DSK wrote:
Ellen MacArthur wrote:
You are sailing your Sunfish. There's a lot of current where
your sailing and the
wind is pretty strong and blowing the same direction the currents going.
You tack and get in irons. The wind pushes you backwards and the
current pushes
you backwards. Your sail flutters and your rudder doesn't work.
Suddenly another Sunfish runs into the side of your boat.
Who's at fault for the collision and why?


Sorry, my rudder never "doesn't work." But I know it occasionally
happens to others... an Sunfish are pretty easy to get in irons anyway,
especially with the old rudder design (round tip profile).


Jeff wrote:
The current is irrelevant. All you have is boat A blew a tack and
while it was in irons, boat B hit it. If A tacked too close, it could
be A's fault. Otherwise, B gets most of the blame.


Agreed, if they're not racing, then ColRegs says A is not under command
and B should give way. If they are racing then it's A's fault under the
IYRU rules which say that a boat which is tacking shall keep clear of a
boat on a tack.

I've always wondered about claiming NUC in these cases. Clearly, the
letter of the law isn't followed if you don't show the appropriate
signals. However, its been ruled that obvious signs like the outboard
cover off are close enough. While the luffing sails could be
considered a clear signal, being in irons is not an "exceptional
circumstance" as required by the rule.

OTOH, rule 2 certainly would cover this under "limitations of vessels."