Racing Rules of Sailing - Live Slow, Sail Fast!: The origins of basic road rules

Racing Rules of Sailing - Live Slow, Sail Fast!: The origins of basic road rules

The sailing- judging community has been joined by a new blogger, an enthusiast young judge from Hungary who started with a rulesblog called "Live Slow - Sail Fast!"

I've been reading his posts - by using the English translation button. The syntax gets a little garbled but I can follow most of it. But even if I couldn't, it is still a good initiative - to provide some background for Hungarian judges, officials and sailors.

He posted an interesting story about the reasons behind the Right of Way rules. The basic rules in the book, rules 10, 11 and 12. Here is the gist of it:

All these basic rules give right of way to the least manoeuvrable boat. Look at rule 11, windward - leeward. Boats are overlapping so the boat to leeward is in the wind shadow of the windward boat - has less wind, so is less manoeuvrable. Don't picture modern racing yachts, but square riggers. That's when they came up with these rules.

Same goes for rule 12; Clear Ahead - Clear astern. When running downwind, the boat behind catches all the wind and can more easily manoeuvre. So the boat Clear Ahead gets right of way.

With Port and Starboard we have to go back a little more. Perhaps you remember those Viking-longboats longships*? They had an oar sticking out in the water on the right side end of the boat. That oar functioned as a rudder.

The other side became Port because if you want to park the boat alongside a shore, you don't use the steering side.... So a longboat was always tied to the dock with the port-side.

When sailing on starboard tack the boat would heel to port. And visa versa. When sailing on port tack the starboard side of the boat would dig in. On the first tack the oar would be sticking out of the water a little more. Making the boat a bit less 'steerable' than on port tack. So the boat on starboard-tack became right of way. Port tack could more easily get out of the way.

I don't know if his story is accurate, but the explanation seems very plausible to me.
What about you? What do you think?


* From an LTW readers Email: Longboats: A longboat is a small rowing boat kept on the deck of a larger ship for the purpose of getting ashore. A longship is a warship/troop transport of the Viking period.

Rules History - Part 1

Sometimes the Google Search kicks up an interesting link. (But that is no news, right?)

This time it didn't point to news as much as it did to olds: rules history. How did we get the current rules?

I've been only doing this rules stuff since, oooh about ten years, but before that already most of the 'modern' day approach to racing rules had been established: Some excerpt from piece by Mark Russel:

1963:
Introduction of the two-boat length zone as the point at which an inside overlap had to be established to entitle a boat to water. (Yet another idea originally proposed by Vanderbilt, it is suggested that this incarnation came as a result of a discussion between Paul Elvstrom, on the way to his 4th Olympic gold medal, and Niels Benzon.
The member of a club in charge of the boat no longer had to be an amateur; this was now left to class associations and race organisers to specify.

1969
A new one minute “round the ends rule” to apply after a general recall. General recalls were already beginning to be a problem. (And still are: even with the much more brutal “black flag rule”, starting processes are a cause of serious debate to this day.
A new rule prohibiting advertising except for manufacturers labels.

1973
Individual recalls signalled by dipping the class flag with no requirement for a hail to the boat or display of a recall no: putting the onus on competitor rather than race committee.
The “heavy sweater” rule: prohibiting clothing worn for increasing weight, unless specified in class rules, and then limited to 20kg max. Over the years this maximum weight steadily reduced and is now zero).
Alternative penalties for breaking a right of way rule: a 720-degree turn, or a 20% penalty as specified in the SI’s. (A welcome liberalisation: packing up and going home for an unintentional foul always seemed over harsh, especially for recreational sailors)
If there is contact, one has to take a penalty, protest, or retire: the counterpart of the alternative penalty: “now that there is an alternative there is no excuse for not following the rules).

1977
An experimental rule (not allowed in major championships) to allow unlimited kinetics in certain conditions.

1981
The first relaxation of the advertising rule, to allow event sponsors.
The experimental kinetics rule disappears (but not for ever!) Instead there are clearer definitions of what and what is not allowed.

1989
720-degree turn (rather than re-rounding) for hitting a mark. (This later becomes less iniquitous 360-degree turn.)

