Right of way?

At a local public use lake in my area, there is a rowing/crew club. At times they take up a big portion of the lake. I generally try to stay out of their way, but it seems anytime we are on a converging course, I am the one who has to yield. I always try to be courteous when I am on the water and respect seamanship, but sometimes I feel like these teams have a sense of entitlement going on.

As a sailboat, don't I have the right of way over a paddling crew team?

Let me know your thoughts.

No. There is no such thing as "right of way" on the water unless you are a large boat (think freighter or something like that) going down river (with the current so your rudder is not going to work that well).

All other times you are either "stand on" or "give way". Which you happen to be depends on what kind of boat you are in and what you are trying to do.

We have the same thing going on at our home lake and generally have good rapport with the rowers. However, as a human powered vessel, they have right of way.

Thanks for the input. It's appreciated. I will continue to yield and make sure I stay out of their way. Not an issue when there is steady wind; but when the wind is intermittent and dies, not always so easy.

An easy way to remember this is that the give way vessel is the one which is more maneuverable and the stand on vessel is the one which is less maneuverable. Of course there are exceptions such as overhauling another boat (they may not know you are coming up on them, so the one behind is the give way vessel). This is sometimes a surprise to sailors who are under spinnaker and overhauling a powerboat that is just truckin' along--the sailboat has to give way.

_________________
R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

used to have a problem with a parasail company this was the old school when they played about a mile of tow rope pulled the para up and then cut the parachute rope and the customer drifted down They used to scream and yell about the hobies running over the tow line. The line floated and it was halfway across the lake and kinda hard impossible to avoid. The solution was just to ignore them and drag their line around they finally invested in a winch to get the tow line in hand.
Then there is the classic of sailing at Virginia Beach and my hobie crossing the aircrafr carrier JF Kennedy. I was on starboard and plus i was on a sailboat They did not change course and blew a really loud horn three times.

UH, sorry to have to tell you, the JF Kennedy was the stand-on vessel and you were obliged to maneuver to stand clear. I suspect they blew the horn five times in a row, also. The rules require all vessels to keep clear of boats that are restricted in their ability to maneuver in a channel. Also applies to vessels engaged in towing, typically (but I think towing skier's or parasailor's may not be what the Rules makers had in mind). The Kennedy typically will take about 1.5 miles to come to a stop if they are moving at about 8 kts. You are lucky you aren't chum, chum.

_________________
R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

The Law of Gross Tonnage takes precedence over all other right of way rules....

sm

hobie people should not be that serious. I did yield about a half mile away. However I saw something most hobie sailers never see.
Yes I am a captain and I do know the rules. The horn blasts were single hoots at about one mile and then a little closer and quit when i bared away

Hobie people (of all) should take the rules seriously since Hobies are so ubiquitous. Otherwise you get situations where folks talk about us in bars like we do when we say, "watching fishing boats at a launch ramp is some of the best free entertainment available." In a past life, I was qualified OOD (surfaced and submerged); I do remember more of the rules at sea versus inland waterways--and I know the RRS better since I used them more recently; but all folks who go to sea should know the rules "when vessels meet". Hobie operators notwithstanding.

_________________
R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

It would have been a bad day if you capsized in front of him...

Also, I hope you were more than 100 yards away:

http://www.boatus.org/guide/navigation_38.html

I sail in an area that sees a lot of big boat traffic, navigating in restricted channels. There's a good reason we call them 'Heavy Metal'. Stand clear, always.

_________________
Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

Classic...

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Chapman's Piloting,Seamanship and Small Boat Handling has a great deal of information on right of way. The only thing I didn't find in it was the relative right of way of man powered boats such as rowboats or kayaks. They may come under the category of "vessels not under command" which would give them the right of way.

_________________
Howard

I think most kayak'ers and canoodlers would be offended since Under Part A of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), the term “vessel not under command” means a vessel which through some exceptional circumstance is unable to manoeuvre as required by these Rules and is therefore unable to keep out of the way of another vessel.

I had the unfortunate experience of running over a kayaker while racing my trimaran. She was in the sun's glare, hidden by waves and I didn't see her until it was too late to avoid (I know, not a good excuse). She was OK...found this out after I'd dropped sails and motored to her and her companions to verify she needed no assistance. Her kayak had some scratches and my insurance paid later. But I still don't know the answer to human powered vessels in how they are to be treated by others. If you use the rule of maneuverability, they should be able to keep out of everyone else' way; if you use the "law of tonnage" they better keep out of everyone else' way; if you use speed potential, though, everyone else should be able to maneuver to avoid easier. If anyone can find a definitive answer, I'd like to know.

_________________
R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II