Part 2, Section C When Boats Meet at Marks and Obstructions— Tacking and Gybing, and Other Exceptions to Rule 18
Rule 18 (Mark-Room) also has rules for when boats tack inside the zone of a windward mark (rule 18.3, Passing Head to Wind in the Zone) or have to gybe inside the zone of a leeward mark in order to sail their proper course (rule 18.4, Gybing). It also contains some exceptions, such as when boats are approach- ing a starting mark to start (preamble to Section C) or when a boat leaving a mark encounters a boat approaching a mark (rule 18.1(c)). I will cover all these special rules in this chapter.
WH E N O N E O F TWO O P P O S I T E TA C K B O AT S TA C K S WI T H I N T H E Z O N E AT T H E WI N DWA R D MA R K
R U L E 1 8 . 3 — PA S S I N G H E A D T O WI N D I N T H E Z O N E
If a boat in the zone of a mark to be left to port passes head to wind from port to starboard tack and is then fetching the mark, she shall not cause a boat that has been on starboard tack since entering the zone to sail above close- hauled to avoid contact and she shall give mark-room if that boat becomes overlapped inside her. When this rule applies between boats, rule 18.2 does not apply between them.
