Team Race - CALL E 02      

Rule 13 While Tacking
Rule 18.2 Giving Mark-Room
Rule 18.5 Exoneration
Definitions Mark-Room

Question 1
Approaching a starboard-hand windward mark on starboard tack, A and X are overlapped and level at the zone. A gives X sufficient room to luff to head to wind, but when X begins to tack, her stern swings and hits A. A protests. What should the call be?

Answer 1
A is right-of-way outside boat when X reaches the zone, and must give X mark-room.
Mark-room includes room to sail her proper course when at the mark.
However, mark-room only includes room to tack when the boat entitled to mark-room is overlapped to windward and on the inside of the boat required to give mark-room. In the situation in Question 1, mark-room includes room for X to tack at the mark. A fails to give X mark-room and breaks rule 18.2(b).
Penalize A and exonerate X under rule 18.5(b) for breaking rule 13.

Question 2
At the same mark A and X are just overlapped on starboard tack at the zone with A behind. A quickly becomes clear astern, but then changes course to be directly behind X. As X’s stern draws level with the mark, A hails 'Don’t tack' and prevents X from tacking round the mark. X protests. What should the call be?

Answer 2
No penalty.
A is outside overlapped boat when X reaches the zone, and must give X markroom.
However, although X remains entitled to mark-room when she is at the mark, she is not overlapped to windward of A and the definition mark-room excludes room for her to tack. A gives X mark-room and keeps clear of her as required by rule 12.

Question 3
Will answers 1 and 2 be the same if X had been clear ahead at the zone.

Answer 3
Yes.

When a boat is entitled to mark-room, room for her to sail her proper course at the mark does not include room to tack unless, when at the mark, she is overlapped to windward and on the inside of the other boat. This is true whether or not the boats were overlapped at the zone.
If contact occurs when a windward inside boat tacks at the mark, the contact may be evidence that the outside boat failed to give the inside boat the room she needed to tack.