"Jeff" wrote in message

| Lied??? It was a joke, obvious to anyone who had ever sailed (or
| thought about sailing) near the Golden Gate.

Oh. (face turns red)

| Wow, you really are wound up about this! I said it was overtaking. I
| merely asked the rhetorical question, "if it isn't considered
| overtaken, what rules would apply?" You don't have to restate all the
| sailboat rules, the obvious question is "What is meant by the 'port
| side'? When are you on a port tack?"

That's easy. It's when the wind is *attacking* the port side of the boat. The sail's on the
starboard side.

| Actually, he never said what he meant, but everyone else got the joke.
| It was funny. I actually smiled.

Zing! Well, shut my mouth. It went right over my head. I just got this mental picture of him really
sailing backwards when instructing some students to show how it could be done. Somehow I don't
find Capt. JG very funny. Mean's more the word comes to mind.

| I'm not sure Jon feels obligated to be your teacher. Did you want to
| be his student?

When Hell freezes over. :-)

| Are you sure of that? Is this your final answer?

Yes, that's my final answer passing signals are for motor boats only. Rule 34 says it.

| Hey, I asked you, what do think the answer is? If two boats are
| together on a broad reach, one normal, the other going backwards by
| backing the sail, are they on the same tack or different?

Sorry, I thought it was a rhetorical question. :-(
That's a good question. I'd say neither. That's because the wind's attacking the same side
of both of them so they're on the same tack. But doesn't the definition also say the sail is supposed
to be on the opposite side? So the one going forward is on the port tack and the one with the backed
sail's sorta halfway in between.

Cheers,
Ellen