 And completely overhauling the book, like was done for rule 18, is not new either. Something like that was done after 1993:

The experimental right of way rules were certainly shorter and simpler: just 9 in the 1994 and 11 in the 1995 (compared to 17 in the 1993 rule book). Definitions were clarified and simplified, and by simplifying the rules, some definitions that would not be required were dropped, for example there was no definition of tacking. As well as simplification of structure some basic principles were changed: some (but not all) of these new principles made it into the new rules, and some were changed several more times in development before finding their current form.

Though this extreme level of simplicity did not make it in its entirety through to the current rule book, there are now only 13 right of way rules compared with the previous 17. The language has certainly been simplified, there are far fewer sub-clauses and special exceptions, and once the sailors began to get used to a completely new set of rule numbers, (the revision extended to the whole rule book not just the right of way rules) the changes met with fairly universal approval.

I found a very small booklet with these Experimental Right-Of-Way Rules and Definitions from 1993 in my bookcase. It's probably on of the first books about the rules I ever owned.

You can read Mark's whole article here: The history of the rules

Mark is one of the UK’s leading sailing coaches, a freelance yachting journalist and a talented, highly successful dinghy and keelboat sailor in his own right.
Mark’s career has spanned more than 20 years in the British marine industry, with in depth experience of boat development, spar production, sailmaking and marine retailing. He has been winning championships since 1975 and, throughout his career, Mark has always helped others to win races.

Racing Rules Correlator (1972)

Looking for an appropriate picture for Sunday, I inadvertently clicked on the wrong button in Google and was linked to a Patent Search with the words "Racing Rules of Sailing".

Low and behold, there was one!
The Racing Rules Correlator, invented by Greg A Field and patented in 1972!

In the illustrated embodiment, the present invention consists of a simple and rugged construction and in one series of settings depicts the apparent relative situation between two racing yachts and additionally gives in short form the particular rule applicable to the existing situation.

More particularly, the invention employs two flat circular discs made of metal, wood, plastic, cardboard or other suitable rigid sheet material. The discs have preselected nautical data recorded on both faces thereof. On one face, the data relates to yachts sailing on the same tack, and on the other, for both discs, data relating to yachts sailing on opposite tacks and miscellaneous racing situations. The two discs are mounted in a frame of like material defined by spaced panels housing the discs with the discs mounted for rotation within the frame: the axis of rotation for one disc being laterally offset with respect to the other allowing the discs to rotate within the frame in overlapped position. With the two discs mounted in overlapping fashion, the frame covering the same is provided with a viewing window cut in each side and preferably aligned with the frame are further provided selector marks on the periphery of upper edge portions which are curved and which correspond in general to the periphery of the discs carried thereby. The diameter of the disc is such that a peripheral marginal portion of each disc extends beyond respective curved portions of the frame panel. In the preferred embodiment, nautical data relating to the various situations of each yacht allows the disc to

be rotated so that the particular yacht situation is set at or between the frame marks. Preferably, the various yacht situation data is carried by first disc sector portions, in this case on the uncovered margin of both discs, allowing initial setup of one disc for the operator and another for that of the competing yacht. Upon setting of both discs, the operator readily reads through one of the windows a specific rule governing the instant situation between the yachts.

 

I wonder if it actually ever got made?

If so, I would very much like to get in touch with someone who still has one or, even better, who has used one in a regatta... Its already 40 years ago that this patent was granted, but that at least is still valid.

Read all about it on:

USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database  or

Google Patents

In today's world this would be an made into an APP on our iPhone :-)....

A map, a compass and not much else....

The writing assignment by Tillerman about 'navigation' immediately triggered a memory from a long, long time ago. Please forgive the lack of a new Casebook post this monday, I couln't help myself.....

A map, a compass and not much else....

Strangely enough I learned a valuable lesson about navigation not on the water, but on land. I was 23 and in training for...... the Army. Having been able to postpone for several years to finish school, I ended up doing 'draft 82-1'. That was in January 1982 and I remember it being a cold winter, with not much snow, but lots of wind. After a month or so in classrooms and exercise-yard at the barracks in Utrecht, we were send out on our first bivouac. And part of that two weeks living in a green tent, was being hauled out of bed and dropped somewhere in the middle of the night with a map and a compass.
Four recruits with sleep depraved eyes and shivering in the cold winter air, were told they had 24 hours to get back to camp. And off went the truck, with the rest of the group, who would be dropped a couple of clicks away with - no doubt - the same grunted instructions by the Sarge.

