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The World of Match Racing

The America’s Cup turns the heads and eyes of millions of people to the sport of sailing, because as it is broadcasted worldwide and has more money than any other sport pumped into it for three single races or what would be the equivalent of three games in most other sports. America’s Cup is a category of sailing called match racing in which two similar boats go head to head in a race or set of races to decide which boat has the better crew competing on board. In sailing there are three main ways of competing in order to find the best sailor, crew or boat. These are fleet racing, match racing and team racing; all of which are managed by the same governing body (ISAF), though each has slightly different rules. Match racing will be discussed here including its history and major regattas that are held in this sport.

History

The grounds for match racing were originally set about one hundred and forty four years ago when the first America’s Cup was set to take place in its one of a kind event . The match racing rules were set so that you could have two similar boats within a box rule. A box rule which specifies a maximum overall size for boats in the class, as well as features such as stability. That could go head to head in attempt to find the best sailing crews and teams. These rules allow one boat to try and attack the other by getting the other boat penalized so that it has to do what is called three sixty (this is turning the boat three hundred and sixty degrees around or as the rule that states, one tack and one gibe in the same direction), which then puts the penalized boat at a large disadvantage compared to the others. After the America’s Cup the first real match race took place at the Omega Gold Cup in Bermuda in the year 1937. It was considered the first real match race, because it was sailed in one design boats (boats that are all exactly identical as they were built and managed by the same people), while the America’s Cup is a box rule which allows each of the boats to be different speeds. The skipper whom won this regatta was Briggs Cunningham. Briggs Cunningham also won the first America’s Cup that was held which incorporated the box rule. Since the Omega Gold Cup was a great success, match racing grew exponentially and created a new form of competitive sailing that had to have its rules managed and standardized so that rules were the same everywhere. This resulted in The World Match Race Conference, which was a meeting with delegates from all major match racing regattas who decided on the rules and restrictions and who now supervise all match racing regattas.

How the Race is Raced

The Match Racing course has a very simple setup in comparison to fleet racing. In match racing you will always have four legs and four only, never less and never more. Two of the legs are upwind, or sailing against the wind, and the other two legs are downwind, or sailing with the wind. In the first leg the boats are tacking against the wind in order to get to the windward mark the fastest without being penalized while also trying to get the other boats penalized. As their boats and crew get to the windward mark they round it leaving it to starboard, or the right side of the boat. As they go around the mark they cannot touch it, and then they go on to the second leg. On the second leg the boats are going downwind, so they hoist their downwind sails(spinnaker) and go for what is called a gate in sailing, once again trying to get to the gate the fastest by gibing away from the other boat for clear wind or gibing toward another boat to take the opponents wind without getting penalized. A gate in is when there are two marks (buoys) and it is the crew’s choice as to which one they will go around once they start the rounding by going between the two marks and finish the rounding with only one mark next to them. When the boats go through the gate they are then on the third leg of the race. The first leg is basically a repeat of the second leg where they beat upwind going towards the windward mark. Once the boats round the windward mark again they are on the fourth and final leg where they race downwind towards the finish in hope of winning.