Black sailors

Re: time and money

How racist.
You are alleging that black people are financially more acute and prefer home comforts than the whiteys?
Withdraw your whiteist slur, Sir.
 
A couple of years ago in the Dodecanese, we came across a whole flotilla of black sailors. They had bigger boats than ours, were noisier than us, did everything with irrepressible good humour, enthusiasm and energy, were very friendly and were typically.....

....AMERICAN!

They were a great bunch, but it was oh sooo peacefull when they left! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif - not typically black (their colour was irrelevant), but typically American.

Tony
 
Re: brits - it\'s all in the genes

well i spose one could trace it back to the norman invasion, where a bunch of frenchies were all invited to get on small boats, help out with a series of nasty fights, all on the promise of a share of the loot/land, presumably very attractive to those with everything to gain and nothing to lose.

A thousand years or so years later, and we're all boat mad, france (ok, and spain) is a highly popular tourist destination, there are huge fights at closing time, the uk govt is v keen to get stuck in to all the war zones as always (empire etc), the lottery is by far the most successful in the world and lots of youngsters are hoping for a Big Break rather than a career.

So, high time for an invasion of france, i reckon, and divvy up the spoils. I bags the Maritime Alpes. (I spose the Normans must've had "bagsying" arguments as well -on the way over the channel? How hilarious)
 
I had a very entertaining 2 hour chat last year with an "afro-american" guy, also a yacht-owner, when we were in the cockpit of a 36-footer we both happened to be looking at in a yard here in NJ. He was looking to trade up. He's an electronics engineer from Philly and his other hobby was history, in which he clearly took great delight. I can only describe myself as being fascinated and enlightened by his take on the American Revolution - quite different to the populist versions propated in the myths and re-writes. Very funny too.

He was pretty much my age (early-mid 40's), similar profession and presumably income, similar education... so nothing much to distinguish us apart in other words. I hope I get to meet up with him again when we finally get onto the water.

Oh, I never found out why he sailed - never occured to me to ask, it being self-evident really.

F_M
 
Re: brits - it\'s all in the genes

Brilliant! One response!
I really want to put paid to the argument that Afro-Caribbeans don't sail.
Please don't infer if I call Af-C's "black" from now on that it's a slur - just easier to type.
Oh, and why wouldn't they be as nice/nasty/antisocial/boorish/friendly/seamanlike/unseamanlike as us whiteys?
Just an observation..............
 
Re: brits - it\'s all in the genes

A descendant of mine "bagged" most of Shropshire. 'bout time, methinks, to see what has been left to me in Normandy. Now, we need a small army.......
 
Re: pleasant and expert black sailors

well, i suppose that's because until about only a dozen generations ago, the blacks in the usa were in slavery. So, any of them that were athletically below par were either killed, or not allowed to reproduce, or died in the crap conditions. I suppose any with a hankering for sailing the sea weren't exactly encouraged, so only a few wd've managed to get out on the water - whereas those good at land-based athleticism would be highly valued and reproduced much more. Hence the strong overall preference (generally, mind) for raw (running, jumping) sports amongst blacks, possibly - pursuance of minority pastimes or the pursuit of happiness (academic studies etc) beaten or bred out of them.

It's a very long time since any whites were subject to the same selections process - with the exception of course of Germany in the 30's, and the german giants on the ski slopes seem to show that practical Eugenics achieved its ghastly objectives.

Awful i know, but a gardener does exactly the same "weeding out" in order to produce prize blooms. And that definitely works too.
 
Re: pleasant and expert black sailors

Suppose that explains why scots are the true master race. Natural selection was obviously imposed by God and he put all the good ones in Scortland and all the bad ones ran away to Ireland with the easter eggs.
 
Re: awkward scottish sailors

ah wel , erm, the short size of scottish sailors is explained by 2000 years living in the sun-starved shadow of a big wall plus the elimination of very large scottish people by sadly drowning in coracles built by the aforementioned shorties. A diet of heather can't have helped much, and this together with the last hundred+ years of having to get up "early" in accordance with GMT/BST accounts for their generally bad mood.
 
Re: time and money

can second that. Used to run competitively, and training took at least 6 hours a day. It went by the wayside when I had to start earning a living - just didn't have the time.

