Q&A 2010-013 is about multiple boats; two on starboard and two on port.
A common enough situation somewhere on the layline to the first windward mark, specially at the end of the leg, but still outside the zone:
I'll give you the situation and the questions, but not the answer from the Q&A panel. As an exercise, try to answer them first and then have a look at what the panel concluded.
Situation at position 1
Green is an inside boat and will require room from Blue to pass behind Yellow. The leeward port boat Blue is sailing a course to pass behind the leading starboard boat Yellow. Blue is able to cross the leeward starboard boat Purple easily, but will have to make a substantial alteration of course to avoid the windward starboard boat Grey. Blue asks Green for room to tack.
Question 1
When Blue asks for room to tack at position 1 does that relieve her of her obligations under rule 19.2 (b) to give Green room to pass below the leading starboard tack boat?
Question 2
If the answer to Q1 is no and Green passes behind Yellow and tacks as soon as possible, will Blue be exonerated under rule 20.2 if while tacking she fails to keep clear of Grey?
Question 3
If the answer to Question 2 is also no, and Blue cannot tack after position 2 and keep clear of Grey or bear away and keep clear of Purple, what should she do?
After you written down your answers, with the appropriate reasoning; have a look at the whole Q&A:
This is the Link: Q&A 2010-013
Good luck.
Question 1
ReplyDeleteWhen Blue asks for room to tack at position 1 does that relieve her of her obligations under rule 19.2 (b) to give Green room to pass below the leading starboard tack boat?
Answer 1
No, but neither is Green relieved of her obligation under rule 20 to either tack as soon as possible or hail 'You Tack' immediately.
A rule 20 hail should not affect rights and obligations under any other rule.
Green Hails 'You Tack'
If Green hails 'You Tack', Green must give Blue room to tack and avoid Green, but Blue must, while rule 19 applies, still give Green room to pass between Blue and Yellow.
If Green hails 'You Tack', and Blue, before passing head to wind, does not give Green room to pass between Blue and Yellow (e.g. Green makes contact with Yellow when giving the minimum necessary room to Blue), then Blue breaks rule 19, and by so doing will have compelled Green to break rule 10 and rule 14 with respect to Yellow, so, at this point, Penalise Blue, Exonerate Yellow.
In this case, Blue will presumably continue past head to wind, at which point, Rule 19 will cease to apply because Blue and Yellow are no longer overlapped (Definition of Overlap), also, presumably, Yellow will no longer be giving Blue room to complete her tack, because she is tangled up with Yellow, and thus Yellow will break rule 20, but Blue's breach of rule 19, occurring before passing head to wind, will have compelled Green into this situation, so it remains Penalise Blue, Exonerate Yellow.
Green does not hail 'You Tack'
If Green does not immediately hail 'You Tack' then Green is obliged, under rule 20, to 'tack as soon as possible'. It is not possible for Green to tack while there is not room enough between Green and Yellow to do so. Green's obligation to tack thus does not come into effect until she has moved sufficiently past Yellow to have room to do so. Blue is obliged, under rule 20.1(a) to give Green time to respond to her hail, and furthermore cannot expect Green to respond to a first hail, but should hail again more loudly (Case 54).
If Green delays her tack until there is room, and Blue allows Green time to respond to her hail, Blue will have complied with her obligation under rule 19, Green will have kept clear of Yellow, and have complied with her rule 20 obligation to Blue. Blue and Green will have broken no rules between them, although, by now, Blue may have ploughed right through Grey.
If Green, in trying to respond to Blue's hail, and while Blue is giving Green time to respond, tacks before there is room to do so and breaks rule 10 or 13 or 14 with respect to Yellow, then this was not caused by any action of Blue and Yellow cannot have exoneration. Penalise Yellow.
On the other hand, if Blue begins to tack before allowing Yellow time to respond, and Yellow, in response to Blue's change in course (rather than her hail) tacks into Yellow, then Blue's breach of rule 20.2(a) compelled Yellows breach and Yellow deserves exoneration. Penalise Blue, Exonerate Yellow.
Question 2
If the answer to Q1 is no and Green passes behind Yellow and tacks as soon as possible, will Blue be exonerated under rule 20.2 if while tacking she fails to keep clear of Grey?
Answer 2
No. Blue's entitlements and obligations under rules 19 and 20 with respect to Yellow and Green have no effect on her obligation to keep clear of Grey.
Rule 20.2 applies only between a boat obliged to give room and the boat entitled to room.
When Green has tacked as soon as possible, thus complying with her rule 20 obligation, she breaks no rule, and thus Blue is not compelled by any other boat's breach of a rule to fail to keep clear of Grey.
Question 3
If the answer to Question 2 is also no, and Blue cannot tack after position 2 and keep clear of Grey or bear away and keep clear of Purple, what should she do?
Answer 3
A. Pray.
B. If rule 61.1(a)(3) applies, sail well clear of other boats and start taking penalty turns.
Comment – Safety and Rule 14
ReplyDeleteAlthough, under rule 20, if Green wants to take her option under rule 20 to tack in response to Blue's hail, Green is not required to make any response until it is possible for her to tack, it is obvious that serious contact is highly likely, and Green (and Blue, and Grey and Purple), should all be considering taking action to avoid contact. Case 107 tells us that hailing is one action to avoid contact. As this situation develops Yellow should be hailing to Blue 'It is not possible for me to tack yet, Green is in the way,' and Blue should be hailing to Grey and Purple 'I cannot keep clear, I have boats to windward that don't allow me room to keep clear'.
Hailing won't absolve anyone from breaking rules, but it is likely to prevent a serious damage collision.
Written after looking at Q&A 2010-013
I strongly disagree with the Q&A 2010-013 Answer 3 Statement that 'Blue must hail Green in time to give Green time to respond as required by rule 20.1(a).' Nothing in the rules sets any limit on how long after 'when safety requires her to make a substantial course change' (rule 20.3) a boat may make her hail. If she delays making her hail, then there may be consequences: she may hit the obstruction, or break a section A rule, but that does not found any obligation to hail in sufficient time for to avoid doing so, that is all up to her.
The better statement would be 'Blue should hail in sufficient time, so that, after allowing Green time to respond, Blue will have time to avoid the obstruction.'
It didn't occur to me that there would ever have been time for Green to tack below Yellow, but it is a possibility, and if it was possible, then the Q&A correctly states that if Green did not respond 'You Tack', then Green would have broken rule 20.
Surely the only way to avoid this whole mess is for Blue to hail for room to tack before crossing behind Yellow. Reading the question I understood that this is what happened. If the hail was made before position 2 then responsibilty for everything that ensued is on Green.
ReplyDeleteGordon
Gordon is totally right! I disagree with Jos who writes,
ReplyDelete...Green is an inside boat and will require room from Blue to pass behind Yellow...
Blue has the right (obligation) at position 1 to call for sea room from Green. Otherwise, Blue would have to duck both starboard tackers and allow green room to duck them too.
I'm not a guy to hesitate if I'm at Blue's helm!
Doc,
ReplyDeleteJos is exactly right. See Case 11.
Blue has no obligation whatsoever to make a rule 20 hail, at any particular time or at all. There may be consequences if she does not hail, or hails at the wrong time. That will largely be Blue's problem.
I think the question assumes that, given time to respond and so on, it was not possible for Green to tack to leeward of Yellow.
But if it was possible for Green to tack to leeward of Yellow, then my bet is she would immediately protest Blue, for breaking rule 19.2 in respect of Yellow, breaking rule 20.1(c).
If, in the protest hearing, Blue argued that the hail was given in respect of Grey, not Yellow, Green would firstly point to whatever could be precisely proved about relative positions, and stick to her guns that the hail applied to Yellow, then argue that if it was given in respect of Grey, that it was given before safety required Blue to make a substantial alteration of course to avoid Grey, and that Blue thus broke rule 20.3. As a protest committee member, I would be taking those arguments pretty seriously.
Blue is taking some high risk tactics here in trying to break through the Starboard tack parade, in a space that she could just possibly fit through on her own, but will have great difficulty doing so while Green has her pinned. As I said in post 2 above, it will require some good pre-hail hailing and communication if this is going to come off without carnage.