WHAT IS PROPER COURSE & When Do I Need to Hold It? by Charlie Macaulay
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ow many times has someone yelled “Proper Course!” to you while racing? What does it mean? And is your shouting competitor right? Let’s start at the beginning. Proper Course is a defined term in the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS). It’s only one sentence: “A course a boat would sail to finish as soon as possible in the absence of the other boats referred to in the rule using the term.” The definition further notes there is no proper course for a boat before her starting signal. This makes sense because it is impossible to define the fastest way to sail around the course when you and your competition are all trying to kill time before the starting gun. Now let’s look at the one sentence a bit more closely. First, the definition starts with “A course a boat would sail…” not “The course a boat would sail…” This means there can be multiple courses that would result in the fastest finish time. Reach up now or reach up later to make the leeward mark? Generally, the boat with the proper course limitation can determine which of those proper courses to select. Next, note that proper course is your course if the other boats referred to in the rule citing proper course were not there. There are only four rules that include the term proper course:
RRS 17, 18.2, 18.4, and 24.2. So the presence of other boats with respect to all the other rules still apply and can affect your proper course. In other words, my proper course may be to tack, but RRS 16 (Changing Course) and RRS 13 (While Tacking) still apply since there is no mention of proper course in either. So even though I may be able to sail above my proper course per RRS 17, it doesn’t necessarily mean I can tack even if that’s my proper course. RRS 17 is where most of the confusion regarding proper course arises (we’ll leave the other rules for another time). Basically, it says that you can sail whatever course you want and altering that course as you please (subject to all the other rules’ restrictions) except if you establish a leeward overlap on a boat from behind that boat and you were within two of your hull lengths of the windward boat when you established the overlap. Note that it's the length of your boat, not the other boat. Note also that RRS 17 does not apply when the weather boat crossed you and immediately tacked, i.e., was subject to RRS 13 when the overlap was established. And finally, for you old timers, there are no longer any specific restrictions against sailing below your proper course. What does this mean in practical terms on the race course?
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5: S tart Gun: Yellow may continue to sail above close hauled per RRS 17.
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2–4: Y ellow luffs almost to head to wind before start signal. Blue keeps clear.
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1: O verlap is established more than 2 BL to leeward. RRS 17 off. 50 seconds to starting signal.
1 48º NORTH
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OCTOBER 2020
