PART 2
So a right-of-way boat is entitled to have a ‘safety zone’ around her, and any course change by the right-of-way boat must not deprive herself of that safety zone if the other boat acts as required.
What is ‘changing course’? First, what is a course? It is the course made good over the ground, and not the direction in which the boat is pointing1
. Secondly, ‘what is the meaning of ‘change course’? Is it a change of
course for a boat to sail in an arc of a circle? If she does not move her helm, is she nonetheless changing course? ‘Yes, a boat changes course when she sails the arc of a circle or any other course where she changes direction, whether or not she moves her helm. This includes a change from moving forwards to moving backwards, or vice versa. To change course means to change the direction in which the boat is heading or moving2
’.
As with rule 15, fleeting technical breaches of rule 16.1’s requirements can be corrected by further action. ‘A right-of-way boat changing course may comply with rule 16.1 by changing course further and thus giving the other boat room to keep clear3
.’ So in RYA 2001/5, S’s course would take her astern of P, but S was lifted and P was headed by a windshift, resulting in a potential collision that P could not avoid in a seamanlike way. S then bore away to a non-collision course, an action that met the requirements of rule 16.1.
When S changed course, she was required by rule 16.1 to give P room to keep clear. She did this by bearing away. When a right of way boat changes course and deprives a give-way boat of room to keep clear, she will have complied with rule 16.1 by making a further change, to a course that will give the other boat room to keep clear.
The same principle applies in overlaps. ‘When a leeward boat is changing course towards a windward boat, she may need to change course away from the windward boat when the boats get near each other in order to continue to give the windward boat room to keep clear4
P1 S2 . Note that when sailing downwind
close to each other, there is an obligation on a right-of-way boat not to deprive herself of freedom still to change course in both directions, whether it is rule 10 or rule 11 that applies.
fig 1
If the room given in which to keep clear takes the keep-clear boat across the starting line before the starting signal, no rule is broken by the right-of-way boat, but if the keep-clear boat tries to avoid this happening by not responding to the right-of-way boat’s change of course, the keep-clear boat will break a rule (rule 11 when she is being luffed)5
.
Rule 16.1 applies at all times when racing. It is legitimate for a right-of-way boat to manoeuvre against a keep-clear boat before the starting signal to drive her away from the starting line, provided that room is given when required6
.
The fact that a change of course by the right-of-way boat may be totally predictable does not disapply rule 16.1, as fig 2 shows.
If the boats hold their S1-P1 courses, P will keep clear ahead of S. P will expect that S, which presumably has overstood, will want to luff to finish, but S in doing so must comply with rule 16.1, even if S is sailing a proper course7
. P1 fig 2
1 RYA1988/8, as concerns what is a ‘proper course’, but the same interpretation would seem sensible for a simple course. 2 US 33. In the light of RYA 1988/8, if ‘heading’ is different from ‘moving’ then ‘moving’ prevails. See also MR Call B7. Drifting sideways as a
result of sheeting in is not a change of course – Q&A M 002 3 TR Call B4. MR Call B11: when the give-way boat is stalled in the water, for whatever reason, or only moving slowly, she may need additional
room. 4 US 108 5 WS 13 6 WS 52 7 This is based on WS 76, which is currently withdrawn for revision. However, I believe that this point remains valid. In addition, I do not think the outcome would be different if S’s course were not a proper course
54 RYA The Racing Rules Explained P2 Finishing line S2 S1 RYA 2001/5
Wind at S1-P1
P3 P2 S3
Wind at S2-P2
S1
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