Thoughts on Rule 42

 The UKTRA Committee wanted some rule 42 guidance. Paul Robson suggested looking at the Umpire Manual, and I must admit that section 9.2 is pretty comprehensive. Have a look:-

https://media.sailing.org/sailing/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/31133103/Team-Racing-Umpire-Manual_May-2025.pdf

That said individual umpires will have different views as to how to interpret these guidelines. To some a rock is a rock, but a boat will rock if the crew move. Personally I need to be convinced that the rock was a deliberate action or that it acelerated the boat before I penalise. Sometimes this is easy, when another boat is nearby, but sometimes it is difficult eg the masthead is mooving less thn 2ft. 

Gybing is a classic difficult case. Often the boat is being sailed by the lee before the gybe and after the gybe the wind is at an angle that allows the boat to travel faster than it was going before the gybe. You need to watch for quite a few seconds to see if it was the gybe that accelerated the boat or was it the change of wind direction that is acelerating the boat. Multiple gybes are probably easier and when you get two boats responding to one another and making multiple gybes it often results in both getting penalised.

Sculling is an easy one to see and I feel often overlooked. Counting the number of turns needed becomes a problem, they should they complete the original penalty and then do an additional two turns.

VMG tacks or two roll tacks without coming down to closehauled between them. Again difficult as you need to be certain that the boat did not come down to a closehauled course. The set of the sails is irrelevant, but a closehauled course is relevant to the wind and in light conditions it can vary considerably. Certainty is the problem, and it is unlikely that both umpires saw the incident.

Various videos are available at:- https://www.youtube.com/@probso/videos