***
Special Notice: *** Please be advised that our mailing
address has changed and is now: U.S. Coast Guard Navigation
Center, NAVCEN MS 7310, 7323 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 20598
- 7310. Mail sent to our previous address will not be delivered. Please
contact us with concerns
or questions. Our physical location remains the same. Thank you for
your attention to this matter.
Rules in this section apply to vessels in
sight of one another.
Rule 12
(a)When two sailing
vessels are approaching one another, so as to involve risk of
collision, one of them shall keep out of the way of the other as
follows:
when each has the wind on a different side, the vessel which
has the wind on the port side shall keep out of the way of the
other;
when both have the wind on the same side, the vessel which
is to windward shall keep out of the way of the vessel which
is to leeward;
if a vessel with the wind on the port side sees a vessel to
windward and cannot determine with certainty whether the other
vessel has the wind on the port or on the starboard side, she
shall keep out of the way of the other.
(b)For the purposes of this Rule the windward side shall be
deemed to be the side opposite that on which the mainsail is carried
or, in the case of a square-rigged vessel, the side opposite to
that on which the largest fore-and-aft sail is carried.
