This weeks discussion is on the second rule of Section B:
15 ACQUIRING RIGHT OF WAY
When a boat acquires right of way, she shall initially give the other boat room to keep clear, unless she acquires right of way because of the other boat’s actions.
Rule 15 is talking to a boat that has just acquired the ROW. This can be from obtaining an overlap to leeward of another boat on the same tack or as a result of another boat tacking or changing tack (gybe). This rule requires the new ROW boat to provide Room and Opportunity for the Keep Clear boat to start Keeping Clear. The Keep Clear boat must start promptly to Keep Clear. This rule does not allow the Keep Clear boat to decide when to start Keeping Clear, but requires the Keep Clear boat to start Keeping Clear promptly. The second part of the rule states that Rule 15 does not apply when it was the action of the new Keep Clear boat that shifted the ROW to other boat. An example would be a boat clear ahead of another. The clear ahead boat suddenly tacks from Starboard to Port. As the clear ahead boat passed head to wind during its tack, Rule 13 applied to the Clear Ahead boat and the Clear Astern boat now becomes the ROW boat. If the clear ahead boat was so close to the clear astern boat that the clear astern boat could not avoid contacting the tacking boat or if the clear astern boat had to alter course to avoid contact, the the tacking boat would have broken rule 13 and could not claim that she was entitled to room and opportunity under Rule 15, because the clear astern boat became the ROW boat because of the actions of the clear ahead boat.