Frank Boettcher wrote:
....
What ensued you haven't shared, but
clearly you survived.

This part I'll answer since you seem to be interested in the outcome.
As I approached the rock breakwater on a port tack at the most narrow
point in the channel with a critical need to tack over and the
Sunfish (two) approached me yelling starboard on a run I gave them a
signal, hand and verbal, that you will not find in Chapman's, ColRegs
or any other text. It was a clear indication of what might happen to
them if they didn't clear the area. I then tacked over, and, low and
behold, they they got out of the way.

So you did exactly what the rules say: you informed them that they
needed to give you some room, and they complied. The fact that your
signals were not standard is not really an issue.


It's a city owned harbor. Had the harbor master caught them they
would have been cited and fined. Had the Junior sailing instructor at
the GYC seen them they would have been suspended from the program had
they been in it.

Ah! They were violating local law and their club rules. So again,
this was not really a ColRegs issue.