AndrewB
Well-known member
\"Can\'t you see we\'re racing\"
Yet another wingeing letter in YM from a cruising lady complaining of being forced to give way by racing yachts. In my experience the fault lies far more often with cruiser than the racing boat.
No racing skipper I have ever sailed with has expected cruisers to yield their proper right of way as a matter of course. It can be a positive nuisance if they do. The only time we do ask for courtesy is that cruisers keep clear of start lines during the start period, but normally these are usually placed out of the way of cruising routes.
During a race, a right-of-way cruising yacht crossing the course of racing yachts is simply regarded as something to be factored into the racers’ strategy for that leg. I suspect the problem arises because the pottering cruising-yacht skipper, never having had the discipline to hone his own sailing skills properly, has only limited control over his own yacht, and does not appreciate the skills of others. You know, the sort of guy who has to go through a rigmarole about port wine and wind abaft the beam in order to work out has right of way. Such people are unnerved by the sight of another yacht sailing or tacking within a couple of lengths of him. Immediate appreciation of right of way, and good judgement of close encounters, rapidly become second nature to a racing helmsman.
What racers really dread though is the cruising skipper who is panicked into following the example of the writer who says, “at the very last second we were forced to head up to avoid a serious collision”. Such dithering is more likely to cause trouble than prevent it. It is a tribute to the skill of many racing helmsmen that there are not more accidents caused by such behaviour.
Cruisers! If you have right of way, then just hold steadily to your course AS REQUIRED BY THE RULES. If you really, really think you haven’t been seen, yell STARBOARD or whatever when the other boat is in hailing distance. If you do prefer to cede right of way, then do so EARLY with a positive and clear change of course – and don’t forget that for the boat you helped, three others who have already made allowance for you will be annoyed by this.
But please, please don’t dither or abruptly change course at the very last minute. Otherwise "can't you see we're racing" is the least of what we will say to you!
Yet another wingeing letter in YM from a cruising lady complaining of being forced to give way by racing yachts. In my experience the fault lies far more often with cruiser than the racing boat.
No racing skipper I have ever sailed with has expected cruisers to yield their proper right of way as a matter of course. It can be a positive nuisance if they do. The only time we do ask for courtesy is that cruisers keep clear of start lines during the start period, but normally these are usually placed out of the way of cruising routes.
During a race, a right-of-way cruising yacht crossing the course of racing yachts is simply regarded as something to be factored into the racers’ strategy for that leg. I suspect the problem arises because the pottering cruising-yacht skipper, never having had the discipline to hone his own sailing skills properly, has only limited control over his own yacht, and does not appreciate the skills of others. You know, the sort of guy who has to go through a rigmarole about port wine and wind abaft the beam in order to work out has right of way. Such people are unnerved by the sight of another yacht sailing or tacking within a couple of lengths of him. Immediate appreciation of right of way, and good judgement of close encounters, rapidly become second nature to a racing helmsman.
What racers really dread though is the cruising skipper who is panicked into following the example of the writer who says, “at the very last second we were forced to head up to avoid a serious collision”. Such dithering is more likely to cause trouble than prevent it. It is a tribute to the skill of many racing helmsmen that there are not more accidents caused by such behaviour.
Cruisers! If you have right of way, then just hold steadily to your course AS REQUIRED BY THE RULES. If you really, really think you haven’t been seen, yell STARBOARD or whatever when the other boat is in hailing distance. If you do prefer to cede right of way, then do so EARLY with a positive and clear change of course – and don’t forget that for the boat you helped, three others who have already made allowance for you will be annoyed by this.
But please, please don’t dither or abruptly change course at the very last minute. Otherwise "can't you see we're racing" is the least of what we will say to you!
