The middle boat that got squeezed
The situation
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!”
White moved up and hit Blue while Blue was to leeward of no one — windward-versus-leeward, White was the windward boat to Blue, so White fouled rule 11.
The question
White did hit Blue. Why might White walk away clean?
The ruling
White is exonerated and the foul traces back to Green. White was compelled to break rule 11 against Blue only because Green, to leeward, luffed without leaving White room to keep clear. A boat forced by another boat's breach to break a rule is exonerated (rule 43); White takes no penalty. Green is the boat that broke rule 16.1 by changing course without giving room down the line. Blue's protest should have been against Green.
In a three-boat stack the squeezed middle boat is exonerated — chase the foul back to whoever luffed without room.
Opens the situation on the boat-length grid — scrub it and see exactly how the boats meet. Free, no account needed.
Rules cited
- Rule 11 — On the Same Tack, Overlapped
- Rule 16.1 — Changing Course
- Rule 43 — Exoneration
See the underlying rule: Rule 11 — On the Same Tack, Overlapped.
Related cases
- “She luffed straight into me!” · Upwind / Beating
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.
- The leeward boat luffs · Upwind / Beating
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