certainly ,,, but they may not be easy to see at first with just the cursory glance behind ( lookout ) . i think were it me even if not under power at the time , which i think would be most likely when in passage , if i saw them approaching i would, or even saw them at tall , at least have the engines on toute sweet .
I must admit to thinking of 2 tactics when I first heard of the attacks. Going into very shallow water seemed like a good idea and keeping close the the shore sounded sensible but time-consuming and required constant attention. I also thought of reversing in order to force an attack to be carried out close to a rapidly spinning sharp thing.
) It will be interesting to see if it is effective and if it can be carried out quickly enough to avoid significant damage. I suspect it will help but boats will still be damaged by a sudden attack.
Good point. The transition from forward to reverse will probably be dangerous and you could get a lot of damage or broken bones. I think you'd need to be extremely cautious when holding the wheel. Pretty difficult on my boat as the steering is very heavy at more than a couple of knots in reverse and impossible to hold at all at any significant angle.
then sudden reversal may take a few minutes , but otherwise it would not take long to get the engines on and into reverse , then drop the sails or at least slip the sheets , nor do i think that any significant speed in reverse would be needed , 2 or 3 knts i imagine ,, i wonder what is recommended by the coast guard ( all from the comfort of my armchair ? )
throw the two lines and let it fly , not going to cause any damage , even if , i suppose it would depend on what is more important to the individual , the kite or the rudder .
be hard to run over the spinaker when the wind is behind you and the spinaker is still connected at the top of the mast and you are going astern
. most people have a snuffer to effect a controlled drop ,,, but everyone to their own .There is a great possibility that the lines will end up round the prop. The boat has to stop before it can reverse while a flying out of control spinnaker will make that difficult. How long would you keep the out of control spinnaker flying from the masthead. With Orka attacking the rudder, an out of control spinnaker will be a complication with dire results. I repeat, keep control of the boat.be hard to run over the spinaker when the wind is behind you and the spinaker is still connected at the top of the mast and you are going astern
i would never suggest otherwise , but you seem to be confusing the two .
I am not confusing anything. Attending to an out of control spinnaker on the bow while an out of control Orca is attacking the rudder is a situation that can get even worse rapidly. Boats do overun spinnakers and lines do get caught in the prop. As far as I am concerned it matters not a rats ass whether the lines or the spinnaker end up under the boat. Your toast. And it would be your fault for releasing the lines and possibly you or a crew releasing the halyard also. You do what you like. I will try to keep control of the boat.
perhaps you can explain then how with the spinaker attatched to the top of the mast and the sail with ropes blowing out ahead and way in the air you are going to run over them ? presuming that , as with most people , there is a snuffer which will have the spinaker down pretty damned quick and under control , and NO , i would suggest that you do not release the halyard , why would you , you then would have a dangerous situation ,, if yourself or crew can not be trusted to behave responsibly then they should at least be banished down below where they can not cause havoc,, and while you are suggesting silly things, i would not suggest that you jump in the water either !!
When I mentioned going astern to the RYA guy, he launched in to "they are protected animals" and wouldnt let me make my point. I thought I was talking to Chris Packham!
chris Packham , or , fortunately , millions of other like minded people .
Another reason for not joining the RYA.