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Hi, Jay:
Good
to hear from you! And you are quite right! The relevant Rule is #17.2:
17 On the Same Tack; Proper Course
17.1 If a boat clear astern becomes overlapped within two of her
hull lengths to leeward of a boat on
the same tack, she shall not sail above her proper course while they remain
overlapped within that
distance, unless in doing so she promptly sails astern of the other boat.
This rule does not apply if
the overlap begins while the windward boat is required by rule 13 to keep
clear.
17.2 Except on a beat to windward, while a boat is less than two of
her hull lengths from a leeward
boat or a boat clear astern steering a course to leeward of her, she shall
not sail below her proper
course unless she gybes.
The
key phrase in this scenario is Proper Course which I can refresh you on:
Proper Course A course a boat would sail to
finish as soon as possible in the absence of the other boats referred to in
the rule using the term. A boat has no proper course before her starting
signal.
...
...
Windward
is not allowed to sail below her Proper Course as soon as a Leeward Boat
(or one steering a course to pass to leeward) is less than two of
Windward's hull lengths away. Thus, in your diagram, Windward is not allowed
to sail below her Proper Course. If, in your diagram above, Windward had
been sailing more or less a straight course towards the finish line or the
next mark on a reach or run, she broke Rule 17.2 by suddenly bearing away.
Of
course, there are any number of defensible Proper Courses. Windward could
go to a hearing and say that bearing away was her Proper Course. But W
would need to convince the Jury that she had a valid reason for doing so -
one that had nothing to do with the fact that you (L) were about to pass W
to leeward. Such a reason could be that W was trying to surf down a wave.
If I were on a Jury, however, I would only believe this if W could
demonstrate that he had been bearing away regularly to promote surfing down
waves even before you (L) came into the picture.
Actually,
an interesting point in your scenario is that under 17.1, you may not have
had luffing rights but you were entitled to sail your Proper Course,
as was W. If these courses are converging - as well they might be since you
may well need to sail higher than W to keep your chute filled - the
situation comes down to Rule 11 (windward boat keep
clear). So when W bore down on you, you were entitled to hold your course
(unless there was danger of a collision that would cause damage - Rule 14) and protest W under 17.2 AND 11.
Even if W does not bear away at all but you are converging from leeward
while sailing Proper Course, W must keep clear of L - see Case 50 of my Rules Quiz at
http://www.angelfire.com/de2/WIT/Case50.htm
Well,
Jay! This was fun! Don't let 'em do it to you again!!! Your skipper owes
you a beer by the way!!! Best wishes for successful and enjoyable
sailing,
Uncle
Al (W3854)
PS:
My curiosity is aroused. Where do you sail? I sail mostly in the Toronto
area in Canada.
-----
Original Message -----
From:
Jay Wadsworth
To:
'Al Schonborn'
Sent:
Tuesday, May 15, 2001 4:31 PM
I
sail in the only place worth sailing, :)...San Francisco Bay...nothing like
a steady 28 knots gusting to 35 on a sunny day! Thanks for the
ruling, e-mailing skipper right now.
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