When you think about it, it’s the obvious thing to do. If you are approaching and catching another vessel from behind, you have it clearly in your sight. The skipper of the boat you are overtaking on the other hand will be keeping a lookout all around, including behind but most of the time will be focused on where the boat is heading.

As you draw closer, you will have to decide whether you will be able to go above it, i.e. to windward, or below it. If you’re sailing hard on the wind, it’s likely that you will need to spring the sheets and ease away below. Doing so will mean that you will gain boat speed. Hopefully this will result in your sailing through the other boat’s wind shadow quickly.

Meanwhile, if you are the skipper of the boat being overtaken, you must maintain your course and allow the overtaking boat to pass.

And what if you’re not sure whether you are an overtaking boat? In Rule 13 of the COLREGS (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea) it states that:

(c) When a vessel is in any doubt as to whether she is overtaking another, she shall assume that this is the case and act accordingly.

This rule governing the overtaking boat is just one of the Rules of the Road that are illustrated in our self-paced learning and self-test program, the Nautical Knowledge.

Heaving

Swaying

Surging

Pitching

Yawing

Rolling

It’s called six degrees of freedom and the drunken sailor. We hope you enjoy the sketches and their depiction of the fluidity of movement as much as we did.

Meteorologists with the Bermuda Weather Service have reported that tides have been lower than expected due to the effect of cold eddies circling the island. Tides have been recorded to be 0.7 ft to one foot lower than average.

A prudent skipper would not be caught out. He would know what his yacht draws and allow a much greater amount of water between it and the sea bottom.

Fortunately for the skipper involved, nearby motor boats were able to rescue the yacht from the reef and only minor damage occurred.

This month you can buy The Boating Bible Manual of Seamanship and save:

Remember, this special offer expires on 30 June 2010.

As a member of the Safety at Sea committee, John Bonds conducted some 600 tests with midshipmen and using different equipment before concluding that the Quick Stop was the most effective manoeuvre.

It took some years for the Quick Stop to be adopted as the preferred man overboard response but it is now taught in sailing courses around the world, displacing the traditional, broad reach method.

What other significant innovation was he responsible for?

The answer is in this week’s newsletter, where we acknowledged John’s impact on sea safety.

Less than 24 hours later the same man called the Swansea Coastguard again after suffering the same problem. The Coastguard sent a lifeboat from Barry to tow the yacht to safety. Crew on board the lifeboat found that the yacht had no navigation lights and the man’s mobile phone and handheld GPS had low battery strength. No mention was made of a VHF radio.

The Swansea Coastguard watch manager, Dave Jones said: “When we give out safety advice to people going out for a trip in a yacht we recommend that people take adequate communications and navigational devices, flares, and check their engines.

“Unfortunately, this man followed none of this advice and set out not once, but twice, knowing that he did not have sufficient power to reach his destination.”

He added: “We hope that the yachtsman will consider full equipping and preparing his vessel before he continues his journey in order that we do not have to send [lifeboats] out to his rescue for a third time.”

This man’s lack of preparation and the absence of yacht safety equipment strike me as even worse than the Sheppey boating fiasco.

It was a timely reminder that boat owners should check get their moorings checked, preferably every year. If your mooring is owned by a marina or club, it should be maintained as part of your mooring agreement.

Just because you’re paying for someone to service your mooring doesn’t remove your responsibility to check and care for the line that you attach to your boat. Look for signs of wear on the mooring line. If chafe is developing where the line comes over the bow, use a piece of garden hose pipe over the line to protect it.

After picking up your mooring, make sure you stow the mooring buoy correctly. Don’t allow it to drop over the side or bang against the mast.

After a big blow, you should visit your boat to ensure that it is safely moored, exactly as you left it when you were last aboard.

Sometimes, however, crew members take it upon themselves not to wake me even though conditions have changed in line with my safety briefing instructions of “Wake me if …” Trying to be kind to me, they let me sleep on even though that may jeopardise everyone’s safety. They’re probably not aware of a chatty helmsman who has been sailing off the given course, putting the boat closer to a danger than would be expected or desirable.

Even though the navigator should snap awake when summoned, the more time available to assess the situation and what needs to be done, the better.

Of course, this was still in the days of SATNAV, before the arrival of the GPS. But at least in those days, we knew it could be hours between fixes so had to plot each one and keep track of our course and speed so we knew fairly accurately where we were at any time.

Annie and I have observed this event each year since its inception in 2007. You, too can join us this year by signing up, below.

We’re planning to spend the evening in candlelight. We envy those of you who will be out on a yacht.

Interviews were also held with the hydrographer of Australia, members of the Marine Area Command of the NSW Police and staff from Australian Maritime Safety Authority who were involved in the SAR. Information on the reliability of GPS systems was provided by a representative of Garmin Australia.

In addition to investigating the PWC Shockwave incident, the Inquiry Committee interviewed and reported on the recovery of the man overboard from Patrice VI and communications difficulties experienced by crew of that yacht.

There is lots of information in the report that is relevant to all who sail offshore anywhere in the world, whether cruising or racing.

I recommend you download and read the findings of the Flinders Islet Yacht Race Inquiry, in particular the recommendations on pages 55-59. Your life may depend on it.

Motor boats, and, get me right, by this I don’t mean vessels that use motors as their only method of propulsion, but so-called sailboats that have to run their motors 24/7 to support an ever-increasing range of equipment – canting keels, water ballast, button-controlled winches, etc.

Now, if people want to take these motor boats cruising, then that’s ok by me, or they can race each other. But if they want to race them against my friends and me who are sailing on traditional yachts I don’t want anything to do with them. I want to be in a race where competitors rely on the manual exertion of their crews.

It’s not that I’m against engines: I am for them when they are used as auxiliaries. Engines are great for maintaining battery power for navigation lights, communications, navstation equipment and house power.

And I’m not against having a well-chilled beer at the end of a race.