[Woodsy]

Chaselady/Gillygirl...

I take the boating laws and regulations VERY seriously. I was taught to give as much room as possible.... keep my head on a 360 degree swivel and when in doubt let the other guy go regardless of right of way rules. Its the really smart thing to do...

What you are not getting is very, very plain and simple. IF Laser had looked behind him and seen the Formula... HE WOULD NOT HAVE TURNED INTO THE PATH OF THE FORMULA. Who does that? Who would INTENTIONALLY turn into the path of another boat???

So based on the assumption that Laser is a normal sane educated boat driver...

The only obvious explanation is that Laser DID NOT SEE the Formula. IF Laser didn't see the Formula behind him... then Laser is guilty of FAILING TO KEEP A PROPER LOOKOUT. Its so simple!

We can debate if the Formula gave enough room all day long.... We weren't there. If the Formula went to Lasers port instead of starboard, we wouldn't have an issue. If the Formula wasn't there at all we wouldn't have an issue. But the reality is the Formula decided to pass Laser at the very instant Laser decided to slow down and turn. Just like every other accident or near miss there are usually several factors, one of the most important being operator error, the others being timing and environmental issues. In this case it was nighttime.

This whole debate is based on Laser's story... his words. Based on Laser's own words he was in the wrong plain and simple. We all have lapses, and we all make mistakes. Luckily this was a near miss. But the fault lies with Laser.... although some of the people on this forum would rather blame the big bad guy in the big bad Formula...

Woodsy