A busy day – who has the right of way 🥵?
kite 1 > kite 2 > kite 3
kite 3 > kite 2 > kite 1
kite 2 > kite 1 > kite 3
kite 2 > kite 3 > kite 1
Answer
- Kite 1 is on port side (dt Backbord) and has to yield to kite 2 and 3, which are on starboard (dt Steuerbord) and have the right of way.
- Kite 3 is coming from behind and faster than kite 2. So there are two possibilities
- (a) The overtaking kite 3 has to yield and the overtaken kite 2 has the right of way OR
- (b) Kite 3 is in leeward (dt Lee vor Luv Regel) and has the right of way compared to kite 2
So which one is it between 2 (a) or 2 (b) ?
Generally it is said that an overtaking kite has to yield, BUT there is actually another sailing rule that has to be applied and that not many know:
A vessel is ONLY said to be overtaking another if it is approaching more than 22.5º behind the other vessel’s beam. (dt: Als Überholer gilt ein Fahrzeug in Bezug auf ein anderes, wenn es sich diesem aus einer Richtung von mehr als 22,5 Grad achterlicher als querab nähert und daher gegenüber dem zu überholenden Fahrzeug so steht, dass es bei Nacht nur dessen Hecklicht, aber keines der Seitenlichter sehen könnte.)
Because the approaching angle of kite 3 is quite a bit more than 67,5°, the overtaking rule does not apply as it is approaching from leeward. The correct answer therefore is that kite 2 also has to yield to kite 3. Therefore:
kite 3 > kite 2 > kite 1
is the correct answer.