Freighters vs. Sailboats

[Rakuflames]

Some time ago I created quite a heated discussion by stating that when it comes to freighters and sailboats the freighter actually had the right of way because of the freighter's lessened ability to maneuver. I got "ridden hard and put away wet" because of that statement, but because of my source (Coast Guard) I didn't change my statement. I then got called out for "not listening to people with more experience."

This quote is from SAIL magazine (p. 12), January 2012. I'll quote the pertinent parts, but the writer's point was that sailboats should have AIS. Here it is:

"I make my living s a senior officer aboard large container ships. Contrary to popular belief, we do not have the latest and greatest radars on board. On a clear, calm day, a 40 ft sailboat looks like a white speck more than few miles out. If I'm lucky, I can acquire and plot it when it's 5 miles out. Traveling at 25 knots, I cover 2.5 miles every six minutes, so even if I put the wheel hard over I would advance a half-mile before turning. If I threw the engine in reverse it would take 3 miles at full astern to stop.

"Take it from me at 12 stories up: AIS helps ships "see" pleasure craft. We'll see a pleasure craft's AIS signal 20 miles before physically sighting a vessel. For the sake of us all, get an AIS and get seen!"

This solidly supports my statement that large vessels, specifically freighters and cruise ships, do not really see sailboats well. By the time you're within five miles of such a boat, it may well be up to the sailboat to stay out of the freighter's way. CLEARLY a freighter has less maneuverability than a sailboat -- even one under sail.

Without AIS, that white spec they see from five miles out might be anything and won't necessarily look like a collision hazard to the bigger ship.

The Coast Guard said exactly the same thing at the talk I attended. So now I have two sources, although hearing it from the Coast Guard was enough for me personally.

The one over-arching rule, the one that trumps any section of the ColRegs that could be quoted here, is that one must do everything possible to avoid a collision, but the ColRegs also were written following some basic principles. One of them is that the less maneuverable ship/boat has the right of way. All the sections in CR stating who has the ROW in specific instances are based on those two principles: do everything possible to avoid a collision, and the most maneuverable vessel is to give right of way. In a channel, clearly a freighter has to stay in the channel, but they aren't always in channels.