What is the windward leeward rule in sailing?

Rule 11 of the Racing Rules of Sailing states that when two boats on the same tack are overlapped, the windward boat must keep clear of the leeward boat. The windward boat is the one closer to the wind (upwind), and the leeward boat is the one further from the wind (downwind or to leeward).

When does the leeward boat have right of way?

The leeward boat has right of way over the windward boat whenever the two boats are on the same tack and overlapped, under Rule 11. This applies upwind and downwind.

Can the leeward boat luff the windward boat?

Yes, within limits. The leeward boat may luff (turn towards the wind) to head-to-wind. However, it must give the windward boat room and opportunity to keep clear. The leeward boat may not luff so fast that the windward boat cannot respond.

What is Rule 17 in sailing?

Rule 17 limits the leeward boat's rights when it established its overlap from clear astern within two of its hull lengths. In that case it may not sail above its proper course (the course it would sail to finish as quickly as possible) while the overlap exists and the boats stay within two hull lengths of each other.

The windward and leeward rule in sailing racing

When two boats are on the same tack and overlapped, the windward boat must keep clear of the leeward boat. This is Rule 11, and it applies whether boats are sailing upwind, downwind, or across the wind.

Defining windward and leeward

The terms refer to a boat's position relative to the wind and to the other boat:

Windward: closer to the direction the wind is coming from.
Leeward: further from the wind, or downwind.

When two boats are sailing side by side on the same tack, the one that is to windward (closer to the wind source) is the windward boat; the one further downwind is the leeward boat.

An overlap is defined in terms of being clear astern. One boat is clear astern of another when her hull and equipment in normal position are behind a line drawn abeam from the aftermost point of the other boat's hull and equipment in normal position. The boats overlap when neither is clear astern, so in practice an overlap exists as soon as any part of one boat's hull or equipment reaches alongside any part of the other's.

Rule 11: windward boat keeps clear when overlapped

Under Rule 11, whenever two boats on the same tack are overlapped, the windward boat must keep clear. This is simple in principle: if you are the boat closer to the wind, you cannot impede the boat to leeward of you.

Keep clear means the windward boat must not force the leeward boat to take avoiding action and must not make contact.

The leeward boat's luffing rights

The leeward boat has the right to luff, which means to turn toward the wind, to protect its lane or gain tactical advantage. It may luff all the way to head-to-wind if it chooses. However, two important limits apply:

Room to respond (Rule 16). Because the leeward boat is changing course, Rule 16.1 requires it to give the windward boat room to keep clear. It may not luff so sharply or suddenly that the windward boat physically cannot respond in time. In practice Rule 16, rather than Rule 11 itself, is the rule that sets the limit on how aggressively a leeward boat can luff: it holds right of way under Rule 11, but it can still break Rule 16 if it luffs without giving room.
The overlap must exist. Luffing rights apply only while the boats are overlapped on the same tack. Once the overlap is broken, Rule 11 no longer applies.

Rule 17: the overlap-from-astern restriction

Rule 17 is a significant qualification on the leeward boat's rights. If the leeward boat establishes its overlap by coming from clear astern within two of its hull lengths of the windward boat, it may not sail above its proper course while that overlap exists and the boats stay within two hull lengths of each other.

Proper course is the course a boat would sail in the absence of the other boat to finish as quickly as possible. In practice this means that a leeward boat that has overtaken from behind cannot luff the windward boat above the course toward the next mark. It can hold its course, but it cannot aggressively push the windward boat out to gain an advantage.

Rule 17 stops applying once the overlap ends or the boats move more than two hull lengths apart. Within the rule there is one release: the leeward boat may sail above its proper course if in doing so it promptly drops back astern of the windward boat. Earlier editions also suspended Rule 17 while the windward boat was still tacking, but that exception was removed in the 2025-2028 rules, so the restriction now applies in every same-tack overlap that begins from clear astern within two hull lengths.

Common scenarios

Upwind in a pack. Two boats close-hauled on the same tack, slightly overlapped, with one slightly to windward. The leeward boat has right of way under Rule 11, and the windward boat must keep clear. If contact occurs, the windward boat may be penalised for failing to keep clear, but the leeward boat is not automatically blameless: under Rule 16 a right-of-way boat that changes course must give the other boat room to keep clear, and under Rule 14 both boats must avoid contact when reasonably possible. A leeward boat that luffs too hard and too fast can break Rule 16 even though it holds right of way. A warning hail is common in practice, but a hail carries no weight in the rules; it only signals intent.

Running downwind. The same rules apply. If two boats are running on the same gybe and one is to windward of the other, the windward boat must keep clear. The leeward boat may luff to protect its wind, subject to the Rule 17 restriction.

Gybing into an overlap. If a boat gybes onto the same tack as another boat and becomes the leeward boat with the overlap established within two hull lengths, Rule 17 applies, and the newly leeward boat may not sail above its proper course while the rule applies. It does not have to announce or fix that course; if it is ever in question, a protest committee judges the proper course after the fact.

See also port and starboard right of way for situations where the boats are on opposite tacks.

Last updated: 2026-06-15