Surely you can't do that? OK the overtaking/windward boat does need to stay clear however once you have an overlap you cant deviate from your proper course to force a collision.
Isn't it somewhere in the rules that both boats have responsibilty for avoiding collision and that you cant force a collision unfairly?
Here's the thing with the rules - it's knowing when to use them to your advantage and know when to just sit back and sail your boat. I can see aggressively stealing air or taking somebody up if there is a reason. You might be trying to gain an adventageous position at a mark rounding, or it is the last race and you need to finish ahead of this one boat to win. There are other factors, too. If some guy really wants the inside position at the gybe mark but I think I can take them upwind, I let them have the inside lane.
Well said by LaserXD. I am deninitely a racing neophyte but know that in any competition, be it business or sports, it is the person who keeps his head, controls his emotions, and learns from any experience (winning or losing) that wins in the end. Realistically, "the end" may take a long time, but I believe that by adopting this philosophy one will also earn the respect of his competitors.thats racing, if someone takes your air deal with it, getting upset will slow you down, the best sailors in the world aren't the best because they complain the other sailors take their wind
Isn't the point of being competitive in sailing is to be able to take someone else's wind?
No. The point is to optimize your own finishing position in the series. Sometimes this may mean you need to take the wind of a close competitor in order to overtake him. Other times you may be better off sailing your own race, going for the side of the course that has the most wind or most favorable current and passing whole groups of boats, instead of getting into a luffing match with one other sailor and letting a whole bunch of boats pass both of you.
No. The point is to optimize your own finishing position in the series. Sometimes this may mean you need to take the wind of a close competitor in order to overtake him. Other times you may be better off sailing your own race, going for the side of the course that has the most wind or most favorable current and passing whole groups of boats, instead of getting into a luffing match with one other sailor and letting a whole bunch of boats pass both of you.
No. The point is to optimize your own finishing position in the series. Sometimes this may mean you need to take the wind of a close competitor in order to overtake him. Other times you may be better off sailing your own race, going for the side of the course that has the most wind or most favorable current and passing whole groups of boats, instead of getting into a luffing match with one other sailor and letting a whole bunch of boats pass both of you.