Well, I certainly dont think the rules are simple and clear. there are way to many and you need to be a sailing lawyer to have 100% control on them. For somebody new to the sport, they are bewildering (I still remember how I had to work to acquire an understanding of the rules when I began sailing)

Rolf, you are so right. I participated in my first F18-regatta last year, and promptly had a crash. Furthermore, participants of the regatta as well as experienced sailors I described the situation to afterwards had different opinions whose fault it was. As a newbie I accepted being the bad guy and paid.
I think regattas are fun, but I am really frightend to participate in another one. I agree with Gilo and would wish to see the different situations in form of diagrams!