Pumping to catch a wave
The situation
It's breezy with rolling waves downwind. Dev pulls his sail in sharply again and again to get the boat surfing down the faces of the waves.
The question
Is pumping the sail to surf allowed under the propulsion rule?
The ruling
Only within strict limits. Rule 42.1 bans using your body or sail to propel the boat, and repeated pumping (rule 42.2(a)) is illegal. But rule 42.3(c) gives a narrow exception: to initiate surfing or planing, you may pull each sail in only once for each wave or gust. So one strong pull to catch a wave is fine; pumping repeatedly on the same wave, or pumping when there's no wave or gust to catch, breaks rule 42 and earns a penalty — often a Two-Turns Penalty taken on the spot.
One pull per wave to start surfing — that's it. Repeated pumping breaks rule 42.
Opens the situation on the boat-length grid — scrub it and see exactly how the boats meet. Free, no account needed.
Rules cited
See the underlying rule: Rule 42 — Ooching.
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