Ooching
Lunging your body forward and stopping abruptly to jerk the boat ahead — ooching — is prohibited propulsion.
Rule 42.1 forbids using your body to propel the boat. Ooching (rule 42.2(c)) is a sudden forward body movement, stopped abruptly, that surges the boat ahead — the stop-start motion shown here. Like pumping and rocking it drives the boat with the body instead of wind and water. The only sanctioned way onto a wave is rule 42.3(c): one pull of the sail per wave or gust to start surfing or planing.
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How it interacts with other rules
- Rule 31 — Touching a Mark · see also
Both are penalty offences, but the turns differ: touching a mark (rule 31) is a One-Turn Penalty under rule 44, while a rule 42 breach draws a Two-Turns Penalty under Appendix P (when it's in effect).