A boat must give all possible help to any person or vessel in danger, and must wear a personal flotation device when signaled to (or required by the sailing instructions). Safety always comes before racing.

Race fairly, using accepted principles of sportsmanship. This is the catch-all rule for conduct that's clearly against the spirit of racing even if no specific rule covers it.

It's entirely the skipper's decision whether to start or continue racing. The race committee running the event doesn't make that call for you — if conditions feel unsafe for your boat and crew, don't go out.

A port-tack boat must keep clear of a starboard-tack boat. This is the single most important rule on the racecourse — when in doubt about who has right of way, this is usually the rule in play.

When boats are on the same tack and overlapped, the windward boat must keep clear of the leeward boat.

When boats are on the same tack and not overlapped, a boat clear astern must keep clear of a boat clear ahead.

A boat that is tacking (head to wind) must keep clear of every other boat until it's back on a close-hauled course. If you're tacking, you have no rights until the tack is complete.

Every boat must try to avoid contact with another boat, whether or not it has right of way. Having right of way is never an excuse to sail into someone.

If you gain right-of-way (e.g. by tacking onto starboard), you must initially give the other boat room to keep clear. Likewise, if you change course, you must give any boat keeping clear of you room to respond.

If you sail up from behind and pull alongside on the leeward (downwind) side, getting your bow overlapped with the other boat's stern while still within about two boat-lengths, you generally can't then steer up above your proper course while that overlap lasts. In plain terms: you can't sneak up from behind on someone's leeward side and then swing up into them to slow them down or push them off course.

When boats are about to round or pass a mark, an inside overlapped boat is generally entitled to room from the outside boat(s) to round it — room to sail her proper course. This is the rule behind most mark-rounding disputes, because it hinges on whether an overlap existed at the exact moment the first boat reached the "zone" — three hull lengths from the mark, measured using whichever boat is closest to the mark (in a mixed fleet, that's whatever boat happens to be nearest at the time, not always the biggest or smallest boat). A few feet of overlap timing right at that moment is often exactly what's in dispute.

Similar concept to mark-room, but for continuing obstructions like a shoreline, anchored boat, or another vessel not racing.

A boat approaching an obstruction can hail for room to tack, and the hailed boat must respond even if it means giving up right-of-way momentarily.

If your boat touches a mark that's part of the course (a rounding mark, a start or finish mark, etc.), you can take a penalty on the water to continue racing without protest — RDCC's one-turn penalty applies here too. If you touch a mark and don't take a turn, you're at risk of disqualification if someone protests.

Defines the standard signal sequence — the Warning, Preparatory, one-minute, and starting signals. RDCC uses a 5-4-1-START sequence: signals at 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 1 minute, and the start.

If one or more boats are over the line early, the race committee signals an individual or general recall so they can return and restart correctly.

Covers the escalating penalty flags a race committee can display before the start (like the flags nicknamed "the round-the-ends rule" or "black flag") to discourage boats from being over early, up to disqualification without a hearing for boats that are over under a black flag.

If you think you broke a rule, you can take a penalty on the water instead of risking disqualification later: sail clear of other boats as soon as reasonably possible, then complete one full turn (360°), including one tack and one gybe, in the same direction. RDCC uses a one-turn penalty rather than the standard two-turn penalty.

A boat that believes another boat broke a rule (and wasn't exonerated, and didn't take a penalty) can protest. You must notify the other boat you intend to protest at the first reasonable opportunity, and file a written protest with the race committee before the protest time limit expires. A hearing decides whether a rule was broken and what happens as a result.

A boat can request redress if she believes her finishing place was made significantly worse through no fault of her own — for example, race committee error, or help given to someone in danger. Redress is decided by adjusting that boat's score, not by penalizing anyone else.

Every event sets its own protest time limit in the sailing instructions — there's no universal default. Know what your race committee has set for the day; missing the deadline can mean the protest isn't heard at all.