The 2019 Roadford Rocket proved to be an epic test of stamina and skill. The late forecast of increasing north-westerly winds and cold temperatures put off a number of the pre-entries, but the arrival of the top 5 competitors the Sailing Southwest Winter Series guaranteed a very close fought event. There were 25 starters, with a number of retirements before the first lap was completed, and only 14 finishes at the end, with one boat finishing upside down, another standing on t

This month, I have been working on writing a Club Race Management talk which I am to present at Paignton Sailing Club. One section is on ‘The Finish’ in which I discuss, amongst other things, the definition of Finish within the Racing Rules of Sailing. This is probably the most complicated definition within the rules and has a number of lesser known implications. For those of you who don’t know, the definition of Finish is: A boat finishes when any part of her hull, or crew o