Leeward Mark

port

Question from the weekend, when in a handicap race I met a boat with an asymmetric spinnaker at a leeward mark. I don’t normally sail in fleets with boats rigged like these so now find myself a little confused.

Approaching a leeward mark to be rounded to port. I am on port gybe, goosewinged, inside overlapped both on a group of boats sailing a similar angle on the same gybe and also some boats sailing hot angles on the same gybe. There is decent separation between us.

Another boat is sailing a hot angle on a converging course on starboard. I can luff and go around his transom. Other boats on port will also have to alter course

I alter course to pass behind him.

As we cross paths – both planing at the time – he bears away hard in my wind shadow and then gybes and drops his kite during the drop. I immediately become windward boat, but we are now closing on the leeward mark and I want room to round. Clearly 10 and 11 have made me the keep clear boat until 18 takes over.

The questions are:

1.     If the other boat gybed within 3 lengths of the leeward mark do I have any rights?

2.     If the other boat has not yet made 3 lengths when I become overlapped on him do I have rights?

3.     How does the benefit of the doubt work here? Due to the angles we were sailing the other boat only became closest to the buoy just before I rounded behind it.

I am pretty clear that initially it was port starboard and I clearly had to keep clear.

In the process of keeping clear I then become overlapped as he gybed. I don’t really have a view on how many lengths away we were as my eyes were focused on the initial keep clear.

I am assuming now that if they are within 3 lengths then I should anticipate a gybe as part of rounding the mark, but if we are not yet at 3 boat lengths then I need not.

I guess this is pretty normal for those of you who sail asymmetrics and probably explains why asymmetric rigged boats frequently prefer a course with two leeward marks. I am also confused from watching the AC72s – I know they buggered around with the rules for these boats.

Help please