Earlier this year, I asked readers to send questions about rules that puzzled them. Based on questions received, I am going to discuss the term “proper course”. This is a term that does not appear very often in the Racing Rules of Sailing, but that nevertheless often appears in questions sent to me. There seems to be an assumption that boats are required to sail their proper course. This concept does not appear in the rules. There are restrictions based on a boat’s proper course, but they are limited.