Does racing bring out the worst in us ?

[Guest]

After a gap of many years I have started to have another go again.

The first race was a coastal hop in open water which I enjoyed thoroughly. As I went single handed I got on very well with myself and have decided to repeat the experience.

Having crewed for another boatowner - a normal kind and decent type, which included close encounters in sheltered waters I often felt like Mr Christain and had a strong urge to dead leg the bounder at various times. On driving home I decided that I now know why our wives feel the way they do about us.

I do admit that at times I did offer my suggestions in a most diplomatic manner. Should I not have done this ? From my past experiences I have found that crewing only seems to work well if the crew do not own a boat and do not have too much experience. Is this a general view ?

 

[Jeremy_W]

YES. Just as secretaries are taught to manage their bosses, crews have to learn to manage their skippers. And that doesn't include being too ready to show too much of what you know. Really good skippers are secure enough for the crew to show their full abilities then reach a suitable separation of duties.

But if your skipper has chosen helming as "his" job showing the guy up [by passing, within a quarter of a mile, a competitor he had failed to overtake in the previous twenty miles] is a definite NO NO.

 

[ToMo]

Yeh it's the old macho macho thing!

 

[Guest]

Went on a very sedate cruise/delivery last month with three experienced skippers. Responsibility was not clearly defined and we nearly hit a sandbank off Poole beacause we all thought each other had the navigation in hand and we were over-cautious about calling into question the actual skipper's judgement.

 

[claymore]

I think it depends on what you are bringing to the boat. If you are considered a beginner then you may well be treated as shifting ballast to be told what to do and when - if you come on with a reputation of being an experienced racing crew then its as well to chat through roles and responsibilities before you sail. Depends on how much the skipper does and doesn't know and how much they are prepared to enter into a 'team' approach. Without doubt the worst skippers are the ones who think they know it all - when it becomes plainly obvious that they don't. Those were always fairly brief encounters. My favourite skipper was the one who made sure that everything on the boat was working and got us agreeing to what our roles were - he then got on with feeding us bacon butties, coffees, weather information and a stream of tactical stuff that kept us informed, happy and successful.

regards
Claymore

 

[sailbadthesinner]

Most definitley

many years ago in a race around the cans in North wales one of the crew of a yacht disagreed so stongly with the skipper that he jumped overboard at the windward mark and clung to it awaiting rescue and disqualifying his former team.



Wants woman with boat
Send photo of boat

 

[jimi]

Certainly . when dinghy racing I see even the mildest mannered turn into rude agressive unreasonable swine!

 

[Canboria]

I agree with jimi, I sail on the Medway and try not to go out when the dinghy racers are out, they always race in the river in between the moorings, in my opinion they try to make it a no go area, if you dare to try and get past the language and attitude is deplorable, I try and motor up the river on the inside of the moorings but they still get you, quite frequently I have seen dinghy racers bounce of moored boats when tacking apparently without a care, why should they care, they are racing nothing else matters