Race the Wind Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Box Contents
• Description and Goal of the Game
• Sailing Definitions for the Game
• 1. Racing Area
• 2. Moves and Points of Sail
• 3. The Race
  • 3.1 The Start
  • 3.2 Yellow and Blue Tokens
  • 3.3 Wind Change
  • 3.4 Engagements and Penalties
  • 3.5 Wind Cover
  • 3.6 Rounding the Mark
  • 3.7 The Finish
  • 3.8 Variants

Box Contents

• 1 Game board
• 5 Boats with self-adhesive sails
• 3 Buoys
• 1 Committee boat
• 2 Wind-change flags
• 40 Yellow tokens
• 40 Blue tokens
• 1 Rulebook

Description and Goal of the Game

Race the Wind - Sailing Cup simulates faithfully, without the use of cards or dice, a regatta (several boats) or a match race (two boats). The racing area extends along the long side of the game board, between the leeward gate, marked by a buoy and the committee boat, and the windward mark (fig. 1). The length of the course is variable, as decided by the competitors.

The wind blows, by definition, from the windward mark (North) towards the leeward gate (South).

The boats start from the leeward gate and sail the racing area three times upwind (beating) and three times downwind (running), moving with the wind but paying attention to the shifts, the gusts and the changes of direction of the wind.

By following a precise race strategy and applying the tactics of engagement and cover, the best sailor, or the best sailors (since it is also possible to play with crews), will cross the finish line and win the Sailing Cup.

Sailing Definitions for the Game

STARBOARD TACK: the wind meets the right side of the boat (fig. 2).

PORT TACK: the wind meets the left side of the boat (fig. 3).

LEEWARD: the side away from which the wind is blowing, opposite of windward, the side the wind comes from. By definition in the game, a boat is to leeward of another when it is further away, compared with the first, from the area the wind blows from (see fig. 2 and 3, where B is to leeward of A, and boats A in fig. 10 and in fig. 12 right).

JIBE (STRAMBATA): the boat changes tack (from right to left or vice versa) by letting the wind pass over its stern (fig. 4, boat B).

TACK (VIRATA): the boat changes tack (from right to left or vice versa) by letting the wind pass over its bow (fig. 4, boat A).

LAYLINE: the two ideal diagonal routes at 45° (fig. 1) that lead directly to the windward mark. They are reference routes during navigation. Sailing the left layline allows the boat to reach the windward mark without any further tacks.

Figure 1: the racing area: the windward mark and the laylines to the North, the leeward gate to the South.

Figure 2: starboard tack. Figure 3: port tack. Figure 4: A tacks, B jibes.

1. Racing Area

The starting line (or leeward gate) is set between a buoy and the committee boat (which acts as a buoy). It is placed near the edge of the short side of the game board (fig. 1), no less than 3 intersections from it, so as to leave enough space for the starting manoeuvres.

On the other short side, in the same way (no less than 3 intersections), is placed the windward mark, exactly opposite the starting line. In this way a stick-shaped course is formed, which is sailed 3 times in one direction and 3 times in the other.

The windward mark is rounded by turning around it clockwise, while the starting gate is rounded by turning clockwise around the buoy or anticlockwise around the committee boat, thus crossing the finish line (fig. 5).

Between the starting gate and the windward mark, the two wind-change flags are placed wherever you like (fig. 8). The distances between one buoy and the other may vary; the competitors will decide them by mutual agreement. The wind indicator is placed to the North of the starting line.

Figure 5: 1: upwind leg; 2: downwind leg; the directions of rotation around the buoys are marked.

2. Moves and Points of Sail

The boats decide with which point of sail to begin the race, then alternate their moves according to the agreed turn order, moving on the intersections of the grid shown on the game board, with a point of sail that depends each time on the angle the boat makes with the direction of the wind. Each player must make their move within 2 minutes. The wind direction is initially from the North.

A movement means the unit advance from one intersection to the next (also diagonally) on the grid.

A manoeuvre means a rotation on oneself (clockwise or anticlockwise) of a minimum of 45° up to a maximum of 90°.

IMPORTANT: it is compulsory to complete your move in full, whatever the point of sail.

The 4 possible points of sail are presented:

CLOSE-HAULED (BOLINA): the boat is at an angle of 45° to the direction of the wind (fig. 6, boats A). The boat is entitled to 1 movement, advancing 1 intersection on the same close-hauled course, or to 1 manoeuvre of its choice among:

• a tack, that is a 90° manoeuvre which changes tack and puts the boat on the other close-hauled course;
• a 90° manoeuvre, opposite to the tack, which puts the boat on a broad reach (fig. 6, boats C);
• a 45° manoeuvre, opposite to the tack, which puts the boat on a beam reach (fig. 6, boats B).

