Forum: The Racing Rules of Sailing
Two port boats duck a starboard boat
Is D obliged to bear away and give room for B to pass between A and D?
Note that B could have tacked onto starboard but chose to avoid A by bearing away.
Off the water, B raised their concern with the race organiser, who sided with D, concluding that B could have tacked.
This is "club racing" and the goal is to improve safety and knowledge of rules - any responses are greatly appreciated.
If B is entitled to "room", how should B communicate with D, if at all?
B called "We choose to duck, give us room" and D did bear away, but grudgingly and only to avoid collision.
D proposed:
1. boat A is not an obstruction
2. boat B could have tacked and should have tacked because...
3. boat B is not entitled to room
Other people who were in the race joined the discussion and expressed an opinion that the "windward boat keep clear" rule applies here.
Created: Yesterday 20:51
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If the row leeward chooses to go behind the starboard obstruction, they must give room to an overlapped windward boat.
The wibndward boat need do nothing eccept to expect the room. No hail needed.
If windward touches leeward it will be exonerated as it ws sailing within the room it was entitled to.
No, D is the right of way boat, and may choose to pass A as she pleases (RRS 19.2(a)). However, when she chooses to pass astern of A, she is required to give B, an inside overlapped boat, room to pass the obstruction on the same side.
Note that B could have tacked onto starboard but chose to avoid A by bearing away.
...and D must give her room to do so, under RRS 19.2(b).
Off the water, B raised their concern with the race organiser, who sided with D, concluding that B could have tacked.
This is "club racing" and the goal is to improve safety and knowledge of rules - any responses are greatly appreciated.
A worthy goal, and necessary in this case.
If B is entitled to "room", how should B communicate with D, if at all?
B called "We choose to duck, give us room" and D did bear away, but grudgingly and only to avoid collision.
No hail is required. However, if there was no contact, D's alteration of course was successful in giving room, and she likely broke no rule. (If there was contact, D broke RRS 19.2(b).)
D proposed:
1. boat A is not an obstruction - Wrong (See definition of Obstruction, part (a))
2. boat B could have tacked and should have tacked because...
3. boat B is not entitled to room - Wrong (RRS 19.2(b))
Other people who were in the race joined the discussion and expressed an opinion that the "windward boat keep clear" rule applies here.
Those people should join the race organiser in reviewing the above referenced rules.
D, as ROW over B gets to decide whether they want to avoid A by tacking or passing to leeward. Note that case 11 makes clear that PL passes to leeward, she must give room to PW to do so also, even if PW would not have to duck.
Though no hail is required, it's probably a good idea for PW to hail for room at the obstruction.
Case 11 also makes an important point (often made in case decisions) that a boat sailing within room to which she is entitled (or a ROW boat, in other cases) does not have to anticipate that the other boat will break a rule.
"PW could not have known that PL was not going to give sufficient room until she was committed to pass between S and PL. PW broke rule 11, but, because she was sailing within the room to which she was entitled by rule 19.2(b), she was exonerated by rule 43.1(b).
When it became clear that PL was not giving room, it was not reasonably possible for PW to avoid the contact that occurred, so PW did not break rule 14."