How did you get on with last weeks question?
The students that were with me couldn't agree what to do. I hope you wrote down your answer before opening this page!
Here are my thoughts.
I expect you will slow down to reduce your wash and continue to alter course to stay out of their way.
What do the IRPCS say about vessels under oars? Interestingly the crew that was with me had different opinions.
The rules specific to vessels under oars are Rule 25 but vessels under oars are not specifically mentioned except in the title and 25d(ii) which says what lights it should display. That said, the general consensus is that they fall under the same rules as sailing vessels (yes I have heard it argued that a vessel under oars could be classed as a PDV all be it human power. Power driven vessels are defined in rule 3 as “any vessel propelled by machinery” my opinion is that in the spirit of the rules when they were compiled, the authors were considering machinery as mechanical). To that end I have written to the IMO for clarification.
So in a nutshell, until such time as COLREGS specifically include vessels under oars in their definitions and rules, it is important to understand that whilst the COLREGs do not explicitly use the terms "human power" or "machinery" with respect to vessels under oars in these rules, they do distinguish between the behaviour and characteristics of different vessel types to determine their lighting and right-of-way obligations, treat a vessel under oars as a sailing vessel.
Rules that apply in the question would be:
Rule 6 - Safe speed
Rule 8 - Action to avoid collision
Rule 9 - Narrow channels
Rule 25 - Sailing vessels underway and vessels under oars
If all else fails the overarching rules that apply
Rule 2 - Responsibility
Rule 7 - Risk of collision
Rule 8 - as already mentioned.
Perhaps not as easy as you initially thought, the said, if you had all that, well done!
Have a great day.