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	CentreBoard	September 2003
The Newsletter of Spinnaker Club, Ringwood
follow link at	www.spinnakerclub.co.uk	for longer version + photos

Greg rules Starboard!

I heard the following comment during a Wednesday pm race the other day:
“Starboard always has right of way over Port”.
Was this comment correct? Well not quite.
First a few rules reminders:

RULE 10

When on opposite tack Port shall keep clear of Starboard.

P must tack or bear away.

RULE 11

When boats are on the same tack and overlapped, windward shall keep clear of leeward.

W, overlapped to windward must keep clear.

RULE 12

When boats are on the same tack and not overlapped, clear astern keeps clear of clear ahead.

A is astern (not overlapped so keeps clear).

RULE 13

After a boat passes head to wind she shall keep clear of other boats until she is on a close hauled course. During this time Rules 10, 11, 12 do not apply.

From position 3 until position 4 A is subject to Rule 13.

Remember in any two boat situation one boat has right of way, the other must give way or keep clear.

RULE 16

Part I – When a right of way boat changes course, she shall give the other boat room (room = time and opportunity) to keep clear.

Part II – In addition, when after the starting signal boats are closing or are about to cross each other on opposite tacks, and the port tack boat is keeping clear of the starboard tacker, the starboard tacker shall not change course if as a result the port tacker would immediately need to change course to continue to keep clear.

Consider 4 situations:

Situation 1

Two boats overlapped on Port tack to Windward. PL: the leeward boat wants to tack to Starboard.

In (b) PL luffs and passes head to wind. As soon as she passes head to wind she is on starboard, but before she reaches a closed hauled course on starboard, PW has had to luff to avoid a collision.

So L has infringed against PW despite being on S tack by breaking Rule 13.

Situation 2

A problem cropped up in a Wednesday evening race the other day when two running/broad reaching legs crossed.

P was sailing on a P broad reach from M1 to M2: S had beat to M3 then bore away on a S broad reach to M4. In position 1 P was keeping clear of S, easily crossing S course. As S bore away round the mark she came on a collision course with P. P had to alter course to continue keeping clear.

So S despite being on starboard and so a right of way boat before she altered course, broke Rule 16.

Situation 3

A similar situation arises on a windward leg when a port tack boat is crossing a S tacker, then suddenly the port tacker cannot cross when the S tacker luffs to take advantage of a freeing wind shift.

If the change of course of S forces an immediate change of course by P, then S has broken rule 16.

Situation 4

There is a common situation that occurs at the end of the run, when in rounding the mark, the starboard tacker must give an inside port tacker room.

M = Mark to be left to starboard.
DM = Direction to next mark

In position 2 P on port tack is overlapped and inside S, as S reaches the two length circle, S must give room to P. This situation requires knowledge of the rule book definitions, and of Rule 18, (very complex) which I’ll consider in another article.

Greg Ansell