SAILBOARD
ANY TIMEIntermediate

Right of way, but contact

The situation

Starboard-tack Green stands on, confident in her rights. Port-tack Red misjudges the cross, the hulls touch, and there's damage.

The question

Is only Red penalized?

The ruling

Red breaks rule 10. But rule 14 requires every boat — including the right-of-way boat — to avoid contact if reasonably possible. Green need not act until it's clear Red won't keep clear; if by then Green could still have avoided the contact and didn't, she also breaks rule 14. Because there was damage, Green is not exonerated and can be penalized too.

Key point

Right of way is never a licence to hit — if you could have avoided damaging contact and didn't, you break rule 14.

Play this on the board

Opens the situation on the boat-length grid — scrub it and see exactly how the boats meet. Free, no account needed.

Rules cited

See the underlying rule: Rule 14 — Right of Way but Contact.

Related cases

  • Right of way — and still penalized · Any Time

    Starboard-tack Green stands on, confident in her rights, as port-tack Red misjudges the cross. Green makes no attempt to avoid Red; the hulls collide hard and a boat is holed. Green protests Red and assumes she's clean.

  • Contact and damage · Any Time

    Two Optis collide at a mark and one cracks her hull. The right-of-way boat says it wasn't her fault, so she keeps racing.

  • You fouled someone — now what? · Any Time

    Beating upwind, Jonah on port tack doesn't quite clear a starboard-tack boat, who has to luff sharply to avoid him. There's no contact and no damage, but Jonah knows he broke the rule.

  • Earning rights by tacking · Any Time

    Red tacks onto starboard a couple of boat lengths in front of Green, who is sailing on port. Red completes the tack and becomes the right-of-way boat.

Related guides

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