Can I sit on a rival and deliberately slow them down — or is that cheating?

Covering is racing. Tacking on a boat, parking your dirty wind on her sail, hindering her up the beat — all legal as long as there's a reasonable chance it helps your finish. What crosses the line is covering for the wrong reason: doing it for another event or your team selection, to hand the win to a mate (who then breaks Rule 41, Outside Help), or out of pure spite with no sporting purpose all break Rule 2, Fair Sailing — and can reach Rule 69.1(a), Misconduct. Break any rule on purpose to pull it off and you break Rule 2 too. (World Sailing Case 78.)

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Next on this shelf — The Upwind Beat