PART 2 , S E C T ION C : WHEN BOATS ME E T — RUL E 18 : MAR K- ROOM 181


say within a couple of feet or so as it will be when she is rounding the mark, you have to give her the space she needs to sail to the mark in a “seamanlike way” (meaning safe; not putting her boat or crew at risk of damage or injury, or at risk of touching the mark; sailed the way competent, but not expert, sailors would sail to the mark) in the prevailing conditions. A boat will need more space if it is windy and wavy, and less space if it is light air and smooth; just as a boat will need more space if it has a lot of sail handling to do, and less space if it has only one sail to deal with. (See Case 21.) Note: room does not include space for the inside boat to sail her proper


course to the mark; i.e., the space the inside boat might like to set up for a tac- tically desirable “swing wide-cut close” type rounding, though in actual practice most outside boats are a little more forgiving. (See Appeal 20.) Then you have to give her the space she needs to round or pass the mark as


necessary to sail the course, which means just enough space to allow her to round the mark in a “seamanlike way” onto the course she needs to sail to begin the next leg (see the definition Room). Again, “seamanlike way” means the space needed to not be at risk of touching the mark or the outside or clear astern boat during her rounding, and not the space she might want to sail her proper course; i.e., the course she might want to sail for tactical reasons. (See Case 118.)


“What if I need to gybe; do I get room for that too?”


If you need to gybe to round the mark in order to sail the course, then yes, mark-room includes enough space for your boom to come across and your stern to swing when you gybe to round the mark. This is common at leeward marks when the inside boat needs to gybe to round the mark. (See Case 75.)


“Do I also get room to gybe around the windward mark going onto a run?”


No! If you are clear ahead and rounding close to the windward mark onto a run (where you will spend time on both tacks), you do not need to gybe in order to sail the course, even though gybing may be your proper course. Therefore, mark-room does not include room to gybe in that situation.


“How about when I’m a windward/inside boat coming into the windward mark or rounding the leeward mark; am I entitled to room to tack around the mark?”


At the windward mark, Yes; at the leeward mark, No. If you are the inside Table of Contents


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