It seems that the boats beneath you dictate what you can do more than those above unless they loose control. From watching some of the videos you could see boats get stuck by a leeward boat and loose headway only to get hit by another wave as a sitting duck. It would appear that breaking free of the pack early is critical in tight quarters and waves. It got pretty hectic in Surfside, SC this year due to wind angle. I got hit by an unmanned H16. Had to hold it off my boat. Should have watched Lloyd and waited at the start for a clear hole