Basic Rules of Right of Way Clinic

By Professor Viggo Hansen and Captain Grant Headifen

Sailing rules of right of way

Why "Right of Way" is more properly called "Stand On"
Essential knowledge regarding the Rules of the Nautical Road with other vessels
How not to get squashed like a bug by big container ships
Who gives way between power driven vessels and sailboats
When sailboats must give way to other vessels
When Sailboats give way to each other
You'll be presented with realistic illustrated situations

More about this Rules of the Nautical Road Clinic

Simple concepts for real understanding
This Sailing Course takes approximately 20 minutes of total time to complete
Take as long as you need to complete
Return as many times as you like to review
Take the online test as many times as you like
Adds the Rules of the Nautical Road Endorsement to your Sailing Certificate

Today's Price: FREE

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Receive immediate access to this Online Sailing Lesson and Test.

Can you instantly recognize what is the order of give way in this dangerous situation below?

Sailboat rules of right of way

The clinic is taken from Module 5.8 of the NauticEd Skipper Course.

Please tell your friends and crew to take this FREE online Basic Rules of Right of Way Course. It's that important!

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Excerpt from the course

The basic sailboat rules are:

You must act to avoid a collision even if you are the Stand-On vessel.
Port tack must Give Way to starboard tack.
If both vessels are on the same tack, the leeward (furthermost downwind) boat is the Stand-On vessel.
When under power and meeting head on, both boats turn to starboard and pass port to port.
If a sailboat is overtaking a power driven vessel then the sailboat must Give Way
When a sailboat is using its engine then it is automatically classified as a power driven vessel and loses all rights as a sailboat.
When a sailboat is using its engine, it must Give Way to other power driven vessels approaching from its starboard side.
You may deviate from any rule in order to avoid immediate danger.

sailboats rules of right of way

Above: From the set of the sails, the wind is obviously from bottom to top on the image. Therefore, Blue is on Port, Red is also on Port. Red is the leeward boat and therefore is the Stand-On vessel. Thus, Blue must Give Way and in a hurry from the looks of it. The best action here would be for Blue to steer up into the wind - turn to port - NOW!