CASE 02        

Rule 12, On the Same Tack, Not Overlapped
Rule 14, Avoiding Contact
Rule 18.2(a), Rounding and Passing Marks and Obstructions: Giving Room; Keeping Clear: Overlapped – Basic Rule
Rule 18.2(b), Rounding and Passing Marks and Obstructions: Giving Room; Keeping Clear: Overlapped at the Zone
Rule 18.2(c), Rounding and Passing Marks and Obstructions: Giving Room; Keeping Clear: Not Overlapped at the Zone

Rule 18.2(c) does not apply between a boat clear ahead and a boat clear astern if the boat clear astern reaches the twolength zone before the boat clear ahead. Rule 18.2(b) does not apply between two boats that were not overlapped before the first of them to reach the two-length zone does so. Rule 18.2(a) applies only while boats are overlapped. When rules 18.2(a), 18.2(b) and 18.2(c) do not apply, right of way is determined by the relevant rule in Section A of Part 2.

Summary of the Facts
O and I were both on port tack, reaching to a mark to be left to starboard. The wind was light. When O came abreast of the mark she was clear ahead of I but three-and-a-half hull lengths from the mark. I had reached the two-length zone. After gybing and heading for the mark, O struck I on the transom. There was no damage or injury. O protested I under rule 18.2(c). I protested O under rule 12. O was disqualified and she appealed.

Decision
Appeal dismissed. O apparently believed that rule 18.2(c) applied when the two boats were at position 1 and that I, then being clear astern, was obliged to keep clear of O until both boats had passed the mark. As it states, rule 18.2(c) applies only if a boat is clear ahead when she reaches the two-length zone. At position 1, I was within the two-length zone, but O was well outside. When O gybed to sail to the mark, the two became overlapped, and O was then obliged by rule 18.2(a) to give room to I to pass the mark, including room for her necessary gybe. Before O struck I, I pulled clear ahead of O. At that time rule 18.2(a) ceased to apply and rule 12 began to apply. Rule 18.2(b) did not apply because the boats were not overlapped immediately before I reached the zone. Therefore, it was proper to disqualify O for breaking rule 12. O also broke rule 14 because it was possible for her to avoid contact with I. It was probably not possible for I to avoid the contact. However, even if I could have avoided the contact, she could not have been penalized under rule 14 because she was the right-of-way boat and the contact did not cause damage or injury.

USSA 1962/87