Have you ever been on port and started ducking a starboard tack boat only to have them tack in front and to leeward of you and then pinch you off moments later? Or done a last second duck only to roll ...

It seems as if, when boats get near each other, they both lose something. Let’s look at the classic upwind port-starboard crossing. Suppose you are on port tack heading in phase to the right. Along ...