February 15, 2007

          Tucson Model Yacht Club
                Tucson, Arizona

Model Yacht Racing Rules

A boat on port tack going down wind rounds the leeward mark which is to port and immediately tacks to be on the starboard tack ..... another boat is close behind also on a starboard tack but has not quite reached the mark.. the lead boat is heading directly for the following boat .... they will hit ... who has the right of way as both are on the starboard tack ?? First it is of little consequence whether the boats are on a beat or running off the wind. Second The boat coming down wind but not to the mark is WINDWARD of the boat that has just rounded the mark and heading back up wind, the boats are "overlapped" since they are each forward of the others transom the boat heading down wind toward the mark is therefore the "windward boat" and must stay clear of the boat beating upwind 
RULE 11 says "when boats are on the same tack and overlapped, a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward boat."
The lead boat ... the one beating up wind that has gone around the mark is subject to RULE 16.1 "when a right of way boat changes course she shall give the other boat room to keep clear."

Two observations:
To avoid this problem it probably would be prudent tactically for the lead boat to stay on her port tack after rounding the mark a little longer before going onto the starboard-tack in order to reduce the possibility to hitting the down wind boat .....while you might have the right of way being involved in a collision is really slow and could be damaging to both boats !!
The timing of the lead boats tacking to go onto a starboard-tack is critical as she does not want the boat following to be close enough to prevent her from being able to complete a tack without the following boat hitting her.

RULE 13 says "after a boat passes head to wind, she shall keep clear of other boats until she is on a close-haul course..." If the following boat is close enough to prevent the lead boat to complete her tack and be clear the lead boat can not tack. A boat close behind can prevent a boat ahead from tacking, you see this take place a lot in match, and team racing sometimes in fleet racing.

RULE # 4
 We often find a jam up at the start... where room is limited.  Assume a PORT-TACK is favored and two boats are on a PORT-TACK with the  rest of the fleet is on STARBOARD ... the PORT-TACKERS are side by side in  the fleet. 
A STARBOARD-TACK boat is heading directly for the mid-section of the leeward
PORT-TACKER the PORT-TACKER can't tack or he'll hit the other PORT-TACKER
before he is able to complete his tack see RULE 13 "after a boat passes  head to wind, she shall keep clear of other boats until she is on a close-haul course " The Starboard tacker has another boat right next  to him, so he can't bear off and go below the port-tacker and avoid a collision. If he heads up he'll go over the line early. What does he do?

 Solution ...
1) Since the STARBOARD-TACKER can't head down his only alternative is to head up to avoid hitting the PORT-TACKER RULE 14 says "A boat shall avoid contact with another boat if reasonably possible"

2) STARBOARD-TACKER goes over early and keep right on going ... RULE 64.1(b) says " When as a consequence of breaking a rule a boat has compelled another boat to break a rule, rule 64.1(a) does not apply to the other boat and she shall be exonerated" In other words since PORT-TACKER forced the STARBOARD-TACKER over early the STARBOARD-TACKER is not charged with a rule violation.

 3) STARBOARD-TACK boat then protest the PORT-TACKER. RULE 10 "When boats are on opposite tacks, a port-tack boat shall keep clear of a starboard-tack boat
 What happens to the other PORT-TACKER .... he gets away with it since he is not the burden boat and did not interfere with the STARBOARD-TACKER Rule 64.1(a) referred to in solution 2 above says "When the protest committee decides that a boat that is a party to a protest hearing has broken a rule, it shall disqualify her unless some other penalty applies..." In our club we would say the PORT-TACKER should do a 360, but I'm not sure this would hold up in a major regatta. Rule 64.1(b) is the exception that allows the STARBOARD-TACKER to keep on going regardless of what tack he may then be on as she undoubtedly had to tack to avoid a collision

 Observations ..
 We often have a PORT-TACKER and more often than not a STARBOARD-TACKER has to give way or tack to avoid a collision and the PORT-TACKER sails on. That is not right .... STARBOARD-TACKER call the protest and PORT-TACKER do your 360 !!

 IN CONCLUSION ... R/C boats move quickly PORT-TACK starts are dangerous you really have to be alert ... A PORT-TACKER at the start really carries a big burden, but they do have a place !!

Very Basic Rules of the Road
As promised we are going to present each month a treatise on sailing rules of the road starting with very basic rules and then getting into the more sophisticated rules as we proceed.

Port and Starboard Tack
Port tack when the wind is generally coming over the port side of the boat, or in some cases it may come from the starboard side when coming down wind with the boom on the starboard side of the vessel (sailing by the lee). The starboard tack boat has the main boom on the port side of the vessel with the wind generally coming across the starboard side except when sailing down wind and wind may be coming very slightly from the port side of the boat.  See Figure 1 for details:

In most all cases, the starboard tack boat (green) has the right of way, and must stay clear of the port tack boat (red).  If the port tack boat fouls the starboard tack boat, then the port tack boat must clear itself of other racing boats, and do a 360° circle consisting of a tack and a gybe, before continuing the race.

Close hauled, Reaching, Running, and In Irons (luffing)

Now that we are experts on Port and Starboard Tacks, we will address the positions of the sail in relation to the boat and the wind.