Do Yacht Racers Make Better Cruising Sailors?

Round the cans only experience, not at all. That lot wouldn't survive a day longer than 24 hours at sea.
 
They would have trouble finding my wee winches. If they want to sit on the rail all day that can be arranged as long as they have a fishing rod in their hand. ;)
 
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Anyone who shouts and screams like that lot won't last long on my boat. What you need is someone who can make a proper cup of tea :)
 
> I wondered what people thought about Yacht Racing as a training ground for Cruising Sailors?

They should be able to do coastal day sailing but not experienced enough to do long passages, except if they are Fastnet/around the world racers.
 
When I did my YM exam, two other candidates had got most of their hours as racing crew with minimum time as skipper and it showed. They were both hesitant about making decisions and weak on pilotage. OTOH, my weak point was delegating - not used to having full crew to share the load.

Perhaps I should add that they could make the boat go a lot faster than I could and had far more expertise at trimming.
 
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The consequence of my yacht racing days as far as cruising is concerned is that I manage to drive my wife & daughters nuts by continual tweaking in the quest for a few hundreths of a knot. As I drag one from their book for the n+1th time to "just back off the main halyard tension half a smidge" or somesuch, I do sometimes find my own parentage being called into question by the victim. Still, I don't care; I'm on my hols, I'm enjoying myself, and what's more I'M PAYING FOR IT.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
Round the cans only experience, not at all. That lot wouldn't survive a day longer than 24 hours at sea.
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Interesting... The best round the cans crew I've ever sailed with included 2 round the world sailors, one half of a couple who have sold up and sailed - now in the med somewhere, 4 fastnet veterans, and the winners of the last double handed round britain, a former Kitesurf champion. And me.

Have done a lot of cruising, the least stressful ever has been with any of the race crew on board. There's so much less pondering and umming and ahhing about a sail change. Just the phrase "let's reef the main" and without another word it just happens. Simply put, in my experience race crew are far less intimidated by the boat in strong weather and have far, far better boat awareness. They're also much less likely to winge about being cold or wet.
 
flaming said:
Interesting... The best round the cans crew I've ever sailed with included 2 round the world sailors, one half of a couple who have sold up and sailed - now in the med somewhere, 4 fastnet veterans, and the winners of the last double handed round britain, a former Kitesurf champion. And me.

Have done a lot of cruising, the least stressful ever has been with any of the race crew on board. There's so much less pondering and umming and ahhing about a sail change. Just the phrase "let's reef the main" and without another word it just happens. Simply put, in my experience race crew are far less intimidated by the boat in strong weather and have far, far better boat awareness. They're also much less likely to winge about being cold or wet.
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True in my experience except I never take more than one other racer with me.
Well, to be fair, it isn't necessary.
Nothing needs to be said, and a glance at windspeed and angle of heel, plus a nod will have the thing reefed without a word.
Also, the cruising chute make a miraculous appearance on deck if the wind is that way.
Any more than one though, and competitive cruising sets in. Which is wearisome.
 
GrahamM376 said:
When I did my YM exam, two other candidates had got most of their hours as racing crew with minimum time as skipper and it showed. They were both hesitant about making decisions and weak on pilotage. OTOH, my weak point was delegating - not used to having full crew to share the load.

Perhaps I should add that they could make the boat go a lot faster than I could and had far more expertise at trimming.
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When I did my Coastal Skipper course there were two YM candidates on the boat and one other coastal. As we sailed down the Itchen with the main cleated off I leant over and eased it as it was well stalled and the boat was heeling much more than it needed to be. One of the YM candidates asked me why I had done that as he "didn't really understand all this sail trimming stuff". I'll admit I was a poor skipper as I hadn't really ever been in charge, but at least I could sail.

Dinghy sailing makes you a better racer, mind. I do them all given half a chance: cruising, racing, dinghies, whatever. One thing I have found is that racing experience means you spend less time with the donkey on. In fact I started racing because I found that cruisers were a bit too quick to resort to the engine. At least when you are racing you know the game's over when that key is turned. And don't talk to me about "motor sailing".
 
I did a cross channel race as a crew member once & learned a lot from the professional racing skipper. I was also allowed to do the paper Nav on the way back despite rather foggy conditions. Initially I was worried that my "fix" did not agree with the Decca (there's a clue how long ago it was).

The skipper reassured me that it would get better as we reached the UK cos the Frogs didn't really support the Decca system. So I ignored the Decca & kept plotting to announce "The Nab should be in sight soon" just as it appeared thro the mist ahead. That was soooo satisfying! AND the Decca began to agree with my fixes too. All a good confidence boost.

Cruiser sailing, especially solo or just with family, offers few opportunities to learn from others. Sailing different boats with different skippers can be very rewarding.
 
Isn't the point of cruising to 'be there', rather than to 'get there'? It's about appreciating the journey, not looking forward to the arrival. Read Roger Taylor's books if you don't know what I'm going on about, though it might just be a Corribee thing.:o

Do racers get this, or are they going to be conditioned into getting there as fast as possible, at the expense of enjoying the moment?
 
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