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.
It depends on
how Boat B got there: If Boat B has not just completed a tack to
leeward of you and in the zone, Boat B is entitled to mark-room and boat A must give
that room, even if that means having to go above close-hauled, i.e. A
has to give mark-room any (seamanlike!) way
she can.
What your crew may be thinking of is the situation where B completes a
tack inside the zone. In that case, rule 18.3 applies - more specifically
18.3(a) which is what your crew may well be thinking of:
18.3 Tacking in
the Zone
If a boat in the zone passes head to wind and is then on the same tack
as a boat that is fetching
the mark, rule 18.2 does
not thereafter apply between them. The boat that changed tack
(a) shall not cause the other boat to
sail above close-hauled to avoid her or prevent the other boat from
passing the mark
on the required
side, and
(b) shall give mark-room
if
the other boat becomes overlapped
inside her.
In
that case, B would be fouling you if you had to go 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 "room" and overlap (from miles away). Should they
get it?
The Overlap
definition states:
Clear Astern and Clear
Ahead; Overlap One boat is clear astern
of another when her hull and equipment in normal position are behind a
line abeam from the aftermost point of the other boat's hull and
equipment in normal position. The other boat is clear ahead.
They overlap when neither is clear astern. However,
they also overlap when a boat between them overlaps
both. These terms always apply to
boats on the same tack.
They do not apply to boats
on opposite tacks
unless rule 18 applies or both
boats are
sailing more than ninety
degrees from the true wind.
You'll notice that there is no distance limitation on this.
Strategically, what this means is that you want to make every effort to
be in the Zone before bearing away and
giving everyone and his brother an overlap, especially if you will be
very slow after the gybe (very light winds, going up-current).
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.
Smart move.
Better to err on the side of being more sportsmanlike than the minimum
when you're not sure.
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?
Actually, the
overlap is sighted from the boat further ahead, i.e. at right angles to
your transom in this case. When you make a right angle gybe near the
mark, pretty well everyone on the previous leg now has an overlap on
you, which usually doesn't matter since very few can get there in time
to claim room. But this shows you why it can be crucial not to begin
your turn until you have reached the sanctuary of the Zone, when it is
too late for anyone to claim room from establishing an overlap at that
point.
Thanks in advance for any
help you can give.
Hey, these
things are really fun. Glad to be able to help. Keeps my Rules
knowledge reasonably sharp. BTW, where do you sail? I sail out of
Oakville, just west of Toronto, and we're just off to sail our annual
Around Toronto Island Race out of TS&CC. May be our last one since
a bridge across the Western Gap to the Island Airport has been approved
by the money-hungry!