Upper Mark

The upper mark, also called the windward or weather mark, is the buoy at the top of a windward-leeward race course that boats round at the end of the upwind leg. Reaching it requires beating to windward, so boats arrive on tacks and the rounding is a congestion point governed by the right-of-way and mark-room rules of the Racing Rules of Sailing. After rounding, boats bear away onto the downwind leg, often setting a spinnaker. An offset mark is sometimes laid just past it to ease the transition from beating to running.