Re: What would you do?

Allen, a dissenting view: I'm far removed from my racing years, so I can't quote chapter and verse on the rules anymore, but in order to be able to claim your rights as starboard tack boat, you must maintain your normal course. As port tack boat, I might well not have made up my mind at two boat lengths, but so long as I am aware of your position, it remains my responsibility to steer clear. Now, I understand your uneasiness in the circumstances. One solution is after hailing "Starboard!" and seeing (and hearing) no response, you certainly can hail "What are your intentions?" This simply means that you'd like them to acknowledge your presence and ease your mind a little that they don't plan to ram you amidships. I infer from your story that you may not have done a lot of racing. In dinghies, six inches separation is as good as a mile in many fleets. That's a bit tight even for my tastes in a big boat, but I have no problem cutting a few feet behind the stern of a crossing boat. Note that if the other boat had hit you (or even had to alter course to avoid you) while you were tacking, you probably would have been at fault and subject to protest. As I recall the rules, you give up your rights to starboard tack when you reach the point where the bow is into the wind, and you don't regain your leeward boat rights until you are under sail again. In other words, you must complete the maneuver in a manner that does not cause the port tack boat to alter its course. Having said all that, I'll agree that you were correct to tack if you felt that your boat was in danger; that's the primary responsibility of the skipper above all other rules and rights. However, I believe that you probably could have held your course and been fine. Without knowing more details, I expect that I would have stayed on starboard. I hope that this is helpful. Alfred Poor 1973 Tartan 34C #288 "Jambalaya"

Allen replied to us all: "The bottom line is that I accepted his explanation that he was going to avoid us and that we tacked needlessly, that I should have held my course. But I would do the same thing if I had it to do over. It isn't worth finding out if some random boat knows what they are doing and crashing your boat in the process." First, a big OUCH on that L-36 photo! I think I'm gonna need therapy after seeing that. Second, your additional detail makes it abundantly clear that you did exactly the right thing. My only Monday-morning comment is that I also would have hailed inquiring about their intentions before tacking, and absent a satisfactory response - either verbal or a visible course change - I would have tacked and probably declared a protest. (I hate protesting, but if abusers don't get a wrist-slap now and then, how are they going to learn?) So put me down in the "You made the right call" column. Alfred Poor 1973 Tartan 34C #288 "Jambalaya"

Thanks Alfred. That means a lot. As you can see from the video, we got no response from the other boat after yelling and waving our hands. Perhaps I tacked a bit early and clearly too early to win a protest but I really thought they were not going to change course. Allen On Thu, Jun 28, 2012 at 5:15 AM, Alfred Poor <ap… [at] verizon.net> wrote: > ** > > > Allen replied to us all:**** > > ** ** > > “The bottom line is that I accepted his explanation that he was going to > > avoid us and that we tacked needlessly, that I should have held my course. > But I would do the same thing if I had it to do over. It isn't worth > finding out if some random boat knows what they are doing and crashing your > boat in the process.” > > **** > > First, a big OUCH on that L-36 photo! I think I’m gonna need therapy after > seeing that.**** > > ** ** > > Second, your additional detail makes it abundantly clear that you did > exactly the right thing. My only Monday-morning comment is that I also > would have hailed inquiring about their intentions before tacking, and > absent a satisfactory response – either verbal or a visible course change – > I would have tacked and probably declared a protest. (I hate protesting, > but if abusers don’t get a wrist-slap now and then, how are they going to > learn?) > > **** > > So put me down in the “You made the right call” column.**** > > ** ** > > Alfred Poor**** > > 1973 Tartan 34C #288 “Jambalaya”**** > > ** ** > > >