Rule 10, On Opposite Tacks
Rule 14, Avoiding Contact
Definitions, Keep Clear
A right-of-way boat need not act to avoid contact until it is clear that the other boat is not keeping clear.
Summary of the Facts
|
Decision
Rule 10 required P3 to keep clear of S. Rule 14 required each boat to avoid
contact with the other boat if reasonably possible. In P3’s case, rule
14’s requirement to avoid contact with S was consistent with the broader
requirement of rule 10 that she allow S to ‘sail her course with no need
to take avoiding action’ (see the definition Keep Clear). P3 broke both
rule 10 and rule 14.
In S’s case, while rule 10 required P3 to keep clear of her, at the same
time S was required by rule 14 to avoid contact if it was ‘reasonably
possible’ to do so. However, the second sentence of rule 14 allowed S
to sail her course in the expectation that P3 would keep clear as required,
until such time as it became evident that P3 would not do so. In this case,
the diagram shows that P3 could readily have borne off and avoided S from a
position very close to S. For that reason, the time between the moment it became
evident that P3 would not keep clear and the time of the collision was a very
brief interval, so brief that it was impossible for S to avoid contact. Therefore,
S did not break rule 14. S’s appeal is upheld, and she is to be reinstated.
CYA 1994/105