I'd be interested to hear the thoughts from some of the people on the forum who are from 'ethnic' backgrounds. I know there are a few, cos I've met them, but don't want to pressure them to come forward by naming names if they aren't comfortable with the discussion
 
Re: pleasant and expert black sailors

I want to put up a word of defence for South Africa. The original post referred to the attitude of a member of one of the yacht clubs in SA. This attitude would horrify and offend most people I suspect.

I spent Christmas in Capetown, and in the course of my duties had contact with several influential people (black and white) in the local community. One of the topics I discussed with all of them was the attitude of whites to blacks post apartheid. Being one of the students who marched against apartheid etc, I was interested to know what had happened to all the white Afrikaaners with their extreme views.

The universal answer was that although they had not changed their minds overnight (and perhaps met in secret/underground) the country has been transformed. By and large blacks and whites live together in a way that was unimaginable 20 years ago.

This is something that SA deservedly celebrates. Ten years of democracy this year and very very proud of it. In everyday life, you continuously see many examples of courtesy and decency shown to people regardless of the colour of their skin - noticeably more so than one sees in many of our UK cities!! Light years ahead of the attitude one sees in some areas of the US.

There are still huge problems.

HIV affects nearly 25% of the population.

Poverty and shantytowns/townships are still an issue: white people still tend to be the ones with money, who live in nice houses, and who can afford health care and education.

Crime remains an issue in many areas; there are places that you would avoid going by night or day if you want to keep your wallet watch of life.

I don't want to further a political debate, but there are some lessons we might learn from SA. Their attitude to me was 'Thank you to the West for all the support in ridding us of apartheid. Why not now learn something from us on how to live together?'

I am not pretending to be an expert on SA. These are the views passed on from some people in the country and from my snapshot view of a few days ago.
 
In simple terms, Afro-Carribeans are (on average) less bouyant than caucasians because they have a higher perecentge of lean mass (more muscle, less fat). This is fact. This compositiojn also predisposes them to success in track events such as sprinting. A degree of body fat is advantagous in competitive swiming because more of the body is above the surface of the water, meaning that resistance to movement is reduced. This is also fact.
 
[ QUOTE ]
In simple terms, Afro-Carribeans are (on average) less bouyant than caucasians because they have a higher perecentge of lean mass (more muscle, less fat). This is fact. This compositiojn also predisposes them to success in track events such as sprinting. A degree of body fat is advantagous in competitive swiming because more of the body is above the surface of the water, meaning that resistance to movement is reduced. This is also fact.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry Joss but IMO that's poppycock!... where are these facts coming from? links please.

I want to check the validity of the sites that are churning this information out.
 
Which bit do you disagree with? That blacks have denser bodies for similar build, or that additional fat is advantageous to competitive swimming. There are medical studies in respected science journals that indicate the former, and olympic physiology sites that will confirm the latter
 
Interesting thread. All kinds of theories, comments, opinions etc, just like the forum used to be...
Little surprised that no-one mentioned anything about many people owning an AWB (Average White Boat) as being part of the issue... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif)

-steve-
 
Re: Black sailors in Competitive swimming.

I think I'm right in saying that until 2000 no African had won a swimming Olympic gold medal.

I think the record went when an Algerian or Moroccan who got a medal in Sydney.

But think about it..... no top black swimmers.... coincidence ?
 
I used to swim in galas and what have you. The best swimmer in our club was a mixed race guy (black/white) so black people can swim - same way as a black retriever swims just the same as a golden one.

Of my black friends, most don't like to get their hair wet - especially the girls who wouldn't consider swimming for that very reason. My friend Evo doesn't even like people to touch his hair. It's probably got nothing to do with it but it might be a factor that many UK black people - especially girls - often have quite a regime of grooming and applying hair moisturisers, oils and products.

Also, amongst black people, there's a bit of a standing joke about white people sailing/parachuting/mountaineering/white water rafting/absailing naked into volcanoes etc - dangerous sports in general, so there's a culture thing going on.

There's always exceptions though - people's people at the end of the day.
 
There is no reason black people cannot swim, or swim competitively. However, at the very top ranks, where people are separated by hundreds of a second, the competitive edge that additional bouyancy brings is quite considerable
 
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