[Public-List] Stand-On vs Right-of-Way

[Mike Meinhold]

The recent discussion of anchors on the bow has gotten me to think about
the results of the Stand-On /Give Way versus old Right-Of-Way/ Burdened
rules, both in COLREGS and in sailboat racing.   The concept that all
parties share a duty to avoid contact is an excellent one, in my opinion.

However, in practice I believe it leads to confusion, and causes some
collisions that could have been avoided with more simple direct rules. A
parallel example is when two polite people walk toward each other, and each
tries to defer by stepping aside, and they end up in a little dance . I
have witnessed port/starboard cases in sailboat racing where the stand-on
vessel sees the need to take action to avoid collision, while the Give-Way
vessel, with tighter tolerance for close quarters, is preparing to duck .
The stand-on vessel turns down, and collision or at least contact becomes
inevitable.

I am not saying we should go back to the old rules, but perhaps more
refinement is required to avoid contact due to different tolerances.

Mike
Rinn Duin #272