Starboard Rounding Windward Mark Incident

Club racing last Thursday evening we were involved in an interesting incident at the first windward mark that was to be rounded to starboard. We were approaching the mark on starboard tack while another boat was approaching on port tack. This boat could not lay the mark on port tack so tacked onto starboard less than a boat length clear ahead and slightly to leeward of us within the 3 boat length zone. Being the windward boat we started to keep clear by luffing but in doing so gained an overlap albeit within the zone. The question is do we then have mark room? We actually ended up hitting the mark on our starboard side and then took a 720 penalty because my initial thought was that we were in the wrong, we should maybe have tacked to keep clear which is what we might have done had the mark not been there. However, thinking about it afterwards I'm not sure whether we needed to take the penalty if rule 18 switched on again after we'd acquired the overlap. Tacking to keep clear seems unfair because that would have taken us the wrong side of the mark and it was the action of the other boat in misjudging the port layline and having to tack onto starboard that brought about the incident. 

I'm not sure unfair or not really comes into it: the rules are there to control tactical options, not to provide fairness.

But lets look at my understanding...

Lets call your boat A and the other boat B

Initially boats were on opposite tacks, A is on starboard. Boats are not defined as overlapped because they are on opposite tacks and less than 90 degrees to the true wind.
A has right of way.

B tacks within the zone. She must keep clear until she is on a close hauled course. Did she? If you had to luff before B reached close hauled then B broke rule 13.

Absent Section C B has gained ROW, but has acquired it because of her own actions so initially must give A room to keep clear.

However Rule 18 should come into play.

None of the exceptions in 18.1 seems applicable.

Boats were not overlapped when the first entered the zone (definition).
Neither Boat was clear ahead when they reached the zone because they were on opposite tacks (definition).
So I'm a bit confused about how you can be neither overlapped nor clear astern/ahead, but therefore I don't think 18.2 applies.

18.3 doesn't apply because A was not fetching the mark.

18.4 doesn't apply of course.

So I can find nothing in Rule 18 that actually applies to the situation, but I could easily be wrong. If I'm right neither boat is entitled to mark room, so if in keeping clear of B A touches the mark then that's bad luck: unless being forced to touch the mark somehow counts as not being given room to keep clear. That seems *very* unlikely to me.

I suspect the best option for A is to dump the main and slow down behind B, who now cannot tack without fouling A. Easier said than done though.

Originally posted by JimC I'm not sure unfair or not really comes into it: the rules are there to control tactical options, not to provide fairness. But lets look at my understanding... Lets call your boat A and the other boat B Initially boats were on opposite tacks, A is on starboard. Boats are not defined as overlapped because they are on opposite tacks and less than 90 degrees to the true wind. A has right of way. B tacks within the zone. She must keep clear until she is on a close hauled course. Did she? If you had to luff before B reached close hauled then B broke rule 13. Absent Section C B has gained ROW, but has acquired it because of her own actions so initially must give A room to keep clear. However Rule 18 should come into play. None of the exceptions in 18.1 seems applicable. Boats were not overlapped when the first entered the zone (definition). Neither Boat was clear ahead when they reached the zone because they were on opposite tacks (definition). .

There's an interesting bit in the definitions- normally, boats upwind (less than 90° from the wind) cannot by definition be overlapped. However, it says

unless rule 18 applies

but rule 18 starts by saying that it doesn't apply between boats on the opposite tack.

Could it be possible that boat A automatically has overlap on B until B tacks (inside the zone) but that it is not something that can be taken into consideration until that tack occurs?

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Edited by Quagers - 15 May 13 at 5:15pm