The 45° manoeuvre in the direction of the tack, which would put the boat head to wind, is forbidden during the race (unless it ends up there involuntarily through a wind change) but not during the start: in that point of sail the boat is entitled to only 1 manoeuvre.

BEAM REACH (TRAVERSO): the boat is at an angle of 90° to the direction of the wind (fig. 6, boats B). The boat is entitled to 2 moves: movement + movement, movement + manoeuvre, manoeuvre + manoeuvre, and manoeuvre + movement. A movement is an advance of 1 intersection along the beam reach, except when the move is manoeuvre + movement: in that case the movement takes place in the direction in which the manoeuvre has taken the boat. With a 45° manoeuvre the boat can move to close-hauled or to broad reach; with a 90° manoeuvre the boat can move to run. Finally, using the manoeuvre + manoeuvre move, both of 90°, the boat can reverse its beam reach point of sail.

BROAD REACH (LASCO): the boat is at an angle of 45° to the direction of the wind (fig. 6, boats C). Compared with close-hauled, the wind comes from behind. The boat is entitled to 2 moves in this exact order: movement and then manoeuvre. The movement is a unit advance along the broad reach. There are 4 possible manoeuvres: 45° or 90° in one direction and 45° or 90° in the other, so it is possible to reach the close-hauled, beam reach, run and the other broad reach points of sail. The right to perform the manoeuvre, however, unlike on the beam reach, is optional.

RUN (POPPA): the wind comes from the stern of the boat (fig. 6, boat D). The boat is entitled to 1 unit movement forward on the same run, or to one manoeuvre. There are 4 possible manoeuvres with which to reach 2 broad reaches and 2 beam reaches.

Figure 6: A sails close-hauled, B on a beam reach, C on a broad reach and D on a run.

By definition in the game, a boat advancing on a run has its wind on the starboard tack.

3. The Race

3.1 The Start

Pre-start positioning

In the case of 2 competitors, the boats for the start divide the racing area in two, along the longer side of the board, and position themselves on opposite sides, wherever they like: the holder (if there is one) takes the right, the challenger the left.

The positioning may take place both above and below the level of the starting gate, and on any point of sail.

Figure 7: pre-start for races with more than 2 boats.

When, instead, there are more than 2 players, the racing area is not divided, and it is possible to choose, in addition to the point of sail, the side on which to place the boat.

However, boats may position themselves only in the following situations:

• above the starting line, 3 intersections from one of the 2 buoys (example in fig. 7, boat A);
• below the starting line, 8 intersections from one of the 2 buoys (example in fig. 7, boat C);
• level with the starting line, 8 intersections from one of the 2 buoys (example in fig. 7, boat B).

With more than 2 boats it is forbidden to position oneself in the area delimited by the 2 buoys (the one between the dashed red lines), whereas with 2 boats this is entirely possible.

The Start Procedure

The starting procedure lasts 7 moves, and its aim is to obtain, at the 7th move, the best possible position relative to the opponents, below the starting line.

The boats will therefore begin moving from the 1st move and engage each other to best prepare the crossing of the starting gate, which is planned from the 8th move onwards.

During the start it is forbidden to:

• manoeuvre on the same intersection for more than 2 moves;
• touch the starting line during the 6th and the 7th move.

The boats that have positioned themselves above the starting line at the beginning therefore have 5 moves to cross the line completely from North to South, preparing to cross it again at the 8th move, thus launching themselves into the racing area.

If one of the two rules is violated, the opponent may ask for a penalty.

With the eighth move, the race is formally started and the boats may cross the starting gate, sailing towards the North.

3.2 Yellow and Blue Tokens

The yellow and blue tokens supplied total 80 (40 yellow and 40 blue). Before the race these are placed by the players on the intersections of the racing area, except for 1 yellow token each, which remains in the hands of the players themselves (see chapter 3.5). The placement may be at will or according to a predetermined strategy, but in any case freely anywhere on the grid. The only restriction concerns the buoys and the starting gate: in the square of 4 intersections per side centred on the buoys (the zone of the 2 lengths, which has 25 intersections, see chapter 3.6) no more than 10 tokens in total may be placed, and the starting line may never have tokens on more than half of its points.

Yellow tokens: wind lull

A boat that meets a yellow token on its course will stand still for 1 turn. The yellow token, in fact, always stops the boat, whatever its point of sail.

