Boats meeting at mark

[knot_moving]

I have a rules question from an incident I was involved with during a portsmouth race awhile back. There was no protest and I couldn't even say who else was involved if I had to, but I did wonder how to sort out who had the obligation to give way and how that was supposed to be accomplished.

Scenario was 3 boats of different speeds approaching the windward mark on port, A was much faster and was the windward boat, B was the middle boat and I was C, the leeward boat. A 4th boat, S, was approaching the mark on starboard.

From what I remember, A came charging in between B and the mark, forcing, S to slow down and luff up to prevent colliding with A. A was clearly in the wrong here (don't remember if there was protest and they did circles or not). With no other boats on the course but S and myself, I was set up to pass just astern of S, tack and follow around the mark. With B present, B would be forced to take action to miss S. I was leeward of B. Does B have the right to call for room from me (without A present, B could have tacked low of the mark to evade S)? I had to fall off to give B room, since A came charging in, blocking B's option of tacking to evade S.

A's thought process was that once she was up by B, she was close enough that A could no longer tack without hitting B, also there was no way for all of us to bear off enough to miss S. So my question is how far ahead of time is a boat required to "think ahead" to make sure they can evade a right of way boat. I think A could have been protested for forcing S to alter course. Beyond that I can't see any other protestable action (A was moving much faster than B & C and all 3 hit the 2 boatlength circle at pretty close to the same time). A would have had to tack before she came up even with B.

 

[whirlwind2]

I have a rules question from an incident I was involved with during a portsmouth race awhile back. There was no protest and I couldn't even say who else was involved if I had to, but I did wonder how to sort out who had the obligation to give way and how that was supposed to be accomplished.

Scenario was 3 boats of different speeds approaching the windward mark on port, A was much faster and was the windward boat, B was the middle boat and I was C, the leeward boat. A 4th boat, S, was approaching the mark on starboard.

From what I remember, A came charging in between B and the mark, forcing, S to slow down and luff up to prevent colliding with A. A was clearly in the wrong here (don't remember if there was protest and they did circles or not). With no other boats on the course but S and myself, I was set up to pass just astern of S, tack and follow around the mark. With B present, B would be forced to take action to miss S. I was leeward of B. Does B have the right to call for room from me (without A present, B could have tacked low of the mark to evade S)? I had to fall off to give B room, since A came charging in, blocking B's option of tacking to evade S.

A's thought process was that once she was up by B, she was close enough that A could no longer tack without hitting B, also there was no way for all of us to bear off enough to miss S. So my question is how far ahead of time is a boat required to "think ahead" to make sure they can evade a right of way boat. I think A could have been protested for forcing S to alter course. Beyond that I can't see any other protestable action (A was moving much faster than B & C and all 3 hit the 2 boatlength circle at pretty close to the same time). A would have had to tack before she came up even with B.

Before anyone entered the circle, B had full luffing rights on A because A came from behind and was windward. Once any of the boats entered the circle, things got complicated. If S was enough overstood that A could tack below her and round the mark without forcing S above closehauled, then A is allowed to do so. However, if A could not do so, both B and C owe A room to round the mark, including room to tack. Even though C was leeward and could normally force A and B to tack, in this case she must give A and B room to duck S. Since you stated that there was no way that all of the boats could have ducked S, then A did not have the right to room, because "if the outside boat is unable to give room when an overlap begins, rules 18.2 (a) and 18.2 (b) do not apply" RRS 18.2(e). This means that A should have tacked immediately and gybed around and then tacked to round the mark (or otherwise keep clear), while C must give room for B to duck S.

I think this is the correct interpretation of the rules, but of course feel free to correct me.

 

[bjmoose]

I've attached a picture based on my understanding. If the pic is wrong, then my analysis will be also.

Many sets of analyses apply -- boats have to be analyzed pairwize with each other.

A and S. Rule 10 applies. 18 does not apply. A must keep clear.
B and S. Rule 10 applies. 18 does not apply. B must keep clear.
C and S. Rule 10 applies. 18 does not apply. C must keep clear.

OK, so far so good.

Now, with respect to the MARK.

A and B. Rule 11 applies. An overlap exists. Rule 18 applies (boats are on the same tack.) A must Keep Clear, but B must give ROOM to A to round the mark.

A and C. Rule 11 applies. An overlap exists. Rule 18 applies (boats are on the same tack.) A must Keep Clear, but B must give ROOM to A to round the mark.

B and C. Rule 11 applies. An overlap exists. Rule 18 applies (boats are on the same tack.) B must Keep Clear, but C must give ROOM to B to round the mark.

NOW, consider A, B, and C with respect to S. S is an OBSTRUCTION to A, B, and C. (Check the definition of obstruction carefully -- sometimes folks get hung up here.) Therefore, Rule 18 does apply. So:

A and B. Rule 11 applies. An overlap exists. Rule 18 applies (boats are on the same tack.) A must Keep Clear, but if B chooses to duck (pass astern) of S then B must also give ROOM to A to do so.

B and C. Rule 11 applies. An overlap exists. Rule 18 applies (boats are on the same tack.) B must Keep Clear, but if C chooses to duck S then C must also give ROOM to B to do so.

A and C. Rule 11 applies. An overlap exists. Rule 18 applies (boats are on the same tack.) A must Keep Clear, but if C chooses to duck S then
C must also give ROOM to A to do so.

So, the SHORT answer to your question is yes, A B and C all owe room to S. They must anticipate this situation developing early enough in order to take preventive/evasive action according to the precendence described above.