“She luffed straight into me!”
The situation
Two boats sail close-hauled side by side, overlapped on the same tack. Green is to leeward, Blue close alongside to windward. Green luffs; Blue can't respond in time and the hulls touch. Blue protests, furious that Green turned into her.
Green changed course and caused the contact — the boat that turned into the other and hit her must be at fault.
The question
Does Blue's protest stand, since Green is the one who turned?
The ruling
No — Blue is penalized. As the windward boat she must keep clear of Green the whole time (rule 11); the leeward boat is allowed to luff. The only thing that could have saved Blue is rule 16.1: a right-of-way boat that changes course must give the other room to keep clear. If Green luffed smoothly and gave Blue a fair chance to respond, Green broke nothing and Blue's failure to keep clear is the foul. (Only a sudden, no-room slam by Green would flip it back.)
Causing the contact isn't the same as being at fault — windward must keep clear, and a fair luff is legal.
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 11 — On the Same Tack, Overlapped.
Related cases
- The middle boat that got squeezed · Upwind / Beating
Three boats sail close-hauled overlapped: Green to leeward, White in the middle, Blue to windward. Green luffs. White, with nowhere to go, is pushed into Blue and they touch. Blue protests White — “You came up into me!”
- The leeward boat luffs · Upwind / Beating
Two boats sail close-hauled side by side on the same tack, overlapped. Green is to leeward, Blue close alongside to windward. Green begins to luff, heading up toward the wind.
- Defending your lane · Upwind / Beating
A boat is creeping up to windward, trying to roll over Priya. Priya, the leeward boat, luffs gently to slow the windward boat and protect her wind.
- Starboard bears away — and loses · Upwind / Beating
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.
Related guide
- Racing Rules of Sailing explained: a beginner's mental model
The Racing Rules of Sailing 2025-2028 keep boats apart and racing fair. Here's the mental model: right of way, keep clear, marks, the zone and penalties.