“You tacked right into me”
The situation
Beating along a shoreline, leeward Green is running out of water and hails “Room to tack!” to Blue, who is pinning her from windward. Blue says nothing and holds her lane. Green tacks to avoid going aground and the boats touch. Blue protests Green for tacking into her.
Green tacked into a boat she had to keep clear of — a boat tacking has no rights (rule 13), so Green obviously fouled.
The question
Blue got hit by a tacking boat — how is she the one penalized?
The ruling
Blue is penalized. When Green hailed for room to tack at an obstruction, rule 20 obliged Blue to respond at once — either tack, or reply “You tack.” Doing nothing is itself a breach. Because Blue failed to give the room she owed, Green is exonerated for any rule she broke while taking that room, including rule 13 (rule 43). The shore was a genuine obstruction and the hail was valid, so the foul lands on the boat that ignored it.
Ignore a valid “room to tack” hail and the contact is yours — rule 20 exonerates the boat you forced to tack.
Opens the situation on the boat-length grid — scrub it and see exactly how the boats meet. Free, no account needed.
Rules cited
- Rule 20 — Room to Tack at an Obstruction
- Rule 13 — While Tacking
- Rule 43 — Exoneration
See the underlying rule: Rule 20 — Room to Tack at an Obstruction.