Hi Al..

It's so nice to see this kind of quiz on the net.... I had been looking for something like this for awhile.  I had been out of the sport for some time and 3 years ago we (my better half and I) decided to buy a boat.  Presently we are sailing a C &C mega 30 out of BSBC and racing club races and the odd GHYRA event. 

As I came across Case 50 it was almost a replay of an incident we had last year..

Instead of a downwind leg we were reaching to the mark.  With different fleet starts and bigger boats starting later, we had the larger boats moving through the fleets.   I was sailing a  proper course to the mark about 2/3 the way down the leg.  A 35'er came from astern and leeward.  When I first noticed her, she was about 4 boat lengths behind and 5 boatlengths to leeward sailing parallel to us... but moving faster....

A minute or so later, she was 1/2 a boat length to leeward and had an overlap on me.  With the skipper of the 35'er yelling at me to go up... up....and a louder up......

I was startled at first..... winds were 15 knots;  we were dealing with our own problems.  We immediately started heading up as she was closing in fast..... and then I thought to myself: he can't luff me...????  or can he??   I told him he couldn't luff me and why would he even try?? since we weren't racing each other...  He pointed to a yacht to windward of us both and behind.. his competitor who was closing in fast....

I continued to sail the rhumb line and he was jammed in beside me - maybe 4 meters to leeward and unable to pass me (kinda stalled out) .  His competitor blew by us both - well to windward (maybe 5 boat lengths) - and was gone..   To my leeward, I had one skipper ticked off  at me for not letting him take me up.... 

MY question, Al, is..... was I right to sail my proper course and if he wanted to stall out in my lee that was his choice -   he could have blown by me 5 boat lengths to leeward with no problem..   No protests were filed.  He finally bore away and broke through the lee and was gone before the mark.

Because it was not a downwind leg, is the rhumb line not the proper course....   he also obtained an overlap within 2 boatlengths of me but headed higher......  his so-called proper course at that time was not headed towards the mark.

Wondering if I got away with one....

Thanks  

Dave Leonard 

Al's note: Dave was one of our Juniors at Bronte Harbour YC in the late 70's. A wonderful bunch - many of whom he gone on to do a lot of great sailing - and who called themselves, proudly, Junior Grubbies.