Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: Re: protest question (rule 32
From: bartley@spss.com (Dennis Bartley)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 15:46:46 GMT
Organization: SPSS Inc.

In article <18AUG199210490604@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu> ecf_stbo@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu (it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man...) writes:
>>> The privileged vessel is primarily responsible
>>> to maintain course and speed so that the burdened vessel can avoid
>>> her.  
>
>Stuart Walker talks about a boat on the port tack layline (situation:
>coming into a weather mark with starboard rounding) slowing down to force
>a starboard tacker to cross and then tack slightly past the layline with the
>original port boat inside. Presumably coming in at full speed would require a
>duck below the layline by the port tack boat with the stbd. effectively 'slam
>dunking' right at the layline. Then he says a defense against this for the
>stbd boat is also slow down while maintaining course. I have to say that at
>first thought this seems pretty borderline, but then again I don't remember,
>what do the rules say about maintaining speed as well as course?

Rule 35: Limitations on altering course

         When one yacht is required to keep clear of another, the row
         yacht shall not alter course so as tp prevent the other yacht
         from keeping clear, or so as to obstruct her while she is
         keeping clear

So it neither says you have to maintain speed NOR course... you can't
alter course in a way that would prevent the other boat from keeping
clear. Maybe that's a fine distinction, but it does allow row to
manouver a little. The burdened vessel would have to show that ROW
altered course in a way that prevented her from keeping clear. 

>
>Another rules thing I'm not real clear on: Say it's before the start and lets
>say it's light air. A boat is close reaching on stbd. but going slowly. Another
>boat comes up from behind and gets a slight leeward overlap. This boat can then
>take the first boat up to close hauled (slowly). But the windward boat can't
>come up! If she does her stern will swing down and foul the leeward boat. The
>rules say the clear ahead boat does NOT have to anticipate the establishment of
>an overlap, but it would seem that if you don't anticipate then there is no way
>to escape commiting a foul. The right move is to come up to close hauled
>(assuming you will not be forced over) so they cannot luff w/o getting ahead of
>mast abeam. Or come down so they can't get in top leeward. Or bail out early
>enough over their bow. Comments?
>
>

I'de try to avoid the problem by getting under them if I could.
However, the boat that attaineds an overlap to leeward has to
initially give the windward boat both room and opportunity (time) to
keep clear (37.3).  

IYRU case 116 addresses your question pretty well, though the facts
aren't exactly the same, I think they're similar enough:

 Thirty seconds before the starting signal, W was nearly wayless, he
sails flapping. At least three lengths prior to establishing an
overlap to leeward, L hailed "Leeward boat". W took no evasive action.
Immediately her overlap was established, L had to bear away to avoid
contact with W; meanwhile, W commenced to trim sails and head up. L
protested. The protest committee found that W, having been given
adequate warning of the impending situation, failded to keep clear of
a leeward yacht, thereby infringing rule 37.1. W appealed and her
international class association joined in her appea to ask this
question:

Does W, under rules 37.1 and 37.3, have an obligation to anticipate
becoming overlapped to leeward to the extent of having to gather
sufficient way to be able to respond once the overlap has been
established?


DECISION


Adequate time for response, when rights and obligations change between
two yachts, has been written explicitly into rule 37.3, among others,
by its requirement to allow the windward yacht "ample room and
opportunity to keep clear." Under this provision, a yacht clear ahead
need not anticipate her requirement to keep clear as a windward yacht
before the yacht clear astern establishes an overlap to leeward.

If L, which established an overlap so close that W was not able to
keep clear, had not borne away immediately, she would have infringed
rule 37,3. Since W at once trimmed her sails, headed up, and
thereafter kept clear, she fulfilled her obligation under 37.2. Appeal
upheld; neither yacht infringed any rule.