INTRODUCTION

Having been: sailing since I was 4, a qualified skipper for nearly 30 years,  an RYA instructor in a number of disciplines, including power and sail, for the last 22 years and a retired naval bridge watchkeeper,  I wanted to offer useful information to our members.  

This is one of a growing set of pages and I will be adding to them as often as I can, changing things around as necessary to make it as easy to use as possible..  There will also be links to other sites and eventually files you can download.

DISCLAIMER

I am collating this information from various sources. I am doing my best to ensure it is correct and as accurate as I can.  I take no responsibility for incorrect actions on the part of the reader based on anything read here. It is up to the reader of this to make use of the information as they see fit.

If you have any questions or comments, or if you would like more information, please contact me by CLICKING HERE

INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA 1972

(AKA COLREGS, RULE OF THE ROAD OR SIMPLY  ‘THE RULES’)

There is not a better, more articulate and difficult to mis-construe set of regulations (in my humble opinion) on this planet than the trusty Rule of the Road.

There are many sailing and boating manuals that give pictures of boats crossing each others paths etc,  but in all honesty the best book on the subject is the book the  Royal Navy uses to teach and regularly test bridge watchkeepers:

A Seaman’s Guide to the Rule of the Road  ISBN-10: 0948254580

Published by Morgan Giles,  it is readily available at Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Seamans-Guide-Rule-Road/dp/0948254580

and the Rules are also published at Wikipedia here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Regulations_for_Preventing_Collisions_at_Sea

In the event a collision is caused,  either or both captains can be taken to court and the statute under which they are charged is the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

I am not going to try to re-write it all here,  but I have drawn up and colour coded an A4 guide sheet that I used when teaching IRPCS and my students all liked it.  I submit it to you.

It focuses on the above book, which comes in two versions:

The full book (thick, landscape A5 format) has a large front section full of exercises and the Colregs themselves in blue pages at the back.

The small book (same format but much thinner) contains the Colregs only.

The Royal Navy, it is alleged,  allows junior professional seaman officers 6 learning hours to become proficient.   When I was a bridge watchkeeper in the RN,  we were tested every month on IRPCS with a pass-mark of 95% and a HUGE incentive to get it right. Competition was very fierce.

The index below is something I put together to help me make sense of the ColRegs when I was teaching RYA courses  (I was diagnosed, at the tender age of 46 and with 30 years service in the Royal Navy, as being severely dyslexic, and I always knew pictures were better for me than words.)    It shows you straight away that there are 5 Sections and 4 Annexes,  but more importantly it identifies the most important rules to get right straight away,  these being in Part B. Once you have mastered Part B,  the other parts make more sense and the information will make you a safer skipper.

If you purchase the small version of the Seaman’s Guide to the Rule of the Road, the page numbers in the right hand column may be helpful to you.

Useful Links

MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT 1995

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/21/contents