You raise an interesting point about barging at the first mark Kermit. Its well agreed that you must give room to the inside boat at a mark, however what everyone misses (and what causes raftups), is that you must wait and delay your turn until that inside boat begins THEIRS. It will never work if the outside boat makes a decision about how much room to give the inside boat. With our poor vision, as you mention, it is impossible to see how much room you are leaving him and how much poor vision he has in judging it as well. The way to prevent raftups and boat contact is to wait, delay your turn until you see that the inside boat is making their turn, and then start to make yours.