Regatta - Andy Merritt's House Rules

Note that these rules apply to the 3M version of the game, which has significantly different components and rules to the Avalon Hill version, and the 3M set is generally considered slightly superior.

Essentially, I recommend using the Advanced Rules Part 1 - Heading Moves, but not using the Right of Way Rules, unless you really are very familiar with sailing and with the game.  The Heading Moves are absolutely essential as the basic game alone is dull and far too simple.

Since the Heading rules were written in a cross between 'sailorese' and 3M'ish and weren't entirely clear, here is my clarification and interpretation of what they mean:

1)	You must leave the yacht facing in the direction it moved at the end of a leg in which it moved.

2)	You must lean the yacht away from the wind.  If running or luffing it can lean either way.  A yacht is not allowed to travel in a direction such that it is leaning the wrong way!  Changing the leaning of a yacht is a special move - see 3.

3)	Before moving in a leg, a yacht may turn as much as desired as long as it remains leaning in the correct direction w.r.t. the wind.  If the yacht is turned into a direction such that it is leaning into the wind then it must change its leaning (tacking or jibing).  This uses up the full movement allowance for that leg.

4)	If at the start of a turn a yacht has been left luffing (facing straight into the wind) or leaning into the wind due to a change of wind, then an entire leg must be spent repositioning the yacht into a position where its lean is appropriate and it is no longer luffing.

5)	If you choose to luff on purpose, one leg is spent moving into the 'luff' heading and another must then be spent getting out of it (as in 4), making this a fairly unlikely manoeuver.

In addition one other house ruling we made was that it is permitted to play a puff card in a leg where no movement takes place because a change a leaning or luffing is taking place, but the movement must be in the direction the yacht ends the leg in.