Two thoughts... You obey/follow the rules AND you can also honor the rules... "honor the rules" means impeccable compliance with the letter and spirit of the rules.

No matter how you view the rules... in sailing, you call your own foul on yourself. Rule 2 is a way of putting the notion of Honor explicitly in place.

Tacking too close is one of those wind, wave, skill of the fleet things..... If you are in an olympic fleet.... your margins are close... if you are on port and a newbie is on starboard... you can't play the game the same way... your perfectly executed lee bow move may cause starbord to change course and hail protest. If you are obeying the rules.. you probably wind up in the protest room trying to persuade a jury... if you honor the rule..... you handle the situation very differently.

Hobie cats wrote this into their class rules about equipment by saying... If its not spelled out in the class rule.. its not legal... (don't go looking for loopholes) aka honor the letter and spirit of the class rules.

IMO, we call racers who don't take their penalties cheaters.

Football... does not have this honor notion.... They have rules and referees who enforce the rules.... If you don't get caught... gamesmanship! ... Brady broke a rule and gets fined. He is not cheating.... nor was Jerry Rice cheating.