PlanetSail: A look at the America's Cup Rules - how they are different

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs INEOS Britannia (pre-start of race 9) - Louis Vuitton Cup Final - Race Day 6 - October 2, 2024 © David Maynard / www.alleycatphotographer.com

PlanetSail's Matt Sheahan sits down with Chief Umpire for the America's Cup, Richard Slater (AUS) to run through the America's Cup version of the Racing Rules.

There are some significant differences in the America's Cup rules and their application, from the rules used in regular yacht racing - and in fact some of the rules from the standard rulebook have been deleted. There's no "tacking" rule, for instance in the America's Cup.

One of the disappointing aspects of the America's Cup video coverage is that there is not a better explanation of the rules, and why a particular boat has, or has not been penalised.

In this video Richard Slater and Matt Sheahan go through several examples of how the Louis Vuitton Cup racing - using a video of the incident, and then replaying the incident as seen on the umpiring system, with an explanation as to the rules that apply and the rights and obligations of the boats involved (usually they both have different rights and obligations).

Richard Slater also discusses how the umpires handle the racing call between them, and how decisions are made to penalise or "Green Flag" an incident. There's also an explanation of the rules governing the way the boats must enter the starting box to commence their prestart efforts to get the best possible start, and get away into the race with an advantage over their competitor.

Remembering that there have been few instances of a boat who has led around the first mark being overtaken, so gaining an advantage out of the start, or getting the upper hand at the first or second cross is vital to score the race win.

This is a must-see video for all serious Cup fans.

After the race you can revisit an incident yourself, or the whole race using Virtual Eye from ARL

Virtual Eye has been developed by Animation Research Ltd, who created the first AC graphics system driven by GPS data, back in 1991. The system which originally used Silicon Graphics systems, and was designed to show the information required for rules incident replays, as well as turning points in the race outcome. Virtual Eye is a web based application that grew out of the original ARL system, and is now used by Cup teams to demonstrate various situations and incidents where the race turned. It is a fantastic analysis tool.

You can go directly to the Virtual Eye America's Cup coverage by clicking here and click on "Watch Previous" then select the race you wish to view. Virtual Eye is a 3D viewer so you can zoom in, out, around and up and down just like you could in a helicopter.