Adventures of olkewill

[William_H]

Sorry I know this is not meant to be a blog but some of my friends might find some amusement in olewill's adventures yesterday.
It all started ina regular race. the wind had come up to about 15knots. Little boat was steaming along happily on a reach. I gave the tiller to a lady crew just for the fun of it.
A friend came past in a Sydney 43. (twice the length of my little boat) He must have been doing 9 or 10 knots so amid the friendly waves he passed us on the leeward side at about 2 metres away.
Apparently there is a phenomonen of low pressure in the water between the bow wave and stern wave. Anyway with the aid of a bit of panic from the helmslady we were sucked into a loud bang of hulls colliding. And much embarrassment. yes I should have grabbed the helm and yes I should have kept clear being windward boat.
I still don't know if "overtaking boat keeps clear" or 'Windward boat keeps clear" is the prevailing rule. Anyway no harm done but a bit alarming all the same.
The rest of the afternoon was fine apart from broaching a couple of times under spin and finally taking the end fitting out of the spin pole. The madness continues.

Meanwhile near the start and just behind us by about 50 metres another friend has a nearly new Turkish built Farr 25. There was a loud bang followed almost immediately by another bang /crunch sound. It seems the U bolt (chain plate) failed on an inner sidestay. The carbon fibre mast then broke in the middle and at the cabin top. A very expensive repair. This boat is just into the class known around here as sports boats. Missiles with sails. Huge sail area and huge assy spin.
So much for Sun afternoon adventures olewill

 

[mrming]

Sounds like a breezy day!

On the collision - my comments would be:

Until the overlap is established he is the overtaking boat and must keep clear (rule 12).

When he has established an overlap to leeward he must then sail his proper course (as if you were not there) (rule 17).

Even if he has right of way, he has a duty to avoid a collision (rule 14).

The third part is the most relevant here as it doesn't sound like he has deliberately luffed up into you.

My feeling is that 2m is too close to pass someone to leeward in a large boat in windy weather / waves, and therefore he hasn't done enough to avoid a collision. This is based on your account obviously. If your helmslady bore away at all then you would be at fault as windward boat failing to keep clear.

Simples!

 

[Skylark]

So much for Sun afternoon adventures
olewill

It's -2 degrees C in Manchester so it's warming to read of your weekend adventures. More, please!

 

[William_H]

Thanks David
it is a bit of a worry whether to post on these silly stories. I don't want to be seen as unkind enjoying good weather (bragging) while my friends on YBW suffer over winter on the other hand if I can bring a little joy to winterised friends then I would love to do that. I certainly promise to never mention the cricket and sledging. (A bit ashamed to be Australian)
good luck olewill

 

[MikeBz]

There is no such racing rule as 'overtaking boat keeps clear'. It is a common misconception. A boat clear astern must keep clear of a boat clear ahead. Once overlapped, and on the same tack, generally the windward boat must keep clear although there are some exceptions such as at marks or obstructions. In your scenario it depends whether the leeward boat gave you room and opportunity to keep clear from the point in time at which the overlap was established. There was no onus on you to start taking avoiding action in anticipation before the overlap was established.

 

[William_H]

Thanks Mike it is good to hear your opinion on overtaking boat keeps clear as it mirrors what I suspected. I guess in the circumstances i was taken a bit by surprise and certainly never imagined a collision could occur. So we will just say he did not give me time to avoid collision and certainly did not hail for water. (more like a friendly "Hi Willy"
I perahps am a bit blase about hull contact but am terrified of rig contact. Hulls are tough, rigs are not. (now on 4th mast after 3 contacts with posts. I tend to give posts a good clearance now. thanks olewill

 

[peterb]

The point you haven't mentioned is whether you were both racing. If either one of you were not racing, then IRPCS would hold, and Rule 13 says that the overtaking boat gives way until ahead and clear.

 

[mrming]

Once overlapped, and on the same tack, generally the windward boat must keep clear although there are some exceptions such as at marks or obstructions.

17) ON THE SAME TACK; PROPER COURSE
If a boat clear astern becomes overlapped within two of her hull lengths to leeward of a boat on the same tack, she shall not sail above her proper course while they remain on the same tack and overlapped within that distance, unless in doing so she promptly sails astern of the other boat. This rule does not apply if the overlap begins while the windward boat is required by rule 13 to keep clear.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but assuming both boats are heading to the same mark and with the same sail set, I don't see how olewill's boat would be in a "windward boat must keep clear" situation here.

 

[MikeBz]

If the other boat did not sail above her proper course then olewill was required to keep clear from the point at which the overlap was established. However he also had to be given room and opportunity to do so. So if the overlap was established with the leeward/overtaking boat so close that a collision could not have been avoided even if olewill started luffing at the moment the overlap was established, then the leeward boat was in the wrong. On the other hand if olewill was sucked down or sagged down onto the leeward boat and could have avoided this by taking action when the overlap was established then he (olewill) was in the wrong (assuming the leeward boat was not sailing above her proper course).

I am assuming that both boats were racing of course (it sounds like it from the original post).