I knew that a sailboat under sail has right of way over powered vessels (technically the sailboat is the "Stand On" vessel and the power boat is the "Give Way" vessel. The basic Coast Guard Auxiliary course goes over this in decent detail.
What I did not know was that an aircraft carrier launching and recovering aircraft has right of way over a sailboat under sail (i.e. the Carrier now is the Stand On vessel).
This was important a year ago when the French carrier Charles DeGaul collided with a sailboat under sail (another thing I had not known). Nobody was injured (although I'd think that some egos were damaged). This video breaks down what happened and what the COLREGS say.
8 comments:
Technically a blow boat has right-of-way. Or used to. Tell that to the supermax tanker or Panamax container ship.
Seriously, who in their right mind gets near a naval vessel of any nation? Between worries over terrorism and just plain arseholeness from some countries, the chance of getting lead poisoning are very high.
Beans, the guy was sailing single-handed, and may have been asleep.
That's why the guy in the video covers "maintain a proper watch" ...
But yeah, it's worth giving the Boys In Gray a wide berth.
- Borepatch
I did not know that rule but ...
We also learn that there is an unofficial rule that is called the right of weight.
The bigger the boat the longer to stop or turn.
It is also in rules that all must take necessary action to avoid collision, to prevent loss of property and life.
Single sailors should have a radar with proximity warning, else they are nothing more than a skateboarder vs a semi truck. Roadkill so to speak.
Another factor here is whether or not a sailor (I mean the one in the sailboat) remembers that aspect of the rule. And that it's not just simply being an aircraft carrier has the right of way, it has to be one that's operational - launching and recovering aircraft.
Think of the number of aircraft carriers out there versus even large naval vessels, cargo ships, tankers, whatever. It's a tiny percentage of the traffic out there. It probably goes without saying, but I've never seen one out there. With the exception of people who live near a port where carriers come and go, I'd bet very few people have been on the water near one.
This is like a one in a billion chance collision.
I'm in the water just about every day & if you're smart you wouldn't be. People don't know how to act in the water. The boat landing on a busy Saturday is a hoot, especially in the evening when everyone is wasted.
As a general rule, a ship being 850 ft long, over 200 ft tall, and actively launching military jet aircraft is considered sufficient notice of its own presence to civilians.
Considering that it can be "launching aircraft" by the simply expedient of telling a helo to wind up, 24/7/365/forever, a nuclear aircraft carrier thus has the absolute right-of-way virtually anytime after it casts off, until it ties up again.
(Which, btw, one such light helo, firing a couple of bursts across the bow of the negligent sailboat to gain his attention, should have sufficed, without recourse to using an entire corvette.).
Were this an incident involving an American nuclear carrier, I'd award the captain of the Puddle Pirate the FAFO Medal that's due him.
As it's the Charles de Gaulle, I merely note for the record my surprise that the ship didn't surrender to him afterwards.
But anyone who thinks any carrier captain is going to give right-of-way to any sailing vessel, at any time, should contact me in PMs to discuss the purchase of a bridge, cheap, for cash.
Even if any investigative board found negligence, that navy would court martial the captain for doing so, and advise all comers that any vessel straying into their security exclusion zone would be sunk on self-defense grounds, and any cash settlements ordered afterwards would be dragged out in the maritime courts for a minimum of 50 years.
Dulce et decorum est.
One must wonder how a civilian in a sailing ship who doesn't have access to military radio traffic is supposed to know whether or not a Carrier is in the process of launching or recovering aircraft. They may see planes taking off or landing...but that isn't always the case if aircraft being recovered are not yet close enough to be seen by the Mark 1 Eyeball.
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