Stefan wrote:
says...
o Rule 16.2 has been modified (again!) so that it only applies when
a port boat is ducking a starboard boat.
This would seem a major change. Consider port crossing a short distance
ahead of starboard. Under RRS2001 starboard cannot start to pinch up to
make life harder for port. Under RRS2005 they can. Given that the
intention of the 1997 rewrite was to make collisions less likely, I
don't understand this one.
I thnk the intention is to encourage port to duck instead of cross.
o Rule 18 now applies in some circumstances when both boats tack
around a mark. (the current rule states that if the proper course
for either boat is to tack, rule 18 is out. The new rule says one
but not both.) I think this needs to be read carefully, because
at first read it appears to say more than it does. My initial
take is that this change only makes a practical difference in a
situation where two boats are on opposite tacks and the proper
course for both of them is to tack.
Would this be a relevant situation? Windward mark to be rounded to port.
Starboard tacker is short of the layline so both boats must tack. Port
tacker approaches on collision course. Under RRS2001 rule 18 does not
apply. Under RRS2005 it does.
These boats are on a beat to windward, no? RRS2005 says rule 18 doesn't
apply to boats on opposite tacks on a beat to windward. That part
hasn't changed.
Actually, I think I've figured out a situation where this rule change
makes a difference.
Consider a "leeward" mark where the wind has shifted 90 degrees as in
the diagram below. A boat on Starboard (S) is reaching to the mark
while a boat on port (P) is running towards the mark. The mark is to
be left to starboard. S's proper course is to tack around the mark.
P's proper course is to gybe, then tack.
Wind -- ^
|
Next Mark
S
P
M
Under RRS2001, it's not clear that P is entitled to room. Under RRS2005
it is.
--
//-Walt
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