Rule numbers and wording as of 1994 (the IYRR then in force; today’s Racing Rules of Sailing are numbered differently). Anthony Shanks, a Dragon crew training as an RYA National Judge, uses incidents from the 1994 Dragon South Coast Championships to explain two rules that caused most disagreement: rule 39.3, which bars a windward yacht within three lengths from sailing below the leeward yacht’s proper course, and rule 42.1, which gives inside overlapping yachts room at marks. He shows why boats approaching a leeward mark wide from the starboard side are exposed to many overlap claims once inside the two-length circle, and how tide bunched some 30 boats into a line at the mark. He urges competitors involved in collisions to protest, since in a third-party protest only the collision, not the circumstances, has to be proved. […]
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Penalty and rule references as of 1995 (the 720° turn penalty then in use). Starting from a crowded leeward mark at a Gold Cup with 80 boats, Tristan Nelson argues that every Dragon racer needs a working knowledge of the basic rules and recommends The Rules Book by Eric Twiname, revised by Bryan Willis, as the best starting point. He explains that knowing your rights gives tactical options, but that pushing the rules will sometimes go wrong, and that the right response is to take your penalty turns rather than risk disqualification. He encourages taking genuine grievances to a protest hearing and contrasts the Dragon fleet’s relaxed attitude to collisions with the International 14 fleet, where collisions are treated very seriously. […]
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A Rules Corner piece explaining the racing-rules concept of “proper course”: the course a boat would sail to finish as soon as possible in the absence of the other boat(s) referred to in the rule. Dellenbaugh explains why a proper course is subjective and constantly changing, that there is none before the starting signal, that only three right-of-way rules mention it (17.1, 17.2 and 18.4, numbering of the rules then in force) and that none requires you to sail it. He also notes that a proper course need not point at the mark, has nothing to do with speed, and may not take account of the windward boat’s bad air when you are the leeward boat. […]
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A “Toolbox” chart from Speed & Smarts on making better decisions by setting priorities. Dellenbaugh sets out a three-step approach: identify the question you need to answer, collect the information you need to know, then decide on your priorities. The chart applies this to six situations (practice time, pre-start preparation, the start, steering upwind, converging with another boat and a light-air run) and gives two sample priority lists for each, showing how different answers lead to different plans. […]
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A short tip on port–starboard crossings upwind. If you are on starboard because you want to go that way and a port-tack boat cannot cross, the advice is to wave her through and, if necessary, ease the sheet and dip her. Forcing her to tack sends her the same favoured way, where she will slow you down and may force you onto the tack you did not want. Many sailors lose out by getting carried away with their rights. […]
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Graham Bailey’s guide for visitors racing the 2006 Dragon European Championship courses in the central Solent. He points to the Bramble Stake weather station and the Winning Tides atlas, then summarises the tide: the ebb starts on the North shore about 2 hours 30 minutes before high water while the centre is still flooding, and the main race area east of the Bramble Stake sits in a slower ‘divergent’ zone. On wind, he describes the South West sea-breeze (often in before 10:30am at 10 to 12 knots, building to 18 to 22) and how to play westerly, easterly, northerly and southerly gradient winds, including Owen Parker’s rule “when the wind is in the North, go North”. […]
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