Starboard bears away — and loses
The situation
On the beat, port-tack Red is keeping clear by bearing away to duck behind starboard-tack Green. Green bears away too, hunting down to close the gap. Red can no longer make it across and the boats touch. Green protests Red on port-starboard.
Red is on port and hit a starboard boat — that's the most basic foul in sailing. Red is gone under rule 10.
The question
Green had right of way and got hit — how could this reverse?
The ruling
Green is penalized, not Red. On a beat, when a port-tack boat is already keeping clear by sailing to pass astern of a starboard boat, rule 16.2 forbids the starboard boat from bearing away so that the port boat must immediately change course again to keep clearing her. Green did exactly that. Red, compelled into the contact while keeping clear, is exonerated (rule 43); Green broke rule 16.2 (and rule 14). Right of way did not entitle her to drive down onto the boat already ducking her.
You can't bear away into a boat that's already ducking you — rule 16.2 turns the starboard boat into the loser.
Opens the situation on the boat-length grid — scrub it and see exactly how the boats meet. Free, no account needed.
Rules cited
- Rule 16.2 — Changing Course
- Rule 14 — Avoiding Contact
- Rule 10 — On Opposite Tacks
- Rule 43 — Exoneration
See the underlying rule: Rule 16 — Changing Course.
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