Rules for boats that sail at high speeds

As boats get faster, the Racing Rules of Sailing struggle to keep up. As a result, Appendix HS (High Speed Rules) has been developed to better address racing situations that occur at … high speeds:

Under Regulation 28.1.5(b), World Sailing has approved the use of these rules for boats that sail at high speeds. When used, all the rules outlined below shall all be adopted in their entirety. Events (typically for multihulls and fleets of no more than 25 boats) are also encouraged to use these rules.

Races may be sailed under these rules only if the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions so state, with reference to the relevant version, and that version is made available to all competitors. These rules may be invoked by a NOR rule and a Sailing Instruction: “The current version of the ‘Appendix HS – High Speed Rules’, shall apply.” and published as an attachment to the event SI or NoR.

To read Appendix HS, click here.