Coyote right of way

[byronw]

Today a sailor gave me hand signals indicating I should have gone downwind of him, despite me being on a rightward tack and with a steady bearing. If you are this sailor, please read up on sailing right of way rules. Starboard tack has right of way. An easy way to remember this is "Rightward tack has right of way". At Coyote this means the inbound sailors have right of way.

I'm used to other sailors not knowing these rules, and honestly it's easy for me to say clear of them, it's the attitude I had problems with.

[jpf18]

(while I'm not that sailor) let me pick up on that... pls don't take this personal... You are correct, there are right of way rules and they are a big part of the racing tactics quiver.
I assume however you've been freesailing and it's not like people weren't observing rules or being rude. But there's a number of courtesies we grant like... letting sailor bear off coming out of a jibe to get back up on a plane... letting sailor beat upwind when you're not concerned about getting upwind at that point... staying in the magic 8 pattern(much more important in kiting)... waiting for incoming sailors clear their jibes/tacks before you launch. Stuff like that and that's what comes to mind superficially.
Then there's waves however which has a completely different playbook altogether. Where you cannot necessarily just plain old safely ignore such sign language. As opposed to sailing B&F, where anxieties as you describe are typically gone within the second.

[mogunn]

Coyote was a bit crowded yesterday. Early in the day the wind (light with a touch of North) and water conditions (with a good dose of flood) set up for a pinch thru the bobatorium and a schlog thru the suckulator to get to the wind if you were rigged for the outside. Maybe your encounter was with someone port-bobbing trying to get upwind?

Sure, starboard technically has the right of way and it can be annoying when people are oblivious to the rules, but for freesailing at Coyote it's often best to give everyone else the right of way and sail away from the pack. If you don't know the other sailor/kiter and his/her sailing style it's a good idea to keep a healthy distance from him/her. If your encounter was with the guy on the red-ish Sailworks sail...well then, all bets are off...I can imagine your frustration.

On another note, the lack of courtesy at the upper sandbag ramp was rampant yesterday. At high tide it was clearly the only reasonable point of access to and from the water yet 4 or 5 people at a time insisted on using that 10 foot wide spot to stand and chat/rest while everyone coming and going had to work their way around the clump of boards and sails. A couple of windsurfers left their rigs laying across the pedestrian path blocking the way for bicycles and strollers on a busy holiday weekend.

It's always great to see a bunch of windsurfers and kiters out at Coyote but I'm glad this weekend is over.

[andydavis]

Starboard is not always privileged...there are numerous exceptions:
-If two vessels are on the same point of sail but opposite tacks, then starboard is privileged; however, if starboard tack is running or broad reaching down on a close hauled, port tack vessel, the close hauled vessel is privileged.
-A vessel maneuvering (e.g., jibing, or maneuvering away from a proper course to jump a wave) is always burdened.
-If the port tack vessel is prevented from maneuvering away (e.g., by depth of channel, rocks or the beach), then the starboard tack vessel is burdened.

[LeeD]

Yeah, couple of possibly gray, extenuating circumstances may be involved here.
Sailor just leaving launch area (on port here), has right of way until he/she established enough speed to have manueverability. Short boards, not displacement styles.
You, on starboard, might have, or might not, have manueverable speed.
Was the swim area close enough downwind to become an unsailable hazard? If so, upwind sailor MUST pinch higher to allow downwind sailor to clear this floating flotsam.
Who actually IS more macho, bigger, stronger, tougher, better looking, and looking to become ISF champ?
Who actually worries about his gear being possibly dinged in a collision?
Who has full medical and work that allows sudden time offs for recovery?
Yes, I do care.

[byronw]

No exceptions applied in this case. We were both fully powered and about half a mile out. I was a bit up wind from him, so to have gone downwind of him would have been to dangerously cross his bearing.

Yes, I do think he had a red Sailworks sail, so I suspect Coyotewindsurf has also had problems with him. I always give people the benefit of doubt, so rather than assuming he is a jerk, I assume he just doesn't know the rules. For the sake of all of our safety, let's hope I'm right.

[gregorvass]

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[mogunn]

[dbrock]

Wow, I was so stoked after my session at Coyote yesterday that I actually almost felt like adding to this forum just to say thanks to everyone at the sight for making it a great day. The wind was great and stayed up until late, the water was warm, the waves outside were fantastic, I nailed my first heli-tack ( finally), and everyone seemed in a great mood. I especially felt like posting relative to all the friction I have seen on the net lately about kiters vs. windsurfers, right of way, etc., which seems to get the most attention. All I can say is that my after session beer tasted great yesterday evening. When I read the forum about the coyote friction yesterday, it soured things up a bit. It goes to show that even when all is right with the world, someone can still find it within themselves to cut you off.

[mogunn]

I didn't notice any friction. I'd say the traffic hazards at the ramp were just because people weren't paying attention to other users. Maybe we should have metering lights for busy days.

Everyone seemed in a good mood because of the great conditions and avoiding the moving hazards was as easy as going upwind a few hundred yards. One kook on the water shouldn't take away from anyone else's fun.