One of the common misinterpretations involves sailboats on opposite tacks. Consider a scenario where a boat leaves Toronto Harbour on starboard tack and another leaves Hamilton on port. One skipper is engrossed in a good book and the other has a new chart plotter that he is trying to learn. Both fail to maintain a proper lookout and they collide in the middle of Lake Ontario.
After reporting the incident to the insurance company the starboard boat is surprised to discover he is considered 50% at fault. "Starboard boat has right of way so why am I at fault?". To understand the insurance company's position you need to read COLREG Schedule 1 - Part B.
The words "right of way" do not appear in these regulations. They identify a give-way vessel and the stand-on vessel and each has obligations to avoid a collision. A sailboat on port is the give-way vessel when approaching a sailboat on starboard so why is the starboard boat 50% at fault? The reason is Section 2 Rules only apply to vessels in sight of on another. The boats are equally at fault for the collision because neither kept a proper lookout in breach of Rule 5 - Look-out. The port-starboard rule (Rule 12a) is part of Section 2 and doesn't apply because they did not see each other approaching.
The stand-on vessel also has an obligation to keep clear if they see the other boat is not taking appropriate action to avoid the collision. But it all starts with maintaining a constant all-round visual and audio lookout.
If one boat was found not at fault their insurance company can recover repair costs from the other insurance company. The innocent party is then reimbursed their hull deductible. So in addition to preventing collisions there is also a financial motive for understanding and adhering to the COLREGS.
The complete Collision Regulations are available on the Transport Canada Website. If you have any questions about insurance and the collision regulations send me an email.
2 comments:
Andrew - thanks for the insight. For those who race, I assume that the Racing Rules for the most part "override" COLREGS from an insurance claim perspective?
Most insurance companies do not recognize the Racing Rules and how they are applied by Sail Canada judges. I don't agree with this but they will always look to the COLREGS. This will be a topic of a future blog entry.
If two of my Skippers' Plan clients have a racing collision we use RRS to determine fault but only if the protest committee is chaired by a certified judge. Full disclosure - I am a certified club judge but I do not hear protests involving damage if one of my clients is a party.
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