Heading for different gate marks
The situation
At the leeward gate two boats run down on the same tack — one committed to the left gate mark, the other to the right — and their paths cross between the marks.
The question
Does mark-room apply between two boats going to different gate marks?
The ruling
No. Rule 18 applies between boats at the same mark. Two boats heading for different gate marks aren't 'at the same mark', so there's no mark-room between them — they sort it out under the ordinary rules: port/starboard (rule 10) if on opposite tacks, or windward/leeward (rule 11) if overlapped on the same tack, plus rule 14. Pick your gate early and treat a boat bound for the other gate as a normal crossing.
Boats heading to different gate marks owe each other no mark-room — it's just port/starboard or windward/leeward.
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 18 — Mark-Room.
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