152 UNDE R S TANDING THE RAC ING RUL E S OF SAI L ING THROUGH 2 0 2 4
Whenever L becomes overlapped to leeward of W from clear astern within two of her lengths of W, she cannot sail above her proper course while less than that distance apart, unless she promptly sails astern of W..
overlapped with W by two feet, L can sail up to head to wind. Appeal 17 says, “A boat is head to wind when her bow is facing the wind, and the centerline of her hull is parallel to it, irrespective of the position of her sails.” This clarification is helpful because often when a boat is head to wind her sails will blow momentarily to the other side giving the illusion that she is past head to wind and therefore subject to rule 13 (While Tacking).
Remember that when L is head to wind, it is quite possible that W will be required to go beyond head to wind in order to keep clear under rule 11 (On the Same Tack, Overlapped). If this is the case, W must do so. If it’s not possible for W to keep clear without fouling other boats to windward of her, W should clearly alert L that she needs more room to keep clear (as required by rule 16.1).
