Question
At a starboard-hand leeward mark, A and X are sailing on a close reach,
overlapped on starboard tack, when they reach the zone. Y is approaching
the mark on a beam reach, sailing faster but just clear astern of A and
X when they reach the zone.
X bears away to give Y room to round the mark inside her. A protests.
What should the call be?
Answer
X is keep clear boat with respect to A, but A must give her mark-room.
Because Y is clear astern when X and A reach the zone, she must give mark-room
to both A
and X.
In causing A to give extra room for Y to round inside her, X breaks rule
11 Penalize X.
If as a result of the incident Y overtakes A, then the umpire will consider
whether X’s team has gained an advantage despite X being penalized
(or taking a voluntary turn). If X’s team has gained an advantage,
penalize X further (if this removes the advantage) or report the incident
to the protest committee ashore which may penalize X’s team further.