Barging

Barging is the most common rule infraction in sailing. In this post, I will talk about what barging is, why it happens, and the rules involved. In the end, you should have a clear understanding of what barging is and be able to avoid the situation or get out of it should you be caught barging.

What is Barging?

At the start of a race, it is common for the racers to try and start at the starboard end of the start line. Usually this is where the committee boat is stationed and I will refer to this end of the line as the “boat end”. When the group of boats is heading towards the boat end, a racer to windward of the rest may demand room to start. That boat is said to be barging into the start. The boats to her leeward have right of way and are not required to give the windward boat room to clear the committee boat. When the windward boat pushes between the leeward boats and the committee boat she has committed a foul. This is barging.

The below video shows a simple barging situation.

Common Excuses for Barging

#1 I am entitled to room at the starting mark (Committee Boat).

The most common excuse for barging is the mistaken assumption that a windward boat is entitled to room at the starting mark (committee boat). A boat will claim that a starting mark is treated like any other mark of the course and therefore if the windward boat has an overlap, they feel they are entitled to room at the starting mark. This is not true. The following rules apply:

SECTION A
RIGHT OF WAY
A boat has right of way when another boat is required to keep clear of her. However, some rules in Sections B, C and D limit the actions of a right-of-way boat.

11 ON THE SAME TACK, OVERLAPPED
When boats are on the same tack and overlapped, a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward boat.

SECTION C
AT MARKS AND OBSTRUCTIONS
Section C rules do not apply at a starting mark surrounded by navigable water or at its anchor line from the time boats are approaching them to start until they have passed them. When rule 20 applies, rules 18 and 19 do not.

18 MARK-ROOM
18.2 Giving Mark-Room
(a) When boats are overlapped the outside boat shall give the
inside boat mark-room, unless rule 18.2(b) applies.

There are many other rules that will come into play during a start, but we will start with these basic rules. When we look at the simple barging situation, we start with windward-leeward. This is rule 11. Rule 11 states that the windward boat needs to keep clear.

That said, the barging boat may say that Rule 11 is over ridden by rule 18. Specifically, Rule 18.2 would indicate that the leeward boat should give room. But to follow the rules, all rules must be obeyed, including the preambles to rules. These are as important as the specific rules themselves. Rule 18 is under Section C. The Section C preamble states that Section C rules do not apply at a starting mark surrounded by navigable water. This is the case in our starts, so Section C is turned off and as a result, Rule 18 does not apply at starting marks.

There is no room at starting marks.

#2 The Committee Boat is an obstruction and I need room for an obstruction.

If the barging boat tries to get creative and call the race committee boat an obstruction, we can look at the definition of a mark and see that a boat acting as a starting mark is not an obstruction, but a mark.

Mark An object the sailing instructions require a boat to leave on a specified side, and a race committee boat surrounded by navigable water from which the starting or finishing line extends. An anchor line or an object attached temporarily or accidentally to a mark is not part of it.

By the definition of a mark, a committee boat at the starting line is without doubt a mark and cannot be considered an obstruction. This is also evident in the preamble to Section C where it mentions that the anchor line of the starting mark is not covered under Section C.

The committee boat and any other starting mark including their anchor lines are not considered obstructions.

#3 My proper course is to start, so let me in.

Now we will get into some of the more complicated barging situations. Sometimes, a leeward boat may not be able to reach the boat end close-hauled. The leeward boat may still want to start right at the boat end, so she may turn up close to head to wind to drift up to the boat end. The barging boat may then tell that boat that they cannot sail above close hauled since that is not the proper course. This excuse is most likely invalid.

There is no proper course before a start. Here is the definition:

Proper Course A course a boat would sail to finish as soon as possible in the absence of the other boats referred to in the rule using the term. A boat has no proper course before her starting signal.

So anyone that uses a proper course argument before the starting signal is full of shit. Proper course does not exist at this point.

In the next video, two boats are approaching the boat end with good timing. The start does not happen until sequence #5. Notice that the blue boat can take the green one up past close-hauled since there is no proper course before the start. If green did not head up, she would be fouling blue. Green’s only option is to bail by spinning around in a circle to start late.

After the starting signal, proper course comes into play. This is where things get a little complicated, but as we’ll see, proper course rarely comes into play. Why? Because Rule 17 is the rule that deals with proper course and it is very specific as to when it applies.