Being bold as ever, I convinced my fellow 'Indians' that I could navigate. I had used compasses before to Sail the Seven Seas (once, going from IJmuiden to Lowestoft), was infinitely knowledgeable on longitude and latitude (52 something by 4 and a half) and could calculate the variation to the second.....
So I got the goodies in my - thankfully with green mittens covered - hands.

I was impressed by the map! It showed amazing detail. Every road, every green field, every house and every tree seemed to be depicted. And the compass had two flaps you could hinge up, to get a hairline sighting. This would be a singe, I thought. Just had to figure out where we were, take a bearing on the map to the place where our tent was pitched and 'Joe was our Uncle....'

Now, it was a bright night. With our eyes getting accustomed to the dark and a half moon, we could see fairly well....... so we thought. We were on a semi dirt road, hmmmm..... dozens of those on the map...  close to fields and not many lights (houses)
After some turning and wandering, I thought to have found the place on the map.... and off we went.

No roads, no paths or natural lines. No, straight as an arrow across every, eeeh, well across everything. Fence? Climb over it. Ditch? Jump and don't look back. Garden? Well okay, we didn't enter that many gardens, but that was because we were not eager to get the house owner mad at us.... (and there could be dogs).
By keeping both eyes on that marvellous map, I was convinced we would be back in a matter of hours....

Yes, the second from the left

 
After two hours my fellow 'inmates' started to question my method. Wouldn't it be better to follow this road, they said, so we could get some road signs and check if we were going back to the town our camp was near?

I wish I had listened to them.

But no, I managed to keep my cool and ploughed straight on, never doubting for a second I could be wrong... although something in the back of my mind started to nag...
And that nagging got louder and louder.....


For three hours we wandered trough that cold night in February '82, never anywhere near the place I thought we were on the map, before I got stopped by my 'brothers in arms'. The map was ripped from my hands, the compass was declared superfluous and we started to follow a road until we found a traffic sign with names and distances.....

I remember it took me a while before I could admit to myself that I had failed miserably.
But the evidence was in front of me. We had to go almost 180 degrees back to where we started, before we could reach our camp. The rest of that night and most of the following day, I was walking last in the group, not wanting to have to look into the eyes of my 'brethren'. We came in, dead last of the 5 groups that were dropped that night, just shy of 10 hours later.


Please, my fellow navigators, keep your maps up to date, use every gadget or doohicky you can lay your hands on, but please, take the advice of a fresh recruit, who learned it by the blisters on his feet:

First and foremost, use your eyes and look around!

The world has many many signs - man-made or natural - that can steer you in the right direction.
No compass or map can beat that.

Look for signs first!
And keep looking!

J.

The picture was taken later that fortnight..... They did forgive me enough to trust me with a map again, but not much else.......

Valken!

I have been updating my LinkedIn and Facebook Network today, as well as preparing for events in China and India (Visa applications in a short time frame is a hassle!)

Anyway, during my wanderings I came accros a picture which I do want to share with you:
Since my own boat is a "Valk" it caught my eye.

Valken in the Seventies?

If you click on the caption you can find the page where I got it from. The description states it's from the SNEEKWEEK in the Seventies....

Hmmm. I don't know....

We build our boat in 1974 and it was already permissible to fit it with trapeze and with a spinnaker. The boats in the picture have neither.
So my questions to all Dutch LTW-Readers are:

Does anybody recognize this picture?
And if so, what can you tell me about it?
Is it really from the seventies?

Number 430 does not have a valid certificate anymore, but there's a photo of the boat on the class website:

 

Boot nummer: 838, 528, 833, 699, 503, 430, 84, 528

The caption on that website suggest that the 430 was sailing in the Sneekweek 2010. I can't find her number in the picture, but the sailors might recognize her from her colours.....

Anybody?

LTW Readers Q&A | 034; Balking?

Received a question from Michael Maurier about hailing “Starboard” and holding course:
Hi,
The other day in a local club race, I was on port tack and a starboard tack boat hailed me "Starboard tack!"
I tacked promptly letting the other 3 boats to windward and astern know I was going to do so. They all tacked to starboard as well.
The starboard tacker did not hold her course and tacked off to port before she would have crossed my course as it was when she hailed me.
In years gone by, there was a rule against hailing 'Starboard tack’ and then failing to complete the cross. It was referred to as 'balking.'
Does this rule still exist in some form?
Best,
Michael

In the RRS 2009-2012 there is nothing preventing the starboard boat from hailing and then changing course – as it suits her – provided she complies with rule 16. It might be perceived as not very considered of her, but it is not against the rules.
It is the first time I have heard of the word ‘balking’.
I asked a friend who’s knowledge of rules “gone by” far exceeds my own. He answered:
Jos,
The wording of the old rule 35 was:

35 Limitations on Altering Course

When one yacht is required to keep clear of another, the right-of-way yacht shall not alter course so as to prevent the other yacht from keeping clear, or so as to obstruct her while she is keeping clear, except:

(a) when luffing as permitted by rule 39.2; or
(b) when assuming a proper course either:
      (i) to start, when  she is on the starboard tack and the other
      yacht is on the port tack; or
      (ii) when rounding a mark.

This is from the 1993-1996 International Yacht Racing Rules (IYRR).
Even within this wording there is room for the starboard boat to tack away, as long as she does not prevent the port boat, in the process of keeping clear, from keeping clear.
Regards, 
Leo Pieter.

Perhaps there’s a LTW-reader who can shed more light on this issue?
.

3 Lengths; Overall, Boat or Hull?

I received a mail from Greg who writes about the the wording in the definition of Zone and how sailors interpret those:

 

Hello

I enjoy using your blog to help clarify my own understanding of RRS.

Here is a local issue in my area that might be worth a post & response. This is not an issue from the elite levels, but I think a concern in recreational racing fleets. This is another area where careful wording in the rules needs to become careful wording in discussions, so sailors are not inadvertently lead astray.

Whether it was the previous rule, or the current definition of Zone, we continue to informally refer to the distance as boat lengths rather than hull lengths (as defined in RRS). This has caused some interesting confusion among local competitors in boats such as International 14s, which in the past used the informal wording of "boat" to define their distance from the mark. The sailors included both the hull and the extended bowsprit multiplied by 2 to determine the "circle" heading into a mark where the bowsprit was deployed.

When they were reminded in discussions of rule changes that RRS 2009 defines Zone as 3 "Hull" lengths, they responded that the 2009 revision would effectively decrease the size of the Zone compared to their past practice.

From http://gallery.me.com/npatchett#100014

Is this an issue in other localities? Shouldn't we quit talking about boat lengths and say or write hull lengths when we talk about the Zone. From my perspective, using the term "hull length" consistently would help clarify the situation for competitors.

Greg

 

Hi Greg, thanks for you input!

You are absolutely right in referring to the zone in Hull-lengths always!

I know there are several rules which have to do with measurement or the position of boats, their equipment and the place it is normally used in (at starting, finishing or to determine the zone). But for the zone, the circle should be fixed for all boats in the same class.

The international 14, who has a retractable bowsprit, would otherwise have a different zone depending on how far the bowsprit is extended. The rule makers wanted to avoid any misunderstanding in that regard and (I suspect) deliberately chose to use hull length. You can find those in the class rules drawings and it should be fixed within a small tolerance. That tolerance should – at most –produce a difference in the zone of a couple of centimeters, not enough to make any difference on the water.

In some older rule books the zone was defined by two boat lengths or two overall boat lengths. Without a variable “length” – like with the bow sprit of the more modern 14 – that was also a fixed measurement. Carbon materials were not available generally and even the most seasoned hickory would have split in those dimensions. (Hickory is a wood used for hammers and axes – because of it’s tensile strength) To my knowledge, they did not have retractable bowsprits in those days… I’m talking about 80’s…

If in the previous rule cycle, sailors used to measure the zone with an extended bowsprit, they did not use the correct definition and that can lead to misunderstanding.

If the sailors in International 14 class feel that three hull-lengths is not enough to prepare for rounding a mark, they have the possibility to increase the zone to four hull lengths, provided it is clearly stated in the SI. Talk to the club and / or RO. I bet they are willing to provide amended SI’s to that effect. With four hull lengths the zone should come to a little bigger then two with an extended bowsprit – if I judge the dimensions correctly from the photo’s

Greg is also asking for responses from other local sailors. Please leave a comment if you have something to contribute.

J.

A Lesson in Umpiring

or - Never Flinch in giving a Penalty -

As told to me by an experienced umpire, about what he learned in younger days....

Once upon a time there was a friendly umpire at a nice event. He was enjoying the sailing and had a great time flying his flags.

Because he was in such a good mood, he showed the green and white flag with extra zest and enthusiasm. But if needed, he blew his whistle also extra loud for a blue or yellow penalty if he thought it was an "extra" deserving penalty.

In Flight five, Match two, the two opponents were not very even. Yellow had clearly been doing this a lot longer than Blue and in the second downwind leg had almost an 80% lead.

Our happy umpire was a good hundred meters away from the windward mark, when he saw the boom of the Blue trailing boat, hit the orange Mark.
~Lets give them a break~ he thought, ~they are so far behind, I will pretend I didn't see it, and not penalize them~

Five seconds later the halyard of the spinnaker on the Yellow boat broke with a loud snap and the spinnaker dropped in the water. The boat all but stopped. The crew immediately went to work to clear up the mess.

Blue sailed on and halved the distance.

Yellow - still a good 40 meters away from the finish - struggled to get the wet spi out from under the bow.

Blue found a little extra wind and came closer and closer.

Yellow still moved agonizingly slow.

Our happy Umpire started to worry a bit and he motored closer.

Blue was only ten meters behind Yellow when they finally cleared the spinnaker out of the water and picked up a little more speed.

In the meantime Blue, flying a beautiful red kite themselves, sailed to leeward of Yellow and created an overlap. Our umpire's hart sank when the Race Committee showed a blue flag when the boats crossed the finish line.

The difference was only one meter, the race officer told our umpire after the Match. With a served penalty, Yellow would have had time to finish first...

Happy no longer, our umpire tried to console himself with a promise:
Never will I not give a penalty out of pity or happiness. Hitting a Mark equals a flag. No exceptions.....

The End.

"My marriage is like a fairy tale"
"Every time I come home, there's that Witch sitting on the couch"

www.rizla.nl

Hail to the Flag!

>

------

Before there ...

Before there was chaos

Before there was awful darkness

Before there was THE room &THE judges

Before there was the sailor who tried to remember
the fifteenth windward leeward mark rounding at one o'clock
in the morning after three hours waiting and five hearings, in the
team race championship, to decide which team had scored seventeenth ..

After there was a response to any Yankee flag so a sailor could concentrate on the race and plan his strategy and tactics based on the rules, because
the other boat was obliged to follow them or do the penalty...

After there was a hearing straight after the match,

After there was THE umpire bringing solace

After there was bright light

After there was order

After there was

a Flag

------

>

________________________________________________________________
@@ Best Sailing Invention Ever? on Proper Course by Tillerman.

.

'Justice stranded on the Beach'

- Think twice when you "reopen" a hearing -
by Adriaan Pels

This time we were on Barbados. The event was a world championship Mistral. The jury was busy with the last day hearings. As usual only a few protests, but protests which could influence the total score and the places on the podium.

Only one party came to the hearing

In one hearing the protestee did not show up. The chairman postponed the hearing and scheduled it at the bottom of the list and asked the protestor to do everything that he could to bring the other party to the jury room. But no success. At last the jury decided the protest after only hearing the protestor and decided to disqualify the protestee.

Later that day, during the dinner and prize giving party on the beach, with a lot of rum and coca cola and steel band music, the protestee accosted the jury chairman and told him why he was not present at the hearing. The chairman, always ready to help the sailors, decided he was unavoidably absent and sitting in the sand with one other jury member he ‘reopened’ the hearing. Or whatever you call it. Anyhow, the duo listened to the story of the protestee and decided now that he was in the right, no doubt. He should not be disqualified.

Score change

What to do in this situation? Call all jury members? Find the protestor? Look for a jury room? Too complicated and at the end the chairman, sure about what happened on the water and wanting to do justice, informed the result Johnny’s and the score was changed.

