Rule 42: a boat races on wind and water alone. Part 4 adds no outside help, lifejackets under flag Y and limits on crew and gear.
1 · Rule 42.1
Wind and water only
Under rule 42, what may the crew do to make the boat go faster?
Under rule 42.1 only the wind and the water may move the boat: you may trim to every puff, hike, bail and back a sail, but not paddle or otherwise propel her by moving your bodies.
You may use only the wind and the water to increase, maintain or decrease speed. The crew may adjust the trim of sails and hull and perform other acts of seamanship, but not otherwise move their bodies to propel the boat. Trimming to every puff, hiking, one shift of weight then held, bailing and backing a sail are legal; a paddle or a swimmer pushing the bow is not.
Part 4 applies only while you are racing: from the preparatory signal until you have finished and cleared the line and marks. Rule 42 has no wind limit.
2 · Rule 42.2
Five actions that are always out
What counts as pumping, rocking or ooching under rule 42.2?
Pumping is repeated fanning of a sail, rocking repeated rolling of the boat, ooching a sudden forward body movement stopped abruptly. Rule 42.2 also bans sculling and repeated tacks or gybes unrelated to wind changes or tactics.
Action
What it is
Pumping
Repeated fanning of a sail, by trimming and releasing or by body movement
Rocking
Repeated rolling of the boat by body movement, repeated sail or centreboard adjustment, or steering
Ooching
Sudden forward body movement, stopped abruptly
Sculling
Repeated helm movement that is forceful, propels the boat forward or stops her moving astern
Repeated tacks or gybes
Unrelated to changes in the wind or to tactics
The key word is repeated. Trimming thirty times on a shifty beat answers the wind; fanning the sail in rhythm does not. Tacking on every header is tactics; gybing every fifteen seconds down an empty run is not.
3 · Rule 42.3
What you may still do
Can I pump the sail to catch a wave or start planing under rule 42.3?
Yes, once: under rule 42.3 you may pull in each sail once per wave or gust to start surfing or planing, but not upwind; when foiling, any number of times.
You may
Limit
Roll the boat to help steer
Not repeated rolling that propels her
Roll through a tack or gybe
No faster just after it than without it
Pull each sail in once per wave or gust
To start surfing or planing, not upwind (foiling: any number)
Scull when stopped or slow above close-hauled
Only down to close-hauled
Pump to free an inverted batten
Unless it clearly propels the boat
Move the helm repeatedly
To reduce speed
Use any propulsion
To help someone in danger
Push off after grounding or collision
Either crew's force, any gear but an engine
An exception covers only what it names: one body lunge per wave is still ooching. An engine to get off a shoal needs the sailing instructions' permission.
4 · Enforcement
Protests, yellow flags and flag O
Can I take penalty turns for breaking rule 42, such as pumping?
No: rule 44 turns cover only Part 2 and rule 31, so a boat that knows she broke rule 42 retires. Only under Appendix P can a judge's first yellow flag be answered with a Two-Turns Penalty.
Without judges, rule 42 is enforced by protest and a hearing. Rule 44 turns cover only Part 2 and rule 31: a boat that knows she broke rule 42 retires. Appendix P applies only if the notice of race or sailing instructions say so; then a judge whistles, points a yellow flag and hails your sail number.
Yellow flag
Penalty
First
Two-Turns Penalty; if not taken, disqualified without a hearing
Second
Retire; if not, a disqualification that cannot be discarded
Third
Retire and still score DNE; if not, DNE in every race
A penalty cancelled by a postponement, general recall or abandonment still counts towards your total, and one incident is penalised once. Redress is possible only if the judge ignored a committee signal or a class rule. Class rules may change rule 42: where they allow pumping, rocking and ooching above a set wind, flag O switches that on and flag R switches it off. Windsurfers (Appendix B) may pump.
5 · Outside help, crew, anchoring
Rules 41 and 45 to 48
Can my coach give me advice during a race, rule 41?
No: rule 41 forbids outside help, so a coach's tip, an arranged signal or spares handed over break it. Exceptions include help for a crew member ill, injured or in danger, information freely available to all, and unsolicited information from a disinterested source.
Rule 41 forbids outside help, with four exceptions: help for a crew member who is ill, injured or in danger; help from the other vessel's crew to get clear after a collision; information freely available to all; unsolicited information from a disinterested source, even another competitor. A coach's tip, an arranged signal, a question to a spectator, food or spares handed over all break it.
Rule
In short
45
Off moorings at the preparatory signal; later made fast or hauled out only to bail, reef or repair. You may anchor or stand on the bottom; recover the anchor if you can
46
On board: a person in charge named by the entrant
47
No trash in the water on purpose, at any time afloat; coaches too
48
Only equipment on board at the preparatory signal. Leave the boat only when ill, injured, helping someone in danger or swimming; be back in contact before she sails on
6 · Lifejackets, hiking, gear
Rules 40 and 49 to 56
When must I wear a lifejacket in a race under flag Y?
When flag Y is shown with one sound: afloat before or with the warning signal, for that whole race even once lowered; ashore, all day afloat. A wetsuit or drysuit is not a lifejacket.
Flag Y with one sound, shown afloat before or with the warning signal, makes lifejackets compulsory for that race, even once lowered; shown ashore, all day afloat. One may come off briefly to change clothing. A wetsuit or drysuit is not a lifejacket. Without flag Y, adequate flotation is each competitor's own responsibility.
