Rules of the Road (Sailing Virgins) - Ep.38

Collision regulations or rules of the road when you're sailing. Here are some tips. Hi I'm Tony from Sailing Versions and today I'm going to talk to you a little bit about the rules of the road. So as soon as there's other vessels in the area you need to know who to stand on, who the giveaway vessel is going to be. In this episode I'm going to take you through the essentials so you are predictable to the other boats and can avoid collision. We call these the collision regulations or the colregs. So we'll be going through these fundamentals in eight steps. So number one, hierarchy. We've got a hierarchy system just to rank who's got priority over who. So the first one is if you're being overtaken. Below that is not under command, followed by restricted inability to maneuver, followed by constrained by draft, then fishing, then sail, then power, and then a lesser known one right at the bottom is if you're a seaplane. But you don't need to worry about memorizing all of that. All you really need to know is any vessel that is being overtaken is the stand-on vessel and any vessel overtaking it is the giveaway. And also that us sailors we sit low down in the hierarchy so pretty much only power boats have to give way to us. Number two, obligations. So just because sailboats are quite low down in the hierarchy doesn't mean we have to give way to everyone. That would confuse the situation. For instance you know when you're walking down the street and you come upon someone else walking in the opposite direction and both of you don't know where to go you both turn the same way and then the same way then the same way and you end up walking into each other. On the street obviously that leads to a bit of awkwardness and you might just want to go home. But on the water that can lead to something more serious so you could get into a collision from that. So the obligation part of this is figuring out who is the stand-on and who is the giveaway vessel. There's no right of way in boating because that implies there's no obligation for either party so we'll go into that next. Stand-on vessel. So the stand-on vessel is obligated to maintain force at speed while avoiding collision. Be aware though you still might actually have to execute evasive action if the giveaway vessel in the situation does not. Number four giveaway. So as you might have guessed this is the giveaway vessel you get out of the way. It's important to make it clear that you intend to give away as well so you want to have a noticeable change in course speed or something that keeps your intentions very clear. Number five overtaking is always giveaway. So no matter who you are if you're overtaking someone you are always the giveaway vessel. Number six under motor traffic light system. So the the rule is when you're both motoring you give away to the vessel to your starboard. In reality the easiest way to remember that is like a traffic light system. So if you're seeing the green side of the boat the starboard side that means go. Just like a traffic light. If you see the red side of the boat the port side that means stop. So like I said it's just like traffic lights. So in this scenario vessel A is seeing the red side of vessel B. So this guy is the giveaway vessel. This guy is a stand-on vessel. It's easier at night because obviously you can just see the lights but in the day just imagine what color you're seeing when you're looking at a boat. So under sail starboard tack is stand-on. When we're talking about the wind we always talk about the wind in terms of where it's coming from. So if you're on a starboard tack the wind is coming from your starboard side. So this guy is on starboard tack. If you are on starboard tack and the other boat is on port tack then you are the stand-on vessel because starboard tack is the stand-on vessel. So this guy is the stand-on this guy is the giveaway because he is on port tack. So number eight same tack downwind is stand-on. So the way we remember this is the downwind vessel has dirtier air and fewer options so this guy so the rule makers have given him the advantage on this so he is the stand-on vessel. Conversely if you're lucky enough to have cleaner air you'll give away so this guy so this guy gives way to this guy. All right so there we have it eight tips and tricks for you to improve your colreg knowledge. So yeah given we're here in the BVI's let's head out for a day of sailing. So I hope you enjoyed that and if you did please like and subscribe. If you do want to come join us out on the water check out the links down below. We sail in the BVI's in Croatia and Tahiti so hope to see you out there. Sailing Urgent!