Leeward Mark

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

port

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.

I'm having a few problems with this one!

Assuming that the assymetric was clear ahead, then Blue has to keep clear - however, if Yellow dives off to leeward (away from the mark), does Blue have to go wide of the mark to keep clear? (and call for additional mark room on the boats overlapped outside her)

Tactically, if I were blue, I'd luff up and head for the mark - assuming that Yellow point higher to shut me out.
Any other thoughts on how to hadle that event?

Colin

Thamks, Jim,

But 18.4 only applies to an inside boat overlapped.
In the example above, the boat clear ahead has (I think) deliberately gone wide of the mark, dropped spinnaker/genniker and then gybed back.

As Blue, would you follow Yellow wide (so as to keep clear of the boat that was clear ahead), take the risk and head for the mark, or argue that Yellow was now sailing away from the mark?

Cheers,

Colin