Example: if a boat sailing on a beam reach meets a yellow point after the first of the 2 moves allowed, it is not entitled to the second move and will stay still for one turn. Likewise, if a boat sailing on a broad reach meets a yellow point after the first move, it will remain in that position for 1 turn and may not use the right to manoeuvre.

Blue tokens: gust of wind

A boat that meets a blue token on its course gains one movement.

ATTENTION: a blue token does not always give the boat an additional movement.

If a boat is sailing on a beam reach it gains a movement only if it touches the blue token at the end of the second movement.

On a broad reach the following 2 cases may occur:

• the boat advances on the grid and meets a blue token, manoeuvres/jibes and continues to advance on another point of sail, reaching another intersection, for a total of 3 moves;
• the boat advances on the grid, meets a blue token and uses the gust to move on a broad reach to another intersection (total: 2 moves). In this way it gives up the right to manoeuvre.

A boat may refuse the bonus of the blue token by lowering its sails, that is, "spilling the wind" (luffing up), a manoeuvre advisable when the gust would drive it into a buoy or an opposing boat.

If the additional movement granted by the blue token leaves the boat ending on a new blue token, this gives another bonus in the same turn (and so on, without limit).

3.3 Wind Change

When the boat in the lead touches the coordinate at the height of the wind-change flags, the competitor is entitled to roll the compass die: the wind immediately turns according to the result, and the points of sail will be identified according to this new direction until the next wind change.

Normally, in a race (fig. 8) there are 2 wind changes for each upwind leg and 2 for each downwind leg, but it may happen that, after the last upwind wind change (point 2 in fig. 8), the wind blows in an East/West direction. In this case the first boat to round the windward mark (red coordinate X in fig. 8) will automatically return the wind to the North direction.

Figure 8: wind changes during the race.

3.4 Engagements and Penalties

Engagements

By definition in the game, 2 or more boats are said to be engaged when there are intersections that they can reach, and therefore it is necessary to establish a right of way. The boat that violates this right will receive a penalty.

The engagement may concern intersections already occupied by a boat, which others may claim to reach (fig. 2 and 3), or free intersections which the boats still have to reach (fig. 9, 10, 11).

Both cases provide for engagement rules according to which the right of way always belongs to the boat on starboard tack or, in the case of equal tacks, to the boat to leeward.

Contests for occupied points

An example of the first case is the engagement from astern: a boat manages to get into the wake of an opponent and engages it because it can claim the point that the latter occupies.

In figure 2 the engaged boats sail close-hauled on the same course on starboard tack, and they are engaged because B can, at every turn, claim the intersection occupied by A.

It follows that A, to avoid a penalty, can only continue to sail close-hauled by moving and never by manoeuvring: if in a turn A decided to manoeuvre, it would in fact stop on the intersection and, when it was B's turn, B could not advance and would ask for a penalty.

If A's manoeuvre had been an anticlockwise 45° to start a beam reach, or a 90° for a broad reach, should B protest the tacks would immediately be evaluated: both on starboard tack, and then one would go on to consider who is to leeward: B.

B would then be right in asking for a penalty against A.

If A's manoeuvre had been a 90° tack to change close-hauled course, the situation would have been even simpler, because A would have changed tack, moving onto port tack. B, on starboard tack, would once again have had the right of way, triggering the penalty.

That is why, in this close-hauled engagement, A is as if it were a prisoner of B and, in order to avoid a penalty, is forced to continue moving close-hauled until B manoeuvres.

A could clearly consider manoeuvring, receiving the penalty anyway and forcing B to manoeuvre too, if in the economy of the race this could make sense.

The other type of engagement for boats sailing on the same close-hauled course is the one with port tack, the best case for the leading boat, which can in fact tack onto starboard tack without incurring a penalty. All other manoeuvres would bring a penalty; the tack, instead, puts A on starboard tack and B, having port tack, could not protest to claim the point ahead of it.

The case of the engagement from astern described for close-hauled can equally be applied to the run and broad reach points of sail: the case of the beam reach is different, where the boat in front can easily free itself by performing the move manoeuvre + movement.

In all cases, if the boat ahead meets a yellow token on its course, it is forced to take the wind lull, but at that point it cannot incur a penalty.

Contests for free points

An example of the second case is represented in figure 9: A and B claim the ideal light-blue point ("punto azzurro") on their respective close-hauled courses, but it is B that, having starboard tack, is the only one entitled to that point.

If A's turn came before B's, and A moved onto the point, B would clearly have to manoeuvre, but by protesting it would give A the penalty.

In figure 10 the point is due to A, because both boats are on port tack, but A is to leeward of B. B could continue its beam reach past that point and move on to the next one, but if it decided to stop on the light-blue point and manoeuvre it would incur the penalty (if A protested).

