Nice move, Mike - and that illustrates the point. I start thinking about the gate about halfway down the leg - you're probably already set on which side of the course is favoured, so you have a good idea which side of the gate you need to get there.

As far as port-tackers headed to the left gate, you owe them nothing when you're on starboard headed for the right... unless the RC screwed up and overlapped the two-boat-length circles for the marks. If you hail "startboard" and the reply is "room," you can bet they're headed to the right side with you. If you give them room and they continue on to the left mark, then they fouled you and you should let them know it. If it is a huge pack of boats on port, I think you can give up on the right side, gybe (giving loud notice to anyone on your hip) and claim inside rights on the left. Odds are, anyone headed left really doesn't want you to do that - if they're smart, they'll avoid you and continue on their merry way. Sometimes, though, if the crowd is big enough, you might just have to accept that it is faster to avoid and get around the other mark, then get back to your game plan.

So, to sum up my personal challenge based on Claus's question, I try to start thinking about my gate situation loooong before I get there. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />