Speed & Smarts Newsletter 118

I've been subscribing to Speed & Smarts for a couple of years and always have a copy on my 'coffee table'.
David Dellenbaugh always finds new ways to tell sailors how to improve there racing abilities. I don't race that much myself any more - being to busy with judging and umpiring - but nevertheless it helps me understand how and why sailors do things. And that is something I do need, when judging what parties are telling me in a hearing.

I've snapped a picture from issue 118 to illustrate.

You can subscribe to this bi-monthly newsletter by going to http://www.speedandsmarts.com/Newsletter/SpeedAndSmarts. And even if you don't want to straight away - have a look at the website. There's lots of useful information there.

Update for UK-Halsey Rules Quizzes program with a Racing Rules of Sailing -Test

From the UK-Halsey Newsletter:

Dear UK-Halsey Racing Rules Program Owner, In an effort to find better and better ways to teach the racing rules of sailing, the rules experts at UK-Halsey have come up with something new. We have developed a multiple choice test designed to help you apply the rules to common race-course scenarios. Instead of trying to "catch” you with tricky questions, we want you to learn the rules of common situations so that you will immediately know your rights and obligations when you get into similar situations on the race course. This test is a free addition to the Rules Program that you purchased. We purposely made the program a download instead of a physical CD so that we could provide no-cost upgrades this during the four-year rule cycle. This is a huge improvement to the program and we hope that you enjoy it. You'll find the test and the answers in the Lifted Tack section of the program. To get the test, just update your UK-Halsey Rules Quiz program. To do so, open the program while your computer is online. In the bottom right of the program's home page you will see in white letters, "Update Available”. Click there to start the process. You will not have to be online to take the test. You can take the test as many times as you want. To find out how your score ranks against the average score, e-mail your score to rules@ukhalsey.com. If you include your answers to all the questions, we will send you our International Code Flag decal, which helps decode race course signals. The easiest way to send your answers is to make a screen capture of your answer sheet. Please feel free show the program with its animated quizzes, the rules test, and the program's videos to your friends. The more people who learn the rules, the more fun racing will be for everyone. Finally, it is our plan to keep adding tests to the program. They will be shorter, themed tests that have to do with situations at sections of the race course, e.g., starting line rules, rules at the windward mark, etc. Stay tuned and keep watching for the "Update Available” prompt on the home page of the rules program.

 

I’ve done the test and came away with a score of 97%. Not perfect! I answered question 16 incorrectly. You’ll will have to take the test to see why.

A good tool to test your knowledge and understanding of the rules. With the correct answers, a comprehensive and clear explanation is provided. So you learn from your mistakes.

For those of you who are serious in learning the RRS, the UK-Halsey Rules Quiz program is very good tool. Like the newsletter says, no trickery or impossible scenarios. Basic situations you’ll come across in almost every race.

And wouldn’t it be great to be sure of what your rights and obligations are, in those situations?

J.

Understanding the RRS through 2012

Since we are on the subject of books and I realize that a Dutch translation is of limited interest to many of my blog readers, I'm writing this post to tell you about the new book by Dave Perry: Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing through 2012.


I ordered my copy from the US and it arrived two weeks ago. I've been reading parts of it since then. First of all, this is a very thorough book. It covers everything. From basics principle of how to use the language in sail racing, to the intricacies of rule 18 and 19. Perhaps a bit overwhelming for the beginner, but then again, there's no need to read it from cover to cover in one go. You can use it as a reference book and read parts you're interested in or you have had issue with.

Dave frequently uses the question and answer style; a little fish with a funny nose asks a relevant question and Dave answers it, explaining the rule in the process. Not at all the dry and stuffy style you would expect from a book about 'rules'.

Plenty of pictures, drawn by Brad Dellenbaugh, and clear and complete explanations.

This book is for the sailor who wants to know it all. For the judge who wants to have a clear reference book. It is also very useful for anybody who's first language is not English to get enough practice to be able to express your opinion to an International Jury. It will take some time to read it all, but it is worth it.

If you are just starting out, I would opt for 'Rules in Practice 2009-2012' I reviewed earlier, but if you have a year or two under your belt, this is a very good alternative. In any case - they complement each other very nicely - so there's room for both, on my shelf.

The book can be purchased from US SAILING (http://store.ussailing.org). It took about two weeks to receive it from US SAILING and the shipping and handling was just under US$20. The cost of the book is US$32.50.

SPEED & SMARTS (4) #104 New Rules 2009-2012

My copy of Speed & Smarts dropped in the mailbox this week. Most of my readers from the USA who subscribe, will have had their copy weeks ago. But for those that don't, I highly recommend David Dellenbaugh's publication. Very nice graphics, pertinent and concise without missing the anything. I enjoy reading S&S every time, but the ones with the new rules are my favorites.You can subscribe on the Speed&Smarts website for a paper - or an Email subscription.

Also on the site: Two new rules tests.
You fill in true or false for twice 20 questions (Test 1 and Test 2) and if you provide an email address, the correct answers are send to you with an explanation within a minute.
Be warned, careful reading is a must! I had several wrong answers because of too quick reading.


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Rulesmaster Racing 2012

My publisher was handed a CD-Rom at the London Boats show asking him to look into it's application abroad (specifically in the Netherlands). He send me the disk asking me to have a look. The CD-Rom contains a program designed to learn the Racing Rules 2009-2012 made by a company called RulesMaster.

I've spent the better part of this morning going trough the various presentations and quizzes. Very interesting. There's a part for beginners and a more experienced Racers Guide. Each rule is explained by a very pleasant English voice complete with 3D animations and colored subtexts. You can look up the rules by clicking on the underlined words.

After each chapter you can take a quiz to see if you've mastered the content.It gives you the relevant Cases if applicable and explains why an answer is wrong.

It covers the whole rulebook, but not the Appendices. It concentrates on rules in part 1 and 2.

Compleet with searchable database in three different forms: Table of Contents, Index and ISAF Index.

Also on the CD-Rom are a protest form and a brief summary of the changes in the 2009-2012 rules.

The complete rulebook has been integrated in the program and can be accessed in many different ways from searching words to just reading from chapter 1 trough to the definitions.

I'm impressed by the thoroughness of the whole setup. The structure is logical and the approach uses all the new possibilities of learning trough a PC-program. If you are a beginner it teaches you enough to have fun on the course without getting into trouble. And if you are more experienced it gives you the ins and outs in depth.

It lacks a specific situational approach. And it lacks sometimes a little humor; the rules can be very dry at times. But all in all a very good way to learn RRS 2009-2012.

If you want to know more: http://www.rulesmaster.com/

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