Next day, after breakfast, while he was waiting for transport to the airport, the eyes half open because of little sleep and much rum, the jury chairman was almost attacked by the protestor. After the man had seen the changed scoring list (he was not informed) and was told by somebody what happened, he was furious. "What you did is not allowed, I had the right to be present" ,and so on he said, not very friendly. Poor chairman, despite his good intentions, he made a big mistake by not to following the correct procedure.

Decision: back to the original score. But where were the result boys? Not there anymore, the event was over, flags down, offices closed. “I’ll write a letter”, were his last words, before he hit the taxi.....

Adriaan Pels.

________________________________________________________________

This is the second guest post by Adriaan. His first one you can find here:
Leg counting or How many beats did you sail?

If you have a story you think is of interest and would like to share, please mail me and send it in.

Leg counting or How many beats did you sail?

- Just a story for learning and fun -
by Adriaan Pels

It happened during a Laser European championship. We were in Donaghadee, close to Bangor in Northern Ireland. It was in the days, many years ago, that one did not go to this area voluntary, not for fun. Unforeseeable attacks, bomb explosions, and so on made this Britain’s hotbed a dangerous and unpleasant place to be. But an airplane full of Laser sailors and us, RC and PC members, started on Heathrow with the goal to give the local Laser sailors their first international regatta in many years.

The first sign that we were going to a special place was a not planned landing on a small and unknown airport at the northwest coast of England. Extensive examinations by special security people (“who are you, where are you going and what are are you going to do there”) and visitations (“you can undress over there”) for hours, was not what we expected. Armed soldiers everywhere, sinister checkpoints, security men in every big shop examining bags, even in the clubhouse of the organizing yacht club, in short: a frightening area.

a three day hangover

The hotels were used as houses for seniors or closed as there were no visitors or tourists, so a lot of places to stay. But the welcome was great (do not take their local whiskey when you are not a well trained drinker else a three day hangover will be yours) as everybody; sailors, club people, citizens, appreciated our coming.

But now the case. One day the wind was very shifty, ‘beats’ became ‘reaches’ and vice versa and the PRO, who was very good, was adjusting the course all the time and had no problems. Until the moment that the sailor at the 7th place did not go to the last mark, but headed from the second last straight for the finish, followed by the rest of the fleet.

Panic on committee boat

Panic on committee and jury boat and after a while the PRO realized what was going on. While he was busy with moving marks, hoisting flags and giving signals, he miscalculated: one leg too many. That number 7 was right and finished first!

What to do now? Well, as I said, the PRO was very good and he made two quick decisions: note the boats as they finish; in the meantime also note the six boats sailing the extra leg. Comparing both lists and deducting the six from the finishing list and giving them there own scoring list, gave as a result for this race two scoring lists. One for the six boats which sailed the extra leg and one for the rest of the fleet. Result for the overall scoring: two firsts, two seconds and so on till seven.

Everybody happy except maybe the organizing yacht club, as they had to double the day prizes. But that was a minor problem.

a hot shot in ISAF

As the PRO was a man with a good sense for humor and as he likes to tell the story himself with no reservations, I feel free to mention his name: Jeff Martin. Nowadays a hot shot in ISAF and well respected for his visions and ideas.

__________________________________________
Adriaan is the first to write a guest post. He has been commenting regularly on my posts and will be trilled if you give him your comments on this story.

If you have a similar experience or something else you'd like to share, please send it by mail and I'll consider posting. I'm hoping to make this a more or less regular feature on Fridays

Skutsjesilen 2008

All of you who are into sailing, who know a little about my home country and the region I live, must know about this annual event: "Skutsjesilen"

Last weekend the SKS started their series in nearly perfect conditions and we had three days of very exciting sailing. I've found a small video on you tube which captures a little how these big barges are sailed:


You can hear the starting gun at the beginning, at the end the boats are recalled because of a general recall...

The racing rules have been changed for these races, to better fit the temperament of the barges, to better accommodate tradition and because the men who sail, are stubborn old traditionalist who don't want anybody else understand what they are up to....

Nevertheless the racing is very popular in my neck of the woods for each barge sails for a town or region.

