On January 1, 2013, the new edition of The Racing Rules of Sailing went into effect. These rules are locked in through 2016. Dave Perry returns to the US Sailing Blog to explain some of the significant changes to the rules. Dave is a welcome authority on the rules, as chairman of the US Sailing Appeals Committee, Rules Advisor to the US Olympic Sailing Team and Artemis Racing, the Challenger for the America’s Cup, co-author of the North U Rules & Tactics seminar, and author of two books on the subject. Read Dave's interpretation of the rules regarding penalties: