The Petanque Libre Project is happy to announce the release of Version 3 of the Rules of Petanque Libre, available HERE.
Changes in this version from the previous version include:
1. A definition of “pointing obstacle” was added to Paragraph 29. Paragraph 57 was modified to specify that a thrown jack must be at least 1 meter from a pointing obstacle. A note about pointing obstacles was added to the notes. This change brings PL into closer conformity with FIPJP.
The rule about pointing obstacles is designed to insure that there is at least one meter of clear space around the thrown jack, so that it is possible for a player to point a boule anywhere within a meter of the jack. A pointing obstacle is something (like a wall or a building on the terrain) that limits the open space around the thrown jack. The dead-ball line is in effect a pointing obstacle, which is why the thrown jack must be at least a meter from any dead-ball line (see also FIPJP Article 7). Tree roots are not generally considered pointing obstacles.
2. Paragraph 109 was added. “In a game played on a terrain that has no marked boundaries but is surrounded by a physical barrier designed to prevent balls from leaving the terrain (e.g. wooden boards or concrete curbs), a ball that hits the physical barrier is dead.” This explicitly enunciates a commonly-used local rule.
3. A definition of “active circle” was added to Paragraph 16.
4. A new section title, BOULES THROWN CONTRARY TO THE RULES, was inserted, and the section title ILLEGAL EVENTS was moved down by three paragraphs. The paragraphs in the BOULES THROWN CONTRARY TO RULES section were re-ordered.
5. A number of improvements in terminology and presentation were made. Paragraphs 18 and 19 exchanged places. Paragraph 76, which defines “challenge the point”, was moved up to become Paragraph 70, so that it is located before other uses of the expression. Paragraph 39 (“If a live ball hits or is hit by a dead boule on or near the terrain, the live ball is considered to have hit a feature of the terrain”) was moved to the end of the ADDITIONAL RULES FOR MARKED TERRAINS section.
6. The number of paragraphs in this version is: 120.