To top of that, the commentator on local radio who does the daily racing reports is very very enthusiastic and passionate. It comes trough and makes it more exciting. I listen to him working at my desk in the afternoon and keep wishing, I was where he is.....

More on Skutsjesilen.nl (but only in Dutch)

Rulesguide by Wim Thijs | 3

In March of this year I wrote a couple of posts about Rulesguide by Wim Thijs 1989 | 2
Also in Dutch: Regelwijzer van Wim Thijs uit 1989.
Some time ago I came across an updated version from 1997, so still a couple of rule-cycles ago.
I've tried to ask permission of the author to update the picture, but alas, my inquiries have been unanswered. Below a picture of the 1997 version:
Perhaps I should translate and update for 2009-2012?

AC Timeline 1851-2008

If you're interested in the history of the AC, have a look at this post by Mark Wharton Reid.
Today's court-battle is but a footnote in a long history of extraordinary events surrounding the Cup.

20 Years of Umpiring at CC2008

Read about the beginning of umpiring at the Congressional Cup in 1988
Article in Scuttlebut News: Congressional Cup 2008

Rulesguide by Wim Thijs 1989 | 2

For all of you who have been mailing me asking for a post in English today, here's the translation. I will keep in mind that the majority of readers is no longer 'local', so sorry about that and I will do better in the future.

From my archive I rooted out a picture and scanned it. (see previous post) It is a smaller version of a big poster (A1-size) made by Wim Thijs and published in 1989 by the KNWV (our MNA). For years I've been looking for this poster. If there's a reader who still has a copy and doesn't mind parting with it, I would appreciate to hear about it. We can alway negotiate a fair price.
The rule numbers are no longer in use. I'm thinking about making a new updated version.

How many of you were able to get the gist of the post just from the Dutch version?

Regelwijzer van Wim Thijs uit 1989

Uit mijn archief heb ik bovenstaande kaart opgezocht en gescand. Het is een verkleinde versie van een grote poster (A1-formaat) gemaakt door Wim Thijs en in 1989 uitgegeven door het KNWV. Ik ben al jaren op zoek naar die poster. Als er iemand onder de lezers is, die deze misschien heeft bewaart, maar toch wel wil afstaan, hoor ik dat graag. Over een prijs valt altijd te onderhandelen.
De gebruikte regelnummers zijn allang niet meer geldig. Ik zit erover te denken een nieuw versie te maken.

SHIP SHAPE AND BRISTOL FASHION

The Port Of Bristol was once famous for importing tobacco, sherry, chocolate and .....slaves. Slave ships smelled and could bring disease. They were not allowed into port until they were cleaned and made tidy (tides are predictable and ordered). Before entering Bristol, slave ships were rigorously inspected so as to be ship shape and Bristol fashion. Even once tied up at the quay, sailors would not be allowed ashore until the vessel had slewed her yards, swinging them inboard so as not to obstruct passing ships and quayside buildings. No cock up crew was allowed ashore until each had cleared his yardarm to a neatly braced order.

In Portsmouth, floozies would come aboard naval vessels to aid ship morale. Shore leave was often forbidden for fear that pressed men (landlubbers who were forced into service by press gangs) would desert. Each morning the petty officer would shout for the occupants of hammocks to show a leg. If the leg was smooth and shapely, the lady was allowed to sleep in; if the leg was hairy, the officer turned out the hammock for the sailor to swab the deck. Hammocks were not really suited to the activities of these ladies and most preferred to work in the spaces between the guns. The gun decks also offered convenient spaces (with suitable rings) for child-birth. Children born on the gun decks could never be certain of their father and were entered in the Deck Log as son of a gun. The gun deck and the four deck rings for each canon were also useful for tying men to be flogged over a barrel. Sailors referred to this predicament as being married to the gunner's daughter, from which there was no respite.

The text above is from a piece I found somewhere on the www when I started studying for international exams.
Not only does it explain what things mean, but it gives you also some insight in where a particular word originated from. (see under FILES: Glossary of Sailing Terms)

Other sites with explanations and glossary:
http://www.sailinglinks.com/glossary.htm
http://terrax.org/index.aspx
http://www.sailingahead.com/information/glossary.htm