peterb
Well-Known Member
Got my copy of YM for October today. Two items caught my eye.
The first was under the "Sailing Skills: Expert on board" banner (Tom Cunliffe being the expert). It dealt with a single-hander bringing a Contessa 32 alongside a pontoon, and used the common technique of dropping a bow spring over a shore cleat, then powering against the spring with the rudder set to use the prop wash to push the stern in and the bow out. But the photo showed the boat with the pontoon on its port side, while the title panel talked of "motoring very gently against the spring with the helm hard to port".
Now I accept that under these conditions the tiller would be hard to port, but to talk of the helm being hard to port would imply that the boat would be trying to turn to port, with the stern swinging out; not what is wanted at all. Of course, in the old days helm orders were derived from tiller usage, so that "Hard a-port" meant turn to starboard; but that usage was changed long ago (specifically, in the 1933 edition of Colregs).
And then I came across the second item; bizarrely, in a correction. In August's quiz, they had a preferred channel buoy but had got the preferred channel on the wrong side. But since the buoy was shown as spherical, rather than can or conical, one only had the colours to go on (a green stripe on a red buoy). Someone at YM obviously spotted that their answer would have been right with the American buoy colouring system, so they added a rider to their correction:
"However, in IALA Buoyage Region A, including the USA, the preferred passage would be to port."
As far as I know, we are in Region A, and the USA is in Region B. If the correction to August's issue is in October's, then I reckon the correction to the correction should be in December's.
Does YM know its left from its right, or port from starboard?
The first was under the "Sailing Skills: Expert on board" banner (Tom Cunliffe being the expert). It dealt with a single-hander bringing a Contessa 32 alongside a pontoon, and used the common technique of dropping a bow spring over a shore cleat, then powering against the spring with the rudder set to use the prop wash to push the stern in and the bow out. But the photo showed the boat with the pontoon on its port side, while the title panel talked of "motoring very gently against the spring with the helm hard to port".
Now I accept that under these conditions the tiller would be hard to port, but to talk of the helm being hard to port would imply that the boat would be trying to turn to port, with the stern swinging out; not what is wanted at all. Of course, in the old days helm orders were derived from tiller usage, so that "Hard a-port" meant turn to starboard; but that usage was changed long ago (specifically, in the 1933 edition of Colregs).
And then I came across the second item; bizarrely, in a correction. In August's quiz, they had a preferred channel buoy but had got the preferred channel on the wrong side. But since the buoy was shown as spherical, rather than can or conical, one only had the colours to go on (a green stripe on a red buoy). Someone at YM obviously spotted that their answer would have been right with the American buoy colouring system, so they added a rider to their correction:
"However, in IALA Buoyage Region A, including the USA, the preferred passage would be to port."
As far as I know, we are in Region A, and the USA is in Region B. If the correction to August's issue is in October's, then I reckon the correction to the correction should be in December's.
Does YM know its left from its right, or port from starboard?
