Windward Mark — Clear Ahead at the Zone
Clear ahead up the layline at the zone, the leader gets mark-room at the windward mark — a chaser's late dive inside earns nothing.
When a boat is clear ahead as she reaches the windward-mark zone, the boat that hasn't reached the zone — the one clear astern — must give her mark-room (rule 18.2(a)(2)). The chaser can't manufacture an inside overlap inside the zone and demand room; the leader rounds and the chaser keeps clear and rounds behind. (Between boats on opposite tacks on a beat, rule 18 doesn't apply at all — that's a straight port/starboard situation.)
Opens the animation on the boat-length grid — scrub it, edit it, or use it as a starting point. Free, no account needed.
How it interacts with other rules
- Rule 18 — Mark-Room at a Windward Mark · see also
When the boats are overlapped at the zone, the outside boat gives the inside boat the room.
- Rule 18.2 — Mark-Room — Clear Ahead at the Zone · see also
The same clear-ahead principle at a leeward mark.