The circles are a penalty for a right-of-way mistake. Three rules are enough to understand what happens on the water. A video of under three minutes, with everything to read below.
You are watching from the shore. Suddenly your child turns their boat in two full circles. Why?
The circles are a penalty. Your child has broken a right-of-way rule. With the circles, they make up for it straight away.
You need two words for the rules. If the wind comes from the right, the boat is on starboard tack. If it comes from the left, the boat is on port tack.
Rule one: starboard before port. When two boats meet on opposite tacks, the boat on port tack must keep clear.
Rule two: leeward before windward. When two boats on the same tack sail side by side, the boat closer to the wind must keep clear.
Rule three applies at the mark. Around every mark there is a zone of three boat lengths. For an Opti, that is just under 7 metres.
It is decided when the first boat reaches the zone. If the boats are side by side, the inside boat gets room at the mark. If one is ahead, the boat ahead gets room.
One exception: when two boats on opposite tacks sail upwind to the mark, the zone does not apply. There, starboard before port still counts.
Whoever breaks a right-of-way rule can take a penalty straight away. The child sails clear of the others and turns two circles in the same direction. Each circle includes one tack and one gybe.
Touching the mark is not allowed either. For that, one circle is enough.
The sailing instructions of the regatta can change this penalty. Whatever they say is what counts.
And if the child does not turn? Then the other boat can protest. If the jury finds the mistake, the child is disqualified from that race.
So circles are nothing to be ashamed of. They are fair, and they cost far less than a disqualification.
Remember: starboard before port. Leeward before windward. In the zone, the inside boat gets room. Your child needs to know the rules. You just need to understand what you see.
All the rules are in the Racing Rules of Sailing, Part 2, and in the sailing instructions of each regatta.
The video simplifies. It leaves out rules such as clear ahead (rule 12) and tacking in the zone (rule 18.3). Rule 44.1 sets the number of circles: two for right of way, one for the mark. The notice of race or the sailing instructions can change this.
SailRanker works it out with your sail number: place by place, with your real average.