17 ON THE SAME TACK; PROPER COURSE
If a boat clear astern becomes overlapped within two of her hull lengths to leeward of a boat on the same tack, she shall not sail above her proper course while they remain on the same tack and overlapped within that distance, unless in doing so she promptly sails astern of the other boat. This rule does not apply if the overlap begins while the windward boat is required by rule 13 to keep clear.

Rule 17 matters before the start. Seems odd, since there is no proper course before the start, but once the starting signal sounds, rule 17 decides whether or not a boat can go above proper course. The overlap specified in rule 17 may have begun before the starting signal. So even though there is no proper course before the start, it is important to know how the overlap began. If the leeward boat established the overlap from clear astern then rule 17 will apply, even if the overlap existed before the starting signal.

This is an important point, so I will explain further. Some boats think rule 17 “turns on” at the starting signal. They would go on to say that since rule 17 was not in effect before the start that it does not matter how the overlap was established, but that is wrong. Even though proper course does not exist before the starting signal, rule 17 still applies to the boats. There is just no proper course, so before the start, the leeward boat can go up to head to wind without penalty. Since rule 17 applies, the leeward boat will be subject to proper course once the starting signal sounds. So even though rule 17 is in effect throughout the pre start, proper course does not turn on until the start.

Basically, keep track of how any overlap begins before the start since you may be bound to your proper course immediately after the starting signal. On a typical windward start, your proper course is close-hauled.

Unless the overlap began as a rule 17 overlap, you can still sail as high as you want to block out the windward boat from the boat end. Without rule 17, there is no proper course obligation after the start.

Rule 17 Overlap

So let’s look at the somewhat rare (in our fleet anyway) situation where rule 17 is in effect. The leeward boat would have had to sail behind the windward boat, established an overlap, and be behind the start line before the start signal. If at the start signal, the two boats are still sailing towards the boat end, the leeward boat is not so sail above her proper course (close-hauled).

The proper course for both boats is to start. According to Rule 17, the windward boat’s proper course is irrelevant. Rule 17 only says that the leeward boat shall not sail above her proper course. It does not say the windward boat is entitled to sail her proper course. Therefore, if the leeward boat is able to steer at the boat end while not going above close-hauled, then she does not have to alter course and allow the windward boat to get in.

Really, the only situation where the leeward boat has to let the windward boat in is if the leeward boat established the overlap from behind in accordance with Rule 17 and if after the starting signal, the leeward boat cannot sail to the boat end without going above close-hauled. In this situation, the leeward boat shall not go above close-hauled and the windward boat may be able to get between the leeward boat and the boat end. That is it.

In the next video, both boats are late to the start. The start occurs in sequence #3. Notice that the green boat establishes a rule 17 overlap to leeward. Therefore, at the start, she must sail down to close-hauled from her higher course. This will allow blue to get in and start at the boat end. In this example, blue is not barging.

In all situations except for the last one, a boat that forces her way between a leeward boat and the starting mark is barging and breaking the rules. This happens too often in too many places. The only way to stop it is to protest the barging boats. When protesting this type of situation you will need to make observations of what happens. Keep an eye out for the following:

How was the overlap established? If it was not a rule 17 overlap, stop here, you win the protest, provided you did not do a crazy turn that the windward boat could not avoid. That is for another post.

Where were the boats at the starting signal? Since we are now under rule 17, it is important to note if you were able to get to the starting mark without going above close hauled. It does not matter if you stuck it up into the wind before the start, as long as you came down to proper course after.

Did you have to sail below proper course (close-hauled)? If you had to bear off to let the windward boat in, the windward boat most likely barged.

In conclusion, the leeward boat at the boat end of the line does not have to let anyone in before the start. After the start, if the boats are still on the prestart side of the line, you only have to let boats in if your proper course does not take you up to the starting mark.

This next video shows how barging can ruin a nice start. In this video, the red boat has positioned herself to lay the boat end. The blue and green boats barge into the start and the red boat has to head down to let them in. Of the three, the red boat gets the worst start. Red is down the line and a little later than he would have been. Both green and blue should be protested. Green may say that blue was in the way, but blue has no excuse.

The last video shows what should happen in the same situation. Notice green and blue have to spin out of the way. Light blue fairs better in this as well since they were not barging. This is how it should be.

Click here to read a good illustrative post on barging.  Please ignore the rules in that link as they are from a previous rules edition.