Annapolis Frostbite Racing Rules Scenario #2
December 7, 2009
It is Frostbite season here on the East Coast. We hardily dress like we are going skiing, and then bomb around the harbor in boats big and small while our little piggies turn to wood. It’s silly, but my goodness it is fun.
One of the things that I particularly like about frostbite sailing is that we sail courses that we wouldn’t usually sail during normal racing. There are plenty of argument against white sail only racing and reaching biased course, but I think the challenge that these courses present, as well as the fact that the boats tend to stay pretty close together (similar speeds and less boat handling issues), make for a whole heck of a lot of fun.
It also makes for more rules situations. If you are way out in front you don’t often have to worry about rules, but for the rest of us in the melee there are some very unique rules scenarios that seem to play out over and over again.
One of the common situations arises when boats reaching at very different speeds become overlapped. When this happens Rule 17 – PROPER COURSE kicks in and all sorts of interesting scenarios take place. So let’s look at a diagram where an overlap between a windward and leeward boat takes place when another boat sails between two overlapped boats. I’d bet you’ve seen this situation before.
So what rules apply and what would be the best tactical decisions for each of the boat? Feel free to expand on the situation if you’d like. Post a comment with your ideas and questions and I’ll diagram some of the best and maybe we can together come up with an answer.
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Red and green boats were overlapped but were clear, however the yellow boat makes all boats overlapped and no longer clear. Windward/leeward rule applies. The yellow boat is overlapped to leeward of red so red must keep clear of yellow. Likewise, yellow must keep clear of green. Yellow appears to want to head up but must also give time and room for red to maneuver. Yellow can ask for room from red, and red being the windward and overlapped should give way (head up). The green boat can stay its course, yellow should keep clear of the green boat.