Individual Obstruction or Continuing Obstruction?

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Question:
A highlight of the Annapolis sailboat racing scene for both spectators and racers alike is the Wednesday Night Series, hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club. The finish is barely more than 200 feet short of a low draw bridge (often lined with spectators)

The final leg deals with squirrely winds and runs along the Annapolis downtown waterfront and a municipal mooring field in the confines of the harbor.

Depending on the direction of the wind, sometimes these moored boats “line-up”, closing-off but not eliminating the spaces between them. It is very common for the wind to funnel down this last stretch as well, requiring a beat to the finish where it is common for boats to weave through the alleys of moored boats making our way to the finish.

My question is this… could there be a time where conditions are such that, though there may be physical space for boats to pass between the moored boats, that wind speed and thus boat speed renders that space which would normally be “navigable” to be not and thus this field of individual obstructions becomes one continuing obstruction?

For the answer… click here.