In figure 11 A and B are on starboard tack and are on the same wind line: in this case the speed of the boat is evaluated. Broad reach and beam reach are considered, in the game, points of sail faster than run and close-hauled, because they guarantee 2 moves instead of only 1, therefore the right of way belongs to boat A.

Figure 9: boat B is on starboard tack and has the right of way, and therefore the right to the highlighted intersection. Figure 10: boat A is to leeward and therefore has the right of way and the right to the indicated intersection. Figure 11: A and B are on starboard tack, on the same wind line, A is faster and therefore has the right to the indicated intersection.

To sum up, when two boats are engaged, the rules are as follows:

• the boat on starboard tack has the right of way;
• if the tacks are equal, the boat to leeward has the right of way;
• if the tacks are equal and both boats are on the same wind line, the boat proceeding at the faster point of sail has the right of way;
• if the speeds are also equal, the right of way is according to the game turn order (the first to arrive).

ATTENTION: a wind change may create or modify an engagement situation, and penalties must be given in consequence of these new situations.

Penalties

The penalty must be claimed by the boat that believes it did not receive the right of way from an opponent according to the engagement rules.

It is served in 4 moves, by making a full 360° turn on oneself, at least 2 squares from the buoys.

To serve the penalty it is also necessary to be at least 2 intersections away from the other boats.

The penalty-serving manoeuvre must be declared and must be carried out before the end of the race.

3.5 Wind Cover

Every boat, on whatever point of sail, has an ideal leeward point, where the wind is dirtied by its sails for all the opponents who should go there (black dots in fig. 12, left): every boat that reaches or finds itself on these points (fig. 12 right, boat A) must place on its course, 2 intersections ahead, the yellow token (the one kept in reserve by each player; if these ran out, a token would be borrowed from another player).

This token represents a sort of penalty that the boat in question will receive if it remains in the shadow cone of the opponent, and it must be removed as soon as the boat reaches it or decides to manoeuvre to avoid it.

Each time such a cover occurs, the situation must be repeated.

Every time a boat is to leeward of another, it suffers cover. During the close-hauled courses, in fact, the boat in the lead slows down the opponent to leeward with its shadow cone, while on the run the opposite happens: the approaching boat is able to slow down, with its shadow cone, the boat in front.

The same applies in general to all points of sail.

The technique of wind cover is an important tactical weapon, particularly for those chasing on the run.

Figure 12: on the left, the cover points where the wind is dirtied by the sails of boat A on a run and of boat B close-hauled; the same applies to broad reach and beam reach; on the right, boat A suffers the cover of boat B and is forced to place the yellow token two intersections in front of itself.

3.6 Rounding the Mark

The zone of the 2 lengths is the area of 25 intersections at the centre of which is the buoy.

Up to the zone of the 2 lengths, that is up to a distance of 2 squares from the buoy, the engagement rules are taken into account, but within the zone of the 2 lengths only the inside position at the buoy is taken into account. The engagement rules therefore lapse.

Within the zone of the 2 lengths, in the case of engagement, the boat that is more inside relative to the buoy will have the right of way (fig. 13).

Figure 13: boats A and B are engaged within the zone of the 2 lengths: B has the right of way, even though outside that zone it would be A that had it, because it is to leeward.

Within the zone of the 2 lengths (perimeter included), if the boat holding the inside position at the buoy is engaged from astern by another boat, it loses the right of way, whatever the direction of the wind: it may not manoeuvre and is forced to advance (fig. 14).

Figure 14: B has engaged A and has the right of way: outside the zone A could easily free itself because the boats are on beam reach, but within the zone of the 2 lengths it cannot do so.

The engagement from astern lapses when the boats are both outside the zone of the 2 lengths, and at this point the normal rule of windward/leeward/tack applies.

At the start, the inside position at the buoy does not determine right of way or the right of course.

3.7 The Finish

The finish line coincides with the starting line.

The boat that first touches the finish line wins.

IMPORTANT: up to and including the finish line, the tack and leeward rules apply.

3.8 Variants

A second buoy may be added parallel to the windward mark (fig. 15-a), or on a broad reach relative to it, forming a triangular course (fig. 15-b): in these cases the competitors may choose the course they prefer. The rules of the zone of the 2 lengths, inside position at the buoy, always apply.

• It is possible to play without blue and yellow tokens.
• It is possible to remove the wind-change arrows.
• It is possible to play without wind cover.

Figure 15 a and b: the alternative courses with a second windward buoy or a second broad-reach buoy.