The rules state that numbers should be legible and I recently saw an IOM with a number which had a zero with a slash through it which made it (to me at least) appear for all the world like an 8. I haven't seen this style of 0 before and wondered if it was class legal.

Hi Gary,

this is a question for your IOM class measurer or Class Secretary.

My opinion is that it should not be compliant with the class rule - the slash is not part of the font and is used to differentiate an O from a 0 where there may be confusion. However the sail number is only numeric, so the slash serves no purpose and as you say, may be confused with an 8

John.

The rules say: (IRSA Supplementary Class Rules - https://radiosailing.org/download/irsa-supplementary-class-rules-2020-4/

C.11 IDENTIFICATION ON SAILS

C.11.1 A boat shall display: (a) her class insignia and (b) a sail number on all sails and (c) national letters on her mainsail as required by C.12.1.

C.11.2 National letters and sail numbers shall be in capital letters and Arabic numerals, clearly legible and of the same colour. The colour shall contrast with the colour of the body of sail. Commercially available typefaces giving the same or better legibility than Helvetica are acceptable. Digital fonts are not acceptable.

I know it's easy to criticise and I'm more aware than most how hard it is to write good rules but the above are a beautiful example of how not to do it. Firstly Google Arabic numerals and see what you get! Secondly, "typefaces giving the same or better legibility than Helvetica ..." is entirely subjective; and thirdly what on earth is a " digital font" in this context?

I recently acquired a vinyl cutter and was trying to find out which variation of the figure four I should use. The Racing Rules of Sailing (G1.2 a (4)) say " a sans serif typeface" so I'm none the wiser.

1 hour ago, John949 said:

and thirdly what on earth is a " digital font" in this context

Maybe means don't do them on a dot matrix printer...

16 hours ago, John949 said:

The rules say: (IRSA Supplementary Class Rules - https://radiosailing.org/download/irsa-supplementary-class-rules-2020-4/

C.11 IDENTIFICATION ON SAILS

C.11.1 A boat shall display: (a) her class insignia and (b) a sail number on all sails and (c) national letters on her mainsail as required by C.12.1.

C.11.2 National letters and sail numbers shall be in capital letters and Arabic numerals, clearly legible and of the same colour. The colour shall contrast with the colour of the body of sail. Commercially available typefaces giving the same or better legibility than Helvetica are acceptable. Digital fonts are not acceptable.

I know it's easy to criticise and I'm more aware than most how hard it is to write good rules but the above are a beautiful example of how not to do it. Firstly Google Arabic numerals and see what you get! Secondly, "typefaces giving the same or better legibility than Helvetica ..." is entirely subjective; and thirdly what on earth is a " digital font" in this context?

I recently acquired a vinyl cutter and was trying to find out which variation of the figure four I should use. The Racing Rules of Sailing (G1.2 a (4)) say " a sans serif typeface" so I'm none the wiser.

Just to explain "sans serif". This is a typography term. My current text I'm typing in is "sans serif"

The below is not. The Serif is the little irregularities at the end of many of the strokes - e.g. the two little legs each end of the T cross piece

Times New Roman

I do actually know what a sans serif font is. What I don't know is which (if any version) of the figure 4 counts as being sans serif or indeed if sans serif has any meaning when applied to numbers. If you are being really pedantic then you could perhaps argue that the figure 1 should be just a vertical line without the tick at the top but since Helvetica has it then go figure. Ironically serifs are used to improve legibility of small letters (or big ones at long range?) which is why optician's eye charts use san serif fonts i.e. it is harder to 'guess' the letter.

Hopefully I have made my point about the rules perhaps not being as clear as they could be but, since the font doesn't affect boat speed, it's probably time I let it rest.

9 minutes ago, John949 said:

I do actually know what a sans serif font is. What I don't know is which (if any version) of the figure 4 counts as being sans serif or indeed if sans serif has any meaning when applied to numbers. If you are being really pedantic then you could perhaps argue that the figure 1 should be just a vertical line without the tick at the top but since Helvetica has it then go figure. Ironically serifs are used to improve legibility of small letters (or big ones at long range?) which is why optician's eye charts use san serif fonts i.e. it is harder to 'guess' the letter.

Hopefully I have made my point about the rules perhaps not being as clear as they could be but, since the font doesn't affect boat speed, it's probably time I let it rest.

In this day n age, IRSA could perhaps publish free electronic/scalable digit data. Then it wouldn't need (perhaps debatable) wordings.

My 7's have a slightly curved 'back' - legal or not? I agree with you John - rules need to be well-written, and many could be better than they are.

(What I can find tricky, in heat of the moment of a race or finishing line duties, is 08 vs. 80.....)

Edited March 25Mar 25 by Colin Helliwell

As a measurer I wouldnt accept it

There is a very good diagram in the original MYA Handbook - also saved on the website. This states sizes, and distances that if followed gives good legibility at distance for the IRSA international classes. Slightly small digits and rules are published for the Dragons and their smaller sails.

One thing that often gets missed is the thickness of the letters, a very thin letter may pass the rules and look nice but it is very hard to see at distance, ideally keep the strokes of the letters 20mm thick.

I'd stick with Helvetica, Arial or Gill Sans that all give good legibility across the varying digits.

Regarding 01-10, 08-80, 18-81 etc Always place a '1' in front to stop the confusion. 101, 110,108,180, 118,181.

Remember others need to identify your boat by its sail number if you are calling for water at a mark, if they can't identify you then good luck in the protest room.