Jake, to answer your question, it was a gate. Instructions were to round buoys to port, but for the gate, it was to the advantage to round to starboard. Also, I am not quite sure if they would have established an overlap.
When we collided, I hit them directly beam on as I was about to round the gate to starboard. I was almost dead downwind at the time and it seemed as they were on a beam reach, so could and overlap be established?
After spending some time thinking it over though, I think I should not have only been focusing on the boat to leeward and my crew or I should have noticed the other boat approaching and tried to give them buoy room. The only problem is that had i given them buoy room at the time, I am not sure if the leeward boat would have had time to react to me swerving and I probably would have hit them.
It doesn't matter if it were a gate or a normal mark. Same rule applies. If you didn't see him untill you hit, how do you know there was no overlap??? In the situation you described it is almost guaranteed to be an overlap (get out the magnetic boats and you will see what I mean).
Furthermore, if doubt exists, you are obligated to give the boat room and then fight it out later in the protest room. By the fact that you T-boned them suggests there was well and truely an overlap!
Tiger Mike
