C.5 Portable Equipment: What does the "Not For Use" heading mean?

[MattAdministrator]

C.5 Portable Equipment divides the permitted equipment into “for use” and “not for use” categories. In the “not for use” category are a knife, a first-aid kit, flashlight, throwing equipment, heaving line, safety equipment required by the government. I can think of conditions when these items could be needed by the crew while an Etchells is racing.

If the terms “not for use” and “for use” have a specific meaning, they should be defined. World Sailing’s Equipment Rules of Sailing do not use these terms.

Can a boat be protested for using a knife while racing, violating the implication of the “not for use” rule heading?

The C.5 rule is poorly formulated with no descriptive language to amplify what is intended. In contract specifications, paragraph headings and titles are not binding and hold no status when interpreting or complying with a requirement (as do words in parentheses), so maybe these OD Rule titles are similarly meaningless.

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