I went to Barcelona to see some of the Americas cup live. It’s been a while and so I needed to revise my knowledge of the rules of the road.
Google’s AI, after a prompt, offers various explanations, but here is one,
Here are some rules for sailing right of way:
- Tack: When two sailboats are approaching, the boat on the starboard tack has the right of way if they are on opposite tacks. The boat on the leeward side has the right of way if they are on the same tack.
- Overtaking: The boat that is being overtaken has the right of way.
- Right of way boat: The boat with the right of way is called the stand-on vessel and must maintain its course. The other boat, called the give-way vessel, must keep clear.
Today, their first URL offered is The give way hierarchy sail boats and power boats from safe-skipper.com.