Two boats are beating upwind on opposite tacks — how do I tell in three seconds who keeps clear?
Read the booms. A boat is on the tack, port or starboard, that matches her windward side — so boom out to port means she is on starboard, boom out to starboard means she is on port. Then Rule 10 is simple: on opposite tacks the port-tack boat keeps clear. Who is ahead, who is faster and who shouted first decide nothing — and keeping clear has to be early enough that the starboard boat never has to change course.
📖 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)
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<p><a href="https://sailing.kiwi.nz/v/d3ld8qEL9-g/">Source: Sailing Kiwi</a></p>Go deeper: books and gear
- Racing Rules Companion 2025-2028 by Bryan Willis — Spiral-bound pocket guide to the current rules.
- The Rules in Practice 2025-2028 by Bryan Willis — Situations round the racecourse, worked through for the current rules.
- BLUESTORM lifejacket — A lifejacket for time on the water.
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