route from her starting station to the water and then to her sailing position without interfering with other boards. Part 2 rules will apply when both of the competitor’s feet are on the board.

30 STARTING PENALTIES
Rule 30.2 is deleted.

31 TOUCHING A MARK
Rule 31 is changed to:
A board may touch a mark but shall not hold on to it.

B4 CHANGES TO THE RULES OF PART 4

42 PROPULSION
Rule 42 is changed to:
A board shall be propelled only by the action of the wind on the sail, by the action of the water on the hull and by the unassisted actions of the competitor. However, significant progress shall not be made by paddling, swimming or walking.

44 PENALTIES AT THE TIME OF AN INCIDENT
Rule 44 is changed to:
44.1 Taking a Penalty
A board may take a 360°-Turn Penalty when she may have broken one of more rules of Part 2 in an incident while racing. The sailing instructions may specify the use of some other penalty. However, if the board caused injury or serious damage or, despite taking a penalty, gained a significant advantage in the race or series by her breach her penalty shall be to retire.

44.2 360°-Turn Penalty
After getting well clear of other boards as soon after the incident as possible, a board takes a 360°-Turn Penalty by promptly making a 360° turn with no requirement for a tack or a gybe. When a board takes the penalty at or near the finishing line, she shall sail completely to the course side of the line before finishing.

50 COMPETITOR CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT
Rule 50.1(a) is changed to:
(a) Competitors shall not wear or carry clothing or equipment for the purpose of increasing their weight. However, a competitor may wear a drinking container that shall have a capacity of at least one litre and weigh no more than 1.5 kilograms when full.

PART 4 RULES DELETED

Rules 45, 48.2, 49, 50.1(c), 50.2, 51, 52, 54, 55 and 56.1 are deleted.

B5 CHANGES TO THE RULES OF PART 5

60 PROTESTS
60.2 Intention to Protest
Rule 60.2(a)(1) is changed to:
(a) If a protest concerns an incident observed by the protestor in the racing area:
(1) If the protestor is a board, she shall hail ‘Protest’ at the first reasonable opportunity. She shall also inform the race committee of her intention to protest as soon as practicable after she finishes or retires.

60.3 Delivering a Protest
Add to rule 60.3(a):
This rule does not apply to a race in an elimination series that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event.

60.4 Protest Validity
In rule 60.4(a), delete ‘or did not see’.

61 REDRESS
61.4 Redress Decisions
In rule 61.4(b)(2) and 61.4(b)(3), change ‘injury or physical damage’ to ‘injury, physical damage or capsize’.

63 CONDUCT OF HEARINGS
63.4 Hearing Procedure
Add to rule 63.4:
However, for an elimination series race that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event, protests and requests for redress need not be in writing; they shall be made orally to a member of the protest committee as soon as reasonably possible following the race. The protest committee may take evidence in any way it considers appropriate and may communicate its decision orally.

63.5 Decisions
Rule 63.5(d) is changed to:
(d) If the protest committee is in doubt about a matter concerning the measurement of a board, the meaning of a class rule, or damage to a board, it shall refer its questions, together with the relevant facts, to an authority responsible for interpreting the rule. In making its decision, the committee is bound by the authority’s reply.

63.6 Informing the Parties and Others
Add to rule 63.6(b):
This rule does not apply to a race in an elimination series that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event.

70 APPEALS AND REQUESTS TO A NATIONAL AUTHORITY
Rule 70.3(b) is changed to:
(b) that are essential to promptly determine the result of a race that will qualify a board to compete in a subsequent event (a national authority may prescribe that its permission is required for such a procedure);

Add new rule 70.3(e):
(e) made in an elimination series that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event.

B6 CHANGES TO THE RULES OF PART 6

78 COMPLIANCE WITH CLASS RULES; CERTIFICATES
Add to rule 78.1:
‘When so prescribed by World Sailing, a numbered and dated device on a board and her centreboard, fin and rig shall serve as her measurement certificate.’

B7 CHANGES TO THE RULES OF PART 7

90 RACE COMMITTEE; SAILING INSTRUCTIONS; SCORING
The last sentence of rule 90.2(c) is changed to: ‘Oral instructions may be given only if the procedure is stated in the sailing instructions.’

B8 CHANGES TO APPENDIX A

A1 NUMBER OF RACES; OVERALL SCORES
Rule A1 is changed to:
The number of races scheduled and the number required to be completed to constitute a series shall be stated in the notice of race or sailing instructions. If an event includes more than one discipline or format, the the notice of race or sailing instructions shall state how the overall scores are to be calculated.

A2.1 SERIES SCORES
Rule A2.1 is changed to:
Each board’s series score shall, subject to rule 90.3(b), be the total of her race scores excluding her
(a) worst score when from 5 to 11 races have been completed, or
(b) two worst scores when 12 or more races have been completed.

(The the notice of race or sailing instructions may make a different arrangement. A race is completed if scored; see rule 90.3(a).) If a board has two or more equal worst scores, the score(s) for the race(s) sailed earliest in the series shall be excluded. The board with the lowest series score wins and others shall be ranked accordingly.

A5 SCORES DETERMINED BY THE RACE COMMITTEE
Add new rule A5.4:
A5.4 For an elimination series race that will qualify a board to compete in a later stage of an event, a board that did not sail the course, retired or was disqualified shall be scored points equal to the number of boards permitted to sail in that race.

A8 SERIES TIES
Rule A8 is changed to:
A8.1 If there is a series-score tie between two or more boards, they shall be ranked in order of their best excluded race score.

A8.2 If a tie remains between two or more boards, each board’s race scores, including excluded scores, shall be listed in order of best to worst, and at the first point(s) where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favour of the board(s) with the best score(s). These scores shall be used even if some of them are excluded scores.

A8.3 If a tie still remains between two or more boards, they shall be ranked in order of their scores in the last race. Any remaining ties shall be broken by using the tied boards’ scores in the next-to-last race and so on until all ties are broken. These scores shall be used even if some of them are excluded scores.

B9 CHANGES TO APPENDIX G

B9.G1 WORLD SAILING CLASS BOARDS
B9.G1.3 Positioning
Rule G1.3(a) is changed to:
(a) The class insignia shall be displayed once on each side of the sail in the area above a line projected at right angles from a point on the luff of the sail onethird of the distance from the head to the wishbone. The national letters and sail numbers shall be in the central third of that part of the sail above the wishbone, clearly separated from any advertising. They shall be black and applied back to back on an opaque white background. The background shall extend a minimum of 30 mm beyond the characters. There shall be a ‘–’ between the national letters and the sail number, and the spacing between characters shall be adequate for legibility.