At times the rules require a boat to give another boat, often the burdened boat, room. This month I want to look at what it means to give room. The requirement to keep clear of the right of way boat is easy to understand. Having right of way lets a boat go where she pleases. The idea of giving room can be harder to grasp. The right to room is the right to do something specific: the time and space for a competent crew to do so in a safe seaman like way. This will vary with the conditions. Further the right to room is temporary. It goes away after that is accomplished, or if not used. This raises questions as to how much space must be given and when does the right to room end? To get answers, we will look at what it means with regard to specific rules.
Rule 19 provides a fairly simple example. A boat that hailed for room to tack to avoid an obstruction is entitled to room to tack. The other boat should avoid her from the time she starts to tack until she has finished her tack and is able to fulfill her rules obligations on her new tack. Even though she will not have right of way while tacking and may tack into a burdened position. Her tack need not be perfect, but must be competent. If the crew fails to release the jib and she ends up tacking through 180 degrees, she can loose protection under this rule.
The idea behind rule 15, Acquiring Right of Way, is pretty intuitive. It makes sense to most people that you can not tack directly in front of someone if that causes them to run into you, even if you tack into a right of way position. If they are keeping clear before you acquire right of way, you need to give them room to continue keeping clear. This seems obvious to most. But it is less obvious when this obligation begins.
The boat acquiring right of way can not expect the other boat to act until she has that right of way. If you are tacking in front of someone, you are the burdened boat while tacking. They do not have to begin to keep clear until you finish your tack and have right of way: that is until you are on your closehauled course, it does not matter where your sails are. Once you have right of way the other boat needs to act. If she then manages to keep clear, you met your obligation to give her room. If she can not, or needs to act before you finish your tack, you have not given her room. But she then needs to act promptly. If she fails to she can loose her right to room.
The same is true if you acquire right of way by gybing or by overtaking from clear astern. The other boat does not have to act before you finish your gybe, or until you get the overlap, and so gain right of way. If she can keep clear at that point, she has been given the room required by this rule.
This rule does not apply if the right of way rule changes: for example, if a boat gybes from a starboard/port right of way relationship to a clear ahead/astern right of way relationship. In this case she did not acquire right of way, as she had right of way before, after, and during the maneuver. This is a case of a right of way boat changing course. So rule 16, Changing Course, applies instead.
Rule 16 is similar to rule 15. If the burdened boat is keeping clear, the right of way boat can not change course in a way that prevents her from continuing to keep clear. For example, if a port tack boat is successfully crossing, you can not luff up at the last second to hit her. As in rule 15, the burdened boat must act to keep clear when the right of way boat first changes course. If she then fails to act promptly, she will loose her right to room.
The above assumes that the burdened boat was keeping clear. If not, rules 15 and 16 do not apply and here in lies a complication. While the burdened boat can be put in a position where she can not respond, she fouls if she puts herself in that position. The burdened boat is obligated to allow the right of way boat to be able change course without immediate contact with let her, that is part of the definition of keeping clear.
For example, if an overtaking boat gets her bow overlapped by a foot or two to leeward of another’s stern she has right of way, but can not luff, as the other can not respond. The bow on the leeward boat would come to weather and the stern of the windward boat would swing to leeward, and windward can not keep clear. It would be the same if leeward tacked or gybed into this position. But if the burdened windward boat got that close through her own actions, by her tacking, gybing, or overtaking, she would be restricting leeward’s actions and not be keeping clear.
There is more to be said on this topic. Rule 18 requires room to be given at marks. But that needs to be a topic for another day.
Steve Worcester, Star 6932