tcm
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Ending the hostility : Raggies v Stinkpotters
I see a lot of enmity between raggies (those who sail on a sailing boat) and stinkies (those who have a powerboat) and it’s not much fun, not nice, not pleasant . I wish there was no such “divide”, such hostility. This post is aimed at raggies, but is of equal validity to those whose primary power source is an engine.
Some of the raggie v stinky divide of course is just fun. But some of it really isn’t fun at all, and it’s even downright nasty. With a powerboat once, anchored in Alderney, I saved a (sailing) guy’s wallet which he dropped in the water and he couldn’t even bring himself to thank me. That’s pretty poor. Something is really quite wrong, unhealthy, and I hope you’ll read further.
I must say that first of all – it was a huge surprise, years ago, now, to learn of this divide. Newcomers aren’t ready for it at all. The enmity mostly originates from the raggies. You take an introductory sailing course for a week in the Solent and you are almost (informally) “taught” to hate motorboats. Surprisingly, even some otherwise very intelligent sailors lead by example - loudly shouting all sorts of abuse at any powerboat. Astonishing. I did a French exchange at school age, and in just the same way, the children of the family “taught” me how to be racist – as a white French person you are economical with “Monsieur” and “Madame” to people of colour.
Edit: The antipathy isn't universal. As above I said "I see a lot of..." so not ALL raggies partake in this behaviour, but many if not most will recognise it from others and I have not head anyone express intolerance of such behaviour.
The boat industry is dedicated to a whole bunch of people with one thing in common – they are seriously committed to having fun. So much so that, on top of all the boring expenditure for housing, transport, medical, education, food – they buy a boat! Almost all the boats are bigger than a car and the ONLY point of it is to have fun, enjoyment – and unlike a second home it makes little or no financial sense at all. My Dad never bought such a frivolous thing, and neither do most people don’t do this. So I hope we can all agree that from the very start – everyone with a boat is fairly serious about having fun?
Explaining the “divide” is easy. I’m afraid that for the most part… it’s just mean. Oh yes it is. Lots of people with powerboats are great people (although there some awful ones) and likewise most people with sailing boats are also great – and in just the same way, some are awful. Once you get to know them, the idea that they are different is almost as silly as imagining a major difference between people who drives different coloured cars. “Typical! - just the sort of bevahiour you’d expect from someone with a red car, tsk!”
But there is more to it than that. There IS a reason why raggies hold stinkies in low esteem – there’s generally a lower level of skill absolutely needed to get out on the water. But that doesn’t excuse the mean-spritness, imho.
Great Divides like the raggies v stinkies this aren’t unique to boats. As an example, if you are an artist, a painter, you’ll know that those who use watercolours are very dismissive of those others using oils. With oil you can cover up a mistake, retouch forever – with watercolour, every brushstroke is visible – far more skill required. The watercolour artists who offer to paint your portrait in a touristy spot are even more dismissive of those dreadful types using charcoal.
The same applies in the musical world, where I should declare an intrest as an amateur classical violinist. Many classically trained musicians are somewhat disdainful of those “pop” artists who often can’t even read music, and can usually only play a particular tune in one key. The guitar has frets so the notes are “given” like a keyboard – hit that key and it’s a middle C, for example. By contrast, the player of a classical stringed instrument such as a violin needs to be able to hear and correct a note within milliseconds - the note isn’t “given” as with a keyboard or a guitar with its frets – each note on a violin, viola, cello, trombone has to be “made” every single time it’s used. Guitars aren’t “proper instruments”...
And of course, so it is with the raggies/stinkies. You reach your destination in a sailing boat it’s something of an achievement. By contrast, if you set off on a powerboat and you don’t reach your destination – that’s a bit rubbish. Powerboats, well, pah!
If you sail you have skill. But if you are scathing about those in powerboats, you are being mean with your skills. One does not need to be mean in this way. It is unpleasant, unkind and reflects badly on those who do it.
If you are scathing because of the apperance of a powerboat you are being mean with your taste, and the same applies
It’s as bad as someone who is luckily very good-looking being mean about those who are not quite so beautiful. Or someone who is intelligent being mean about those less so, and more are guilty of this bahavious than who readily admit or even realise – me, for one. (I’m not so nasty about those less good-looking than me, but there again, there aren’t many of them...)
Seriously, there’s a touch of envy, in some instances. Okay, not from YOU, perish the thought, but it’s there. The gianty 70 foot powerboat doing over 40knots against F6 in 2metre seas is a bit galling. They enjoy a sunny trip for couple of hours – sometimes the rest of us are still poking about in the dark, or drenched when the weather turns bad in the afternoon.
Likewise the billionaire rock star who composes a few 3-minutes song is suddenly the richest “musician” on the planet and compared with Mozart. Not so the career-trained (more like lifetime-trained) soloist or member of any professional classical orchestra. Even the humble guitar-strumming folk musician is a key element of a fun night out, leading the fun in a singalong with friends. A lot more so than would a cellist or violinist, really.
So I’m simply asking that raggies simply stop being mean. Yes, they have (and need) more skills than those driving a powerboat. But that doesn’t give them the right to be simply mean, I think. The meanness isn’t fun, and that’s what boating is supposed to be. Is it really fun to be mean? I hope not. Only bullies would derive pleasure from being mean.
Yes, stinkpots aren’t generally as lovely to behold as sailing boats, and in confined waters their wash can be annoying or even dangerous. But not ALL stinkies cause wash – just the ones you see. Some others took a wide sweep around and nobody noticed.
Yes, also, some of these issues are simply a matter of ignorance. I have never heard of any powerboat intentionally causing wash, and in some areas of the world it just isn’t an issue. Amongst very experienced powerboat users, I have once or twice suggested that they don’t navigate along a coast using sailing boats as “waypoints” - aim towards that other boat is alarming for the sailing boat in the firing line who just has to hope that the fast boat has seen him. It’s not done intentionally, really it isn’t – it’s just much easier to aim for something rather than nothing at all.
Powerboaties (or at least some of them) have some skills which a raggie doesn’t have – in a marina, it’s lots harder to control a boat which slithers sideways with high windage and no keel. Likewise those rock musicians become much