Best Practices, Guidance Notes and FAQs 

Under the umbrella of its Racing Charter, the RYA promotes Best Practices (primarily aimed at race officials, race officers, judges and umpires) and provides Guidance Notes on the Racing Rules of Sailing.

Please see the links below to download the documents in pdf format:

Best Practices

Document	Contents	Posted
Rules Disputes - 'New 2009 Version' - A4	The use of advisory and/or arbitration hearings in place of (or prior to) full protest hearings	09/12/2008
Protest Form	Revised RYA protest form for use with Rules Disputes best practice.	04/12/2008
Race Management	Best practices for race officers	14/11/2008
Judging & Umpiring	Best practices for judges and umpires	14/11/2008
Information to Competitors from the Jury	Recommendations on what information protest committees might post for competitors	07/04/2009
Information to Observers from the Jury	Recommendations on information to give to observers and media representatives at hearings	14/11/2008

Guidance Notes

Document	Contents	Posted
Misconduct Guidance	Detailed guidance on how to deal with unacceptable behaviour, forms of misconduct and rule 69 hearings	19/03/2009
Small Boat Safety	New safety regulations for dinghies and small keelboats including new standard for trapeze harnesses. Racing rule 40.2 will be deleted from January 2009.	09/02/2009
Advertising Code	An explanation of who may choose advertising for a boat, sailboard or clothing at an event; the difference between class and handicap racing and the reservations for an event sponsor	07/04/2009
Outside Help	Emphasises that everyone is required to give help to any person or boat that may be in danger and that the recipient of such help does not necessarily break racing rule 41 which limits the help a boat may receive	09/02/2009
Boats with Limited Visibility	Addressed primarily to boats with low cut asymmetric spinnakers, the paper explains the obligations of such boats and of other boats sailing in the vicinity	09/02/2009
RYA Anti Bullying Policy	Outlines what the RYA means by bullying, how you can recognise it and what to do about it if you think it might be happening	01/01/2008

Guidance Notes Primarily for Race Officials

Document	Contents	Postes
Protecting Racing Boats Before the Start	Methods to protect boats before their start from interference from other boats.	01/01/2008
Gate Starts	A guide which explains how to operate a gate start	18/09/2009
Permitting the use of an engine for propulsion	Permitting the use of an engine for propulsion	18/09/2009
FAQs regarding RYA Rules Disputes Best Practice	Frequently asked questions regarding RYA Rules Disputes Best Practice	28/08/2009
Protecting Committee Boats	The paper explains the correct methods for race managers to protect their own and borrowed boats used as committee boats	09/02/2009
Alternative Starting Penalties	Describes alternatives to returning to start correctly for boats that are OCS (on course side: over the line before the starting gun)	01/01/2008
Scoring - Appendix A	Updated guidance with detailed explanations of the scoring rules with examples of their application	01/01/2008
Protest Committee Procedure - Appendix M	Extended guidance on protest committee procedure with examples of appropriate actions in described circumstances	01/01/2008
RYA Guidance Note on Zone Size	Guidance on issues associated with Zone size.	15/05/2009

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Document	Contents	Posted
FAQs	Frequently Asked Questions about racing rules. Includes starting a race, awarding points and redress.	03/04/2008