Rule
In short
49
Hiking straps and thigh stiffeners only. Torso inside taut lifelines except briefly for a task; with two lifelines a seated crew may lean over the upper
50
No clothing to add weight; normally 8 kg at most; a quick-release trapeze harness
51 · 52
Ballast and unset sails stay stowed; rigging and appendages worked by hand
53 · 54
No polymer or textured surface to ease the water's flow; headsail tacks on the centreline
55
One pole in use; a headsail clew on a whisker pole (no spinnaker set) or sheeted to the main boom; a new sail may be set before the old one is lowered
56
Lights, fog signals and traffic separation as COLREGs require; a required tracker stays on
Practice questions
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
Legal?First beat, 12 knots
420, national championship
Crew hiking hard and keeping still
Main trimmed in puffs, eased in lulls
You are helming a 420 on the first beat of a national championship in 12 knots. Your crew hikes flat out and keeps still; you trim the main in each puff and ease it in each lull. A rival later says you were breaking rule 42. Were you?
Yes — hiking is a body movement and rule 42.1 forbids all body movement that affects speed
No — rule 42.1 lets the crew adjust the trim of sails and hull and hike; nothing here propels the boat by body movement
Yes — trimming in every puff and easing in every lull is pumping under rule 42.2(a)
Only if the class rules of the 420 specifically permit hiking and trimming
Show the answer
B. No — rule 42.1 lets the crew adjust the trim of sails and hull and hike; nothing here propels the boat by body movement
Rule 42.1: crew may adjust the trim of sails and hull and perform other acts of seamanship; only body movement that propels the boat is prohibited.
Wednesday evening club race, ILCA 7 fleet, a run in 8 knots and flat water, no judges afloat. You trim the mainsheet in hard and ease it again in a steady rhythm, about six times a minute, and the boat accelerates with each pull. Is this allowed?
No — repeated fanning of the sail by trimming and releasing it is pumping, prohibited by rule 42.2(a)
Yes — pumping is prohibited only on a beat to windward, not on a run
Yes — rule 42 is enforced only when judges are on the water
Yes — trimming the mainsheet is normal sail adjustment, allowed by rule 42.1
Show the answer
A. No — repeated fanning of the sail by trimming and releasing it is pumping, prohibited by rule 42.2(a)
Rule 42.2(a): pumping is repeated fanning of any sail by trimming and releasing it or by body movement, prohibited whatever the leg.
Palma, 20 knots and a long swell, your Melges 24 on a broad reach. As each wave lifts the stern the trimmer gives the spinnaker sheet one hard pull and the boat starts to surf; one pull per wave, nothing more. Is the trimmer breaking rule 42?
No — in 20 knots and waves rule 42 is suspended automatically
Yes — pulling in a sail sharply to start surfing is pumping under rule 42.2(a)
No — when surfing is possible, each sail may be pulled in once for each wave to initiate surfing (rule 42.3(c))
Yes — the exception for surfing applies only to the mainsail, not the spinnaker
Show the answer
C. No — when surfing is possible, each sail may be pulled in once for each wave to initiate surfing (rule 42.3(c))
Rule 42.3(c)(1): in surfing or planing conditions each sail may be pulled in once per wave or gust to initiate surfing or planing.
You are racing at a windsurfing event. On the reach Red pumps her sail continuously, stroke after stroke, and pulls away. You intend to protest her under rule 42.2(a) for pumping. Will the protest succeed?
Yes — rule 42.2(a) prohibits pumping for every kind of boat, boards included
Yes — pumping is allowed on a board only when the race committee displays flag O
No — pumping is allowed for anyone on a reach, only on a beat is it prohibited
No — Appendix B changes rule 42 for windsurfing: a board may be propelled by the unassisted actions of the competitor, so pumping is allowed
Show the answer
D. No — Appendix B changes rule 42 for windsurfing: a board may be propelled by the unassisted actions of the competitor, so pumping is allowed
Appendix B (windsurfing) replaces rule 42: a board is propelled by wind, water and the unassisted actions of the competitor; pumping is not a breach.
Halfway up the first beat of a 29er regatta your coach's RIB comes within 20 m and he shouts: "Big right shift in five minutes, go right!" You tack and go right. Has anything gone wrong under the rules?
No — information about the wind is freely available to everyone who looks at the water, so rule 41(c) covers it
Yes — but the breach is the coach's alone; the boat that used the information cannot be penalised
Yes — tactical information shouted by your coach is outside help under rule 41: not freely available to all, and not from a disinterested source
No — a coach may give any information he likes as long as he does not touch the boat or pass equipment
Show the answer
C. Yes — tactical information shouted by your coach is outside help under rule 41: not freely available to all, and not from a disinterested source
Rule 41: a boat shall not receive help from any outside source, except information freely available to all or unsolicited from a disinterested source.
Three minutes before your warning signal the race committee displays flag Y with one sound signal. Your crew in the Melges 24 are in shorts and T-shirts, lifejackets stowed below. What must they do?
Put on personal flotation devices and wear them for this race; flag Y afloat before or with the warning signal makes rule 40.1 apply
Nothing — flag Y is advice only; wearing a PFD is each competitor's own choice
Nothing — flag Y displayed afloat applies only to dinghy classes
Wear PFDs only while on the trapeze or while on the foredeck
Show the answer
A. Put on personal flotation devices and wear them for this race; flag Y afloat before or with the warning signal makes rule 40.1 apply
Rule 40.2(a): when flag Y is displayed afloat with one sound before or with the warning signal, all competitors shall wear PFDs during that race.
All 100 questions of this topic are in the app: practice by topic with the reason after every answer, your mistakes brought back, and a timed mock exam. Free, no sign-up, in the browser or in Telegram.
