On the water nobody actually has right of way. The rules do not award it. They assign one vessel the duty to keep clear and the other the duty to hold a steady course so the first one can predict what it is doing.
The vessel that must keep clear is the give-way vessel. The one that holds its course is the stand-on vessel. Getting those two words right matters, because the stand on vessel is not entitled to plough on into a collision, and a skipper who says he had right of way has already lost the argument.
Three situations cover almost everything: meeting head on, crossing, and overtaking. Learn those and the exceptions, and the rest is judgement.
The Three Situations
Meeting Head On
Two power driven vessels approaching each other nearly head on. Neither is the stand on vessel. Both alter course to starboard and pass port side to port side, the same as two cars passing on the right in the United States.
If you are not sure whether it is a head on situation, assume that it is and act accordingly.
Crossing
Two power driven vessels on courses that cross. The vessel that has the other on its starboard side gives way. Put the other way round: if a boat is approaching from your right, you keep clear of it.
The area to watch runs from dead ahead round to just behind your starboard beam, a little over 112 degrees in all. Anything inside that arc on a converging course is a vessel you must keep clear of.
Give way by altering course to starboard and passing behind the other vessel. Turning to port in front of a boat crossing from your right is the manoeuvre that causes these collisions.
Overtaking
Any vessel coming up on another from behind is the give way vessel, and it stays the give way vessel until it is finally past and clear. Type does not matter here at all. A sailing vessel overtaking a power boat gives way.
Overtaking begins further back than people think. If you are approaching from more than 22.5 degrees behind the other vessel’s beam, where you would see its white stern light at night and neither of its side lights, you are overtaking.
The Order of Precedence
Where vessels of different types meet, there is an order, and a power driven vessel sits at the bottom of it. Each type keeps out of the way of those above it:
- A vessel not under command, meaning one that cannot manoeuvre because something has failed.
- A vessel restricted in its ability to manoeuvre, such as one dredging, laying cable or servicing a buoy.
- A vessel constrained by its draught in a channel, under the international rules.
- A vessel engaged in fishing, meaning nets, lines or trawls that restrict manoeuvring, not an angler with a rod.
- A sailing vessel.
- A power driven vessel.
Two practical notes. A sailing boat with its engine running is a power driven vessel even with the sails up, so it loses its place in that list. And a large ship in a narrow channel may be unable to alter course or stop at all, which is why small craft are required not to impede one.
Sailing Boat Against Sailing Boat
Between two vessels under sail alone, the wind decides.
- Different tacks: the boat on port tack keeps clear of the boat on starboard tack. Your tack is the side the wind comes over, which is the opposite side to your main boom.
- Same tack: the windward boat, the one nearer the wind, keeps clear of the leeward boat.
- In doubt about the other boat’s tack: keep clear. The rule says so explicitly.
These are the rules for ordinary cruising. Racing fleets use their own rule set between themselves, which does not bind anyone outside the race.
How to Tell If You Are Going to Collide
There is a simple test and it works at any distance. Watch the other vessel against something fixed behind it, or take a compass bearing.
If the bearing stays the same while the vessel gets closer, you are on a collision course. That is true even if it looks as though it will pass ahead or astern, and it is the single most useful thing on this page.
At night the lights tell you the angle. Red is the port side, green is the starboard side, white alone astern. Seeing a red light means the vessel is crossing from your right, so you give way. The old reminder is that red means stop.
What Giving Way Actually Requires
The rules do not just say keep clear. They say how.
- Act early. A small change made in good time is safer than a large one made late, and it tells the other skipper what you are doing.
- Act substantially. The alteration must be big enough to be obvious from the other vessel. A series of small adjustments reads as indecision.
- Prefer a turn to starboard and pass behind. Turning to port across a crossing vessel is how most of these collisions happen.
- Slow down or stop if a course change will not do it. Reducing speed is a legitimate way to give way and is often the best one in confined water.
- Keep checking until you are past and clear, not just until you have made the turn.
The Stand On Vessel Has Duties Too
Holding course and speed is a duty, not a privilege. The point of it is to be predictable.
When it becomes clear the give way vessel is not acting, the stand on vessel may take action on its own, and when collision cannot be avoided by the give way vessel alone, it must. The one thing it should not do in a crossing situation is turn to port towards a vessel on its own port side.
Above all of this sits the general rule that nothing in the regulations excuses any vessel from the consequences of neglecting an ordinary precaution. The US Coast Guard publishes the navigation rules in full, and that overriding duty is the first thing in them.
Sound Signals in US Inland Waters
On inland waters the short blasts state what you intend to do, and the other vessel answers with the same signal if it agrees.
- One short blast: I intend to leave you on my port side.
- Two short blasts: I intend to leave you on my starboard side.
- Three short blasts: I am operating astern propulsion.
- Five or more short rapid blasts: danger, or I do not understand your intentions. If you receive this, slow down and sort it out before going on.
Under the international rules offshore, the same one and two blasts mean something slightly different: they announce a course change being made now rather than proposing one. Worth knowing if you cross the demarcation line.
Narrow Channels and Crowded Water
In a narrow channel keep to the starboard side of it. A vessel under 20 metres, a sailing vessel, and any boat crossing the channel must not impede a vessel that can only navigate safely inside it.
