APPROACHING A SHORE OR MARK CLOSE-HAULED.
When two vessels are standing on the same tack for the shore, a shoal, or other obstruction, and the leeward yacht cannot tack without coming in contact with the windward one, she may hail the windward yacht to go about, but she must herself at the same time tack ; but if the obstruction is a mark in the course, such as a buoy or vessel, which has to be rounded, the leeward yacht cannot so hail the windward one to go about and give her room to tack. If the leeward yacht requires to tack to weather the mark she should ease her helm, and wait till the other one has drawn clear. [This is the Y.R.A. rule.] When one of two yachts has to tack, the common practice is for the windward one to wait until the other has actually put her helm down before she does so herself ; if this is not done she will probably find that the yacht that was to leeward of her has shot up on her weather quarter— some distance astern perhaps, but still on her weather quarter—instead of under her lee beam or lee quarter. This will be annoying, but naturally it is the thing that the vessel which was to leeward will endeavour to effect; and if previous to tacking her position was under the lee bow of the other, she is almost certain to effect her object whatever the other might do.
The rule clearly says that the windward vessel shall tack directly she is hailed to do so (providing of course that the vessel to leeward is in actual danger of running aground if she holds on any longer), and that the leeward vessel must at the same time tack ; but what the sailing master of the leeward vessel generally does is to gently ease the helm down, and sail his vessel to the last moment, so as to bring her round well on the weather quarter of the other. This is not always achieved,
for the reason, as before said, that the windward vessel waits until the other is fairly tacking, or else, in staying, sails round in the same way that the leeward vessel does.
If the yachts are abeam and very close together—say not more than a length apart—the windward yacht should put her helm down directly she is hailed. If she waits until the other is putting her helm down, and then eases her own helm, the bowsprit of the leeward yacht may strike the counter of the other, as the bow of the one will be swinging round against the stern of the other. Therefore, in such a case the windward yacht should be very prompt in putting her helm down, and if the other fails to put hers down at the same time she can be protested against.
The leeward vessel is the judge of her own peril, but this does not justify her in needlessly putting another vessel about, and in all cases actual peril must exist.
If, when a vessel has just tacked for water, she meets another vessel standing in on starboard tack, she should promptly hail that vessel to go about ; but if she herself has gathered way on the port tack, the one on starboard tack can force her round again ; and it is no excuse for non-compliance if the vessel on the port tack says, " We have just tacked for water." If she has room to tack again without getting aground, she must do so, and then immediately afterwards can bail the vessel on her weather to tack, if necessary, to enable her to avoid striking the ground. As a rule, it is a dangerous experiment for a vessel that has just stayed to attempt to clear another by putting her helm up ; the safer plan is to put her helm down.