Inside and outside at an obstruction.

A boat, L, is reaching on starboard tack towards a mark of the course that is at the left hand end of an island. However, it's the not the island, but a navigation mark just off the end of it that is listed as the mark. I believe that makes the island a continuing obstruction.

A bigger, slightly faster boat, W, catches L and forms an overlap to windward of her. L comes up until the boats are sailing straight at the island. The shore is a gradually shoaling beach and, while the boats are roughly abeam of each other, the bigger boat, W, starts to run out of water, while L still has enough water to sail further before needing to bear away for the mark.

My instinct is that rule 19(b) should compel L to bear away and make room for W to sail between her and the island but, while the boats are sailing directly at the island, in what sense are the boats "outside" and "inside"? To take it further, if L sailed high enough, she would appear to be the "inside" boat and W the "outside".

When W runs out of water, what compels L to bear away and allow W to pass the obstruction?

Thanks in advance,

Steve  = : ^ )

<quote>19.2(c) While boats are passing a continuing obstruction, if a boat that was clear astern and required to keep clear...</quote>

I think the crucial word here is passing. In your scenario they are approaching, so I don't believe 19.2(c) applies until such time as the boats are travelling more nearly parallel to the obstruction.

And in 19.2.b, L, as ROW boat has the right to choose which side of the obstruction they go, but as soon as she does that it becomes immediately clear which is the inside boat. If she delays the decision on which way to go until W has run out of room to navigate safely then I suspect she will lose both protest and insurance claim...

"I assume the island is to windward?" Yes, the boats are on starboard tack sailing towards an island with a mark at the left-hand end of the island, so the island is to windward.

Originally posted by SteveB00 "I assume the island is to windward?" Yes, the boats are on starboard tack sailing towards an island with a mark at the left-hand end of the island, so the island is to windward. "And in 19.2.b, L, as ROW boat has the right to choose which side of the obstruction they go, but as soon as she does that it becomes immediately clear which is the inside boat." Yes I understand that. "If she delays the decision on which way to go until W has run out of room to navigate safely then I suspect she will lose both protest and insurance claim..." What are you basing that on? Specifically, how would W assert that L had broken a rule? "Don't we need to know how big the island is (yards or miles long)" The island is large enough to constitute a continuing obstruction. "how far the mark is from the island" There is no navigable water between the island and the mark. "whether or not the island can be rounded" The island can be rounded the other way, but that means missing the mark. "whether the mark to be rounded is a gybe mark" The way I've described it, it's not possible to gybe around the mark. I think the same rules apply regardless of the size of the yachts. Here they're 35-40 footers.

Yes, in the third diagram in MR Call B15 (bottom left) Y is the leeward, inside boat, entitled to both right of way (rule 11) and room at the obstruction (rule 19) throughout.

Edited by Brass - 12 Jan 14 at 5:05am