Richard, as you say, I don't think "event" is specifically defined.  But if you look at: 

So, though not specifically defined, the above 2 items imply that an "event" is generally something that:

Ang

Appendix K and L, now KG and LG, used to refer to "Regatta" rather than event (e.g. the Regatta is governed by the Racing Rules of Saiing) but with the 2021-2924 update the word regatta is dropped and the word event is used.

Good question: any event, beside a regatta, in wich Sailing is on agenda, RRS 69 sould be in force, by logic. I mean, bad behaviour and/or bringing the sport of sailing in disrepute, can happen. But no Protest committee on sight! How do you see that?

This falls under the basic idea that if the word is not defined in the DEFINITIONS section, we turn to some dictionary.  I could not find a nautical dictionary that had "event" included, but in Merriam-Webster, the second definition for "Event" is any of the contests in a program of sports.  So, we could probably extrapolate that to mean that any contest within sailing (regatta, Wednesday night series, match racing, radio control ...) is an event.   When we invoke the Racing Rules of Sailing, "event" is used many times in the document.  From a competitors perspective, I think that RRS 4.2 provides an explanation of the responsibilities of a competitor or boat owner participating in an event ... By participating or intending to participate in an event conducted under the rules, each competitor and boat owner agrees to accept the rules.  For race officers, our responsibilities are presented in RRS 5.  

Richard, I'm intrigued.  Why do you ask?

On the RRS 2019 change to the word 'Event' in RRS rather than 'Regatta', this was done for consistency, since the former was already widely used.

You can read the submission which prompted the change. 

Submission 228-19

Hope that helps.

So, the submission predicates the change on the ‘consistency’ use in the rules and that the term:

….‘regatta’ can be changed to ‘event’ without changing the meaning of the sentences in which ‘regatta’ is used. 

 

We could ask: what is an EVENT? (in Sports: any of the contests in a program made up of one sport or of a number of sports: The broad jump event followed the pole vault.

noun

 

Opening day at your club can be labeled as ‘an event’. Other examples exist.

Not a single one describes and identifies with the sport of sailing better than the term regatta.

noun

In the sailing world, everyone knows what you mean when you say: ‘regatta’. 

When we say: ‘event’, we now know that: ‘something that happens’ better describes the regatta.

But it is consistent. Hurray!

Kim

Looks like I’ve opened a small can of worms here!

Why did I ask the question? Firstly because my company provides sailing race management software and we needed a term for the entities that RRS now calls events. It would be inappropriate to name that software here but you have my email address.

We eventually settled on competitions, they do after all have competitors,  though that the word is somehow un-sailing-like. Event sounds more sailing but to me implies a single occurrence, which a series clearly isn’t. But if event is the accepted term, we’ll look at converting to it – it fits perfectly with the title of the software!

Secondly, looking at the bigger picture, I’ve long been intrigued by the lack of standardised names in the sailing world. What, for instance, is a class? This issue is perhaps most evident when it comes to publishing results. Sailwave’s default name for a group of boats competing against each other is fleet whereas HalSail’s is class. Both refer to what RRS now calls an event as a series. A popular event with which I am involved refers to itself as a week. Boats are divided into events which are grouped into series. So you might have, for example, Series A Event 2 Fast Handicap and Series B Event 6 Solo. Completely non-standard but it doesn’t seem to affect competitors’ enjoyment of the regatta/week/event.

Perhaps a more fundamental question is – should we seek to standardise terminology in our sport or should we accept and embrace its idiosyncrasies? Do we call a spade a spade or enjoy a rose by any other name?

Richard .. maybe you can hang your hat on something by combining my and Robin's early comments.  [note: edits to original comment based on follow-on comments]

An "event", in the context of sailboat-racing, could be interpreted as something [an organized gathering] that:

When we think of the use of the word "race" .. we can have more than one race even in a single day .. but we don't fuss over changing the Term NOR to mean "Notice of Race(s)", "Notice of Regatta" or even "Notice of Series Longer than Regatta" .. etc. 

Maybe think of the word "event" to be silent in the idea of a Notice of Race?  In other words, an NOR is a "Notice of Race(ing Event)" really, which captures from a single race in a single day to a series that spans months.

If you do that .. it appears to tie everything together.

Ang

Richard,

Thanks.  That puts the question in perspective.

I think you have hit the nail on the head when you say..."...but it doesn’t seem to affect competitors’ enjoyment of the regatta/week/event."

English is a colourful language, and that has it's pros and cons.

'Event' has multiple meanings and therefore fits many purposes. By now we have discovered two meanings of the word.

1.   any of the contests in a program of sports.

2.  something that happens or is regarded as happening; an occurrence, especially one of some importance. Or even 'an organised occurance'.

Unlike Kim, I don't think it matters really that two meanings exist in the same document.  In ordinarily used English this happens all the time, and context will focus our interpretations. (e.g. Read, Read, Red, Read).

(Some of you may have caught my first response to this thread, where my mind was on 2nd meaning.  I actually removed that after thinking it through more, and seeing the 1st meaning.

In most of the RRS I think the word takes the first meaning.  In RRR69, I think the 2nd meaning is used.)

I’ve really enjoyed this conversation and thank you to all have contributed to it.

English, and hopefully every other language, is indeed colourful and packed with idiosyncrasies and ambiguities which is great. However there are times when precision is needed and one of those times is when writing rules.

As I see it there is a need in the RRS for a word that clearly defines an entity that is now called an event. Event may not be semantically quite correct but that doesn’t matter as long as everyone knows what it means when used in the context of the RRS.

To that end it would be helpful if the meaning of event within the Rules were to be documented somewhere, perhaps in Terminology, for the avoidance of doubt and confusion.

Make sense?

Richard, curious what do you find about the 3-point definition [interpretation] I offered above, using the elements already in the RRS, falling short in a significant, impactful or meaningful way?

Richard,

I agree with you in part.  Yes. Some terms require or have a specific meaning unique to RRS.  They need defining.  That is why there are the 'Definitions'.

Other terms may be interpreted in more than one way, and where there is common misinterpretation the preferred RRS interpretation needs clarifying.  That's why there are 'Casebooks and 'Call Books'.

However, I don't think its possible or necessary to define 'all' of the different words in the RRS.

'Event' is not a word I think needs any further clarification.  It's multiple meanings do not effectively change any outcome of any rule, and context is enough to guide the interpretation.

Ang has suggested an interpretation for the word, and I think that in most of the RRS he is spot on.

The dictionary offers other meanings in non-sporting contexts, and RRS69 seems to use 'event' in a broader sense of the whole organised occurrence.

If the sporting events are 'The Long Jump', 'Weight Lifting' and the '100m Sprint', then the organised occurrence (event) is 'The Olympic Games'.

Just as you mentioned earlier, a 'Raceweek' could be considered an organised occurrence (event), being made up of constituent sporting contests within (events).

So when, in R69 ,you are "removed from the event or venue" for being naughty I see that as being expelled from the whole Olympic Games or the Raceweek if necessary.

Simply, the context of the word's use is enough to derive meaning.

What is the specific problem do you perceive with the use of 'event' and its different interpretations?

As I’ve said, I welcome the adoption of the word event as a label for all those entities that need so labelling.

What has led me to have the temerity to suggest that the word event, when used in the context of the RRS, might benefit from being strictly defined is that, in common parlance, event is used to describe a single happening. So event works for a regatta or meeting but not, I suggest, for a series which is the format wherein a great many sailors enjoy the sport.

You quote R69 “removed from the event or venue” for being naughty. If that naughtiness related to, say, race 1 of a 6 week summer series does R69 mean the culprit is now banned from the rest of the series?  I guess it depends on the degree of naughtiness but it is ambiguous.

As I’ve said, I have no problem with using the term event and no doubt eventually sailors will learn that what they call a series is, under the RRS, an event.

However it is my opinion that, because the meaning of event in this context differs from its meaning outside this context, then it may be a good idea to define that different meaning somewhere. Terminology seems a likely place as it already includes such uncontentious words as boat, competitor and vessel.

But I've had my say, let's leave it at that.