Coming in to start at the jetty end of the line, I was reaching along the jetty with a boat close-hauled just to leeward, and the gap between her and the jetty was closing — at a committee boat that's barging, but do I get room at a jetty?
Yes. She is the leeward boat, so you keep clear of her (Rule 11). But the start's no-room exception in the Section C preamble only covers a starting mark surrounded by navigable water. A jetty is joined to the shore, so the exception does not apply and the room rules are back. Treat the jetty as a mark and you were overlapped inside when the first boat reached the zone, so you get mark-room (Rule 18.2(a)(1)). Treat it as a continuing obstruction and Rule 19.2(b) makes the outside boat give you room between her and the jetty. Either way, you get room.
📖 Want more situations like this one? Bryan Willis's The Rules in Practice 2025-2028 works through the rules as they happen round the racecourse. (affiliate link)
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c2FVxuNrB2k" title="Sailing Kiwi" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://sailing.kiwi.nz/v/c2FVxuNrB2k/">Source: Sailing Kiwi</a></p>Go deeper: books and gear
- Ronstan Clear Start race timer — A countdown timer made for sailing starts.
- The Rules in Practice 2025-2028 by Bryan Willis — Situations round the racecourse, worked through for the current rules.
- Tactics Made Simple by Jon Emmett — Racing tactics, explained simply.
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