Who had right of way?

[Dalton]

Check out Scuttlebutt @ http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/1010/

[Neil Gordon]

I think you got the tense wrong. The question is, "Who "HAD" the right of way. Just to be technical, neither vessel had a "right," they each had an obligation. One to stand on, one to stand off and both to avoid the other if the stand on / stand off thing didn't work well.

The non-technical, cop-out answer is you can't tell just from the photo. Was the larger vessel constrained by draft and limited in ability to maneuver? Was there other traffic that might have limited its ability to maneuver? Was the photo flipped so that port and starboard tacks were reversed? In any case, the smaller boat should have tacked away to avoid the collision. Don't ever argue against the rule of tonnage.

[Dalton]

I thought it was an interesting photo also.

[barfwinkle]

Interesting series of photos.

Looks like to me the guy in the iitty bitty boat, wants to own the great big boat (asuming nothing on the itty bitty boat is broke). Interesting series of photos if they havent been retouched.

Fair winds

[Steve Laume]

The sail numbers are not backwards so the picture is correct as to the tacks. I am thinking right of way is not an issue. The photo was taken with a long lens which makes the distances look much closer than they were. The big guy was smokin on by and the other relatively small boat was caught in the wind shadow and luffing. They easily passed astern of the other boat and all was well.

In my mind the other boat always has the right of way. I will hold course only so long and then make an abrupt change of course so the other guy will have no doubt as to my intentions.

When it gets to be troublesome is when I want to get up close to talk or take a good look at another vessel. I always try to approach so that he has the right of way or is the stand on vessel but they will very often run away. Not so with the racing guys I suppose.

That picture would have resulted in a pretty serious crunch if I am not right in my assumption, Steve.

[Larry DeMers]

Steve,

You said this: "... I will hold course only so long and then make an abrupt change of course so the other guy will have no doubt as to my intentions."

Tried this a few years ago, and almost got T-Boned by someone.
We were sailing up a channel in light air, evening time, no boats in sight. Suddenly a charter fishing boat came up our stern at a good clip, and 20 feet from our stern, he swerved out about 15 feet and passed us, scaring the heck out of us. In my reaction, I swerved away from the powerboat, only to find that his buddy, also a charter fishing boat, had been riding right behind the first boat, and had decided to pass us on the other side, equally close. He had to depower instantly to avoid us, and we kind of glared at each other for a good 30 sec. I swear, if I had a bow and arrow...

I think you were talking about a different situation though..where the other guy is some distance away, so you telegraph your intentions with the abrupt change in direction. I agree, that works fine if there is clear sea room around you.

Be careful out there.


Cheers,

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
CD30 Sailing Lake Superior

[Steve Laume]

Yikes I didn't see the full seaquence before. Me wrong again! What was the guy thinking? That is an awful big boat to be playin chicken with, Steve.

[John Danicic]

From the photo series on Scuttlebutt, the cruiser was on a starboard tack and the Maltese Falcon was on a port tack. Technically the starboard tack has right of way. But it appears to me that the cruiser was expecting a very much larger vessel to give way to him, was not paying attention or possibly, wanted to be "touched by greatness". Expecting such a large vessel to give way is unrealistic. Not paying attention is unforgivable and an intentional collision is criminal. Anyway I look at it, there's going to be a lot of billable hours charged to both owners.

Personally, I would have loved to see the Maltese Falcon sail by but have no need to get that close.
A good book to read is "Mine's Bigger", by David A. Kaplan. It is the story of how the Maltese Falcon was built.


Sail on (carefully)

John Danicic
CD 36 -Mariah- #124
Lake Superior

[Duncan]

"Here lies the body of Michael O'Day,
who died maintaining the right of way.
He was right, dead right, as he sailed along,
but he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong."

[Doug Gibson]

This link contains nearly frame-by-frame sequence of the collision.

http://lyonsimaging.smugmug.com/gallery ... 0001_ojnQx

This link provides Perkin's account of the incident.

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lec ... 178#Story2

I can't conceive that the skipper was intentionally trying to force right-of-way. I believe he was simply trying to get a closer look at the Falcon and rounded up, losing control.

I've had one opportunity to be on the bay while Falcon sailed... quite spectacular! I estimated her speed at 15-20 knots in a moderate breeze. Because of her size/tonnage, she requires a harbor pilot to be aboard and in control of the helm. Basically, I treated her as any other large, commercial vessel restricted in maneuverability within the bay.[/url]

[mgphl52]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for the links with more explanation! I had already seen post about this incident on another board, but not detailed info.

I suspect that Stand-By's skipper did not anticipate the wind effects that Falcon's sails, and sail area, would cause correctly and that played a large factor. Well, besides the inane idea of trying to a "closer look" at Falcon. Looks like they got quite an eye-full.

[Sea Hunt]

According to the only person who apparently filed a report, the Nordic 40 "Stand By" attempted to flee the scene after the collision and had to be chased by "Maltese Falcon" and eventually stopped and boarded by the USCG. Someone once told me that if you try to flee the scene that is strong evidence of guilt - it shows a guilty conscience. If the skipper of "Stand By" thought for a minute that he was in the right he would have stayed on scene and been on the radio yelling at the "Maltese Falcon" and calling the USCG, Harbor Patrol, etc. He did none of these things. He tried to run. As my Spanish friends say "culpable"

I am a rookie compared to most sailors but the photo sequence just makes it seem so obvious that "Stand By" was trying to get close (too close) to "Maltese Falcon". That is really dumb, especially when there is such a size and tonnage disparity and "Maltese Falcon" is, despite her classification as a sailboat, clearly limited in her ability to maneuver.

P.S. If you scroll down past the article, you will find a picture of my future sailing partner - "Hannah Knipple" on a recent trip to Spain. No kidding. That is her real name.

[drb9]

It is possible that "Stand By" feared he would sink and was heading for a marina.

I hope he was insured by Boat/US, so I can read about the claim in the next magazine.

[rtbates]

I'm totally amassed and dumb founded. I went to the Lat38 link and there are photos of sailboats extremely close on both sides of Falcon's bow. Do these folks have no sense of survival what so ever?

And as to the question of had/has right of way?

On my boat it is ALWAYS the larger vessel, UNLESS that's us then it's ALWAYS the other boat....

Comes from years of riding a MC then drving very small sportscars...

[mgphl52]

Comes from years of riding a MC then drving very small sportscars...

Hi Randy,

Boy howdy! I sure resemble that remark! The only time I truly divided all humanity into two groups was riding a motorcycle. I always assumed that any driver would hit by accident -or- that they were aiming for me... At least that helped keep me alive, even when I lived and rode in Atlanta.

BTW, Thanks for telling me about renegade-cruisers.net. They're a fun and helpful group.

-michael