colreg question

[ninky]

so sailing in the ionian this week me and HWMBO found ourselves entering a regatta. an adventure for us newbies with 200 plus boats in a channel with the start course requiring tacking into the wind (what little there was of it).

we found ourselves with the wind to port with the big boat class setting off and mostly coming towards us with wind to starboard. as the first biggun approached shouting 'starboard' in aggressive french accent i decided to tack us round to avoid constantly having to bear away (from the wind and our destination). unfortunately the lack of wind and a bad tack meant we completely lost power as we turned and i found myself with the tiller right across and the bow still making its way away from wind and towards the previously oncoming boat that was now leeward. they were going great guns and refused to alter course meaning they clipped their starboard side on our port - creating something of a scratch for them and a bent stanchion for us.

the regatta is a friendly with the rules saying everyone has a duty to avoid collisions or face being disqualified. as it happened all retired and a good night was had with bad greek wine cunningly disguised into a punch. but what do the regs say in this situation?

 

[snowleopard]

You were both in the wrong. You for failing to get out of the way of the stand-on boat (assuming he really was on starboard and you on port - I have known cases where the call was wrong). He however had a duty to avoid a collision when he saw you were not going to get out of the way in time.

You didn't say whether the race wasa being run under racing rules or colregs though I don't think they differ in this instance.

 

[ninky]

You didn't say whether the race wasa being run under racing rules or colregs though I don't think they differ in this instance.

cheers snowleopard. don't know for sure but the website says rrs but local rules to override whatever that means.

http://www.ionianregatta.com/Rally 2009.html

a lack of wind meant most retired anyway. the tack should have been plenty move enough to get out of the way but a panicked early move on the the jibsheets by HWMBO (have to admit that skippers instructions from me did little to calm the situation) meant we lost power and therefore steerage. i felt it was a bit of a six of one situation but we were the passive boat in the situation.