Case #68
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----- Original Message -----
From: Ian Farquharson
Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2003 4:20 PM
Subject: two questions about buoy room

Hi Al,
 
Love your web site  - starting to use it more than I thought!
 
I have two questions for clarification and your opinion  - both involving rounding marks and "mark-room"
 
1) at a windward mark boat 'a' (me) is ahead to windward at the zone. Boat 'b' is overlapped inside. Boat 'a' however is close-hauled making the mark and boat 'b' (inside but a bit behind) has to pinch above close-hauled to make it around the mark. Does boat 'a' have to give boat 'b' "mark-room" even if it means going above close hauled to do so?  I thought I had to give them room otherwise they would hit the mark. One of my crew thinks they cannot take us above close-hauled.
 
2) at a reach mark boat 'a' (me) approaches on starboard in a dying breeze and gybes for the mark around 2 - 3 boat lengths away. By the time she is about 1 boat length or less from it (moving very slowly in the dying breeze) other boats now come in on starboard tack with good pressure in fresh breeze and claiming "mark-room" and overlap (from miles away). Should they get it?
 
On the second issue, I gave them room although I wasn't sure they were entitled because they had been so far away when I gybed. Afterwards in the bar, someone explained that in that situation the overlap is sighted from their transom to ours and even though the boats are physically a long way apart and on different tacks that that is how the overlap gets judged.  It must be difficult to prove either way in the protest room.  Any thoughts?
 
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

cheers,

Ian
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