Laser: mark rounding

A series of stills from my GoPro last Sunday. Basically, a leeward mark rounding, and for a change, one of my better ones.

There is an absolute bird's nest of rules that govern the rights of boats racing when they're all approaching the same mark. The usual port / starboard, windward / leeward rules apply, but only until you get to within three boat lengths of the buoy you're all trying to get around.

At which point, rights are determined by overlap. At three boat lengths from the mark, the boats on the outside, regardless of windward / leeward, port / starboard have to give any boat on the inside (ie.  between their boat and the mark) that has an overlap room to sail around the mark.

 

More often than not, the way things spread out, it's just one other boat involved. It can be an opportunity to gain a place or lose a place, but in the overall scheme of things, having to allow room for just one other boat to squeeze in between you and the mark when you go around doesn't make a huge difference, and you very often have the opportunity to sail high and steal their wind on the next leg.

But every so often, a crowd all arrives at the same place at the same time. It can be quite intimidating to be the one guy on the inside with a pile of boats stacking up outside of you, especially if they're all bigger than you. You're relying on every boat on the outside to give enough room for all the boats overlapped on the inside, and you often have to be quite firm in "expressing" your rights to the folks that need to give you water.

But when it works, it is a lovely feeling.