Racing rules primer

Originally posted by snowleopard I was also surprised to see frequent reference to 'right of way'. On another forum, any mention of that phrase gets flamed by pedants to whom that is sacrilege.

Part 2 Section A Preamble:  A boat has right of way over another boat when the other boat is required to keep clear of her. However, some rules in Sections B, C and D limit the actions of a right-of-way boat.

The term 'right of way' is often deprecated in discussions about IRPCAS. because, it is said, no vessel under IRPCAS has a 'right' 

Originally posted by snowleopard   I downloaded the 2017-20 rules and was surprised to find that in rule 14 b you are allowed to hit other boats as long as you (a) have right of way and (b) don't cause damage or injury.

Originally posted by snowleopard I was also surprised to see frequent reference to 'right of way'. On another forum, any mention of that phrase gets flamed by pedants to whom that is sacrilege.

There is an extremely common confusion between right of way and entitlement to room - maybe that's what its about. A boat with mark room may not - and often does not - have right of way, but nevertheless a boat which does have right of way may still have to give room to another boat that is entitled to room.
Roughly speaking the part A rules define who has right of way, and the part B and part C rules give limits to what the right of way boat may do. So if someone starts talking about a boat with mark room getting right of way because it has mark room, then that misconception needs to be corrected.

Originally posted by Hitcher Avoiding contact even when you think you are right is important. Unfortunately not everyone has got there yet...

"Water please" still seems to be understood by everyone!