Appeal answers Rule 42 question

Dave Perry, Chair of the US Sailing Appeals Committee, provides an update from a recent ruling:

Rule 42, Propulsion, Basic Rule, is the rule that tells sailors what actions are permitted and which are not when it comes to propelling the boat. Rule 42.1 ends with this sentence: “Her crew may adjust the trim of sails and hull, and perform other acts of seamanship, but shall not otherwise move their bodies to propel the boat.”

It is often debated whether the phrase “to propel the boat” means to attempt to propel the boat, whether successful or not, or to actually propel the boat. Recently published US Sailing Appeal 128 answers the question with this decision:

“If the movements of the crew do not actually propel the boat, the boat has not broken rule 42.1. However, if the movements of the crew result in an action listed in rule 42.2, Prohibited Actions (which are pumping, rocking, ooching, sculling, and repeated tacks and gybes), the boat has broken rule 42.2, regardless of whether the action actually propels the boat or not.”