That is the rule most often broken by small craft at a river mouth or a harbour entrance. A ship that appears to be moving slowly is usually moving faster than it looks and cannot stop, and the small boat has all of the manoeuvrability in that encounter.
When It Goes Wrong
Boating collisions are rarely one sided in law. Both skippers have a duty to keep a proper lookout and to travel at a safe speed, so blame is commonly shared even where one boat clearly failed to give way.
After a collision the duties are to stop, render assistance so far as you can without endangering your own vessel and people, and exchange details. Federal rules also require a written accident report where someone dies or disappears, where an injury needs more than first aid, or where property damage passes a threshold, and some states set that threshold lower than the federal one.
Alcohol is treated seriously on the water and operating under the influence is an offence in every state, with the Coast Guard enforcing federally as well. It also makes the civil side of any collision very difficult to defend.
Six Encounters, Worked Through
The rules are short. Applying them while a boat is closing is the hard part, so here are the common ones with the answer.
A Motor Boat Appears on Your Right, Crossing
You give way. Alter to starboard early and pass behind it. Do not cut across its bow on the assumption that you are faster.
A Motor Boat Appears on Your Left, Crossing
You are the stand on vessel. Hold your course and speed so the other skipper can read you, and keep watching. If it does not give way, act, and avoid turning to port towards it.
You Are Catching Up a Slower Boat
You are overtaking, so you give way. Pass well clear, slow down if the wash will be a problem, and stay the give way vessel until you are properly past.
A Sailing Boat Is Crossing Ahead of You Under Sail
You keep clear, unless you are overtaking it or unless you are fishing with nets or restricted in your ability to manoeuvre. Check whether its engine is running before assuming anything.
A Ship Is Coming Down the Channel
Stay out of the channel if you can, keep to the starboard side of it if you cannot, and do not impede the ship. It may be unable to leave the dredged water at all, and it cannot stop in the distance you think it can.
A Boat Is Head On and Neither of You Has Moved
Both of you alter to starboard and pass port to port. If the other vessel has not moved, make your alteration large and obvious, sound one short blast on inland waters, and be ready to slow down.
Why the Legal Side Follows the Rules So Closely
After a collision, the investigation and any claim both start from the same question: which vessel was required to keep clear, and did it.
That is why the terms matter. A skipper who tells an investigator he had right of way is describing a rule that does not exist, and the finding will instead be about whether he kept a proper lookout, whether his speed was safe for the conditions, and whether he took the action the rules required at the time they required it.
Shared fault is the normal outcome rather than the exception. A boat that failed to give way and a boat that saw nothing because nobody was looking astern can both end up carrying a share of the loss, which is how the damages are then split.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has right of way in boating?
Nobody, strictly. The rules name a give way vessel that must keep clear and a stand on vessel that must hold a steady course and speed so it can be predicted. Which is which depends on the situation and the type of vessel.
Which boat gives way when two boats cross?
Between two power driven vessels, the one that has the other on its starboard side gives way. If a boat is approaching from your right, you keep clear, normally by altering to starboard and passing behind it.
One boat is overtaking another, which boat must give way?
The overtaking vessel, always, and it remains the give way vessel until it is past and clear. This applies regardless of type, so a sailing boat overtaking a motor boat must keep clear.
When crossing paths, what is the give way vessel’s responsibility?
To take early and substantial action to keep well clear, by altering course, slowing down or stopping, and to avoid passing ahead of the stand on vessel.
Does a sailboat always have right of way over a powerboat?
No. A sailing vessel is ahead of a power driven vessel in the order of precedence, but not when it is overtaking, not when it is under engine even with sails up, and not where the power driven vessel is fishing, restricted in its ability to manoeuvre, or confined to a narrow channel.
What does the stand on vessel have to do?
Hold its course and speed so the give way vessel can predict it. If the give way vessel is plainly not acting, the stand on vessel may take avoiding action itself, and must do so when a collision cannot be avoided by the other vessel alone.
How do I know if I am on a collision course?
Watch the other vessel’s bearing. If it stays constant while the vessel gets closer, you are converging on the same point, even if it looks as though it will pass clear.
What do five short blasts mean?
Danger, or that the other skipper does not understand your intentions. Slow down, make your intentions obvious, and do not continue until the situation is clear.
Who is at fault in a boat collision?
Often both parties to some degree. Every vessel has a duty to keep a proper lookout and travel at a safe speed, so a failure to give way and a failure to look out are frequently found together.
Do I have to report a boating accident?
Yes, where someone dies or disappears, where an injury needs more than first aid, or where damage passes the reporting threshold. The federal rules set a baseline and individual states can require reporting at a lower level.
If you remember one thing, make it the bearing test, and if you remember two, make the second one that the stand on vessel is not allowed to hold course into a collision. Almost every case comes down to one of those two.
More from us: what the orange square buoy means and why it matters legally, and how an accident lawyer helps after a collision.
This is general information about the US navigation rules, not legal advice. Inland and international rules differ in places, states add their own requirements, and the full rules are published by the Coast Guard. Speak to a lawyer licensed in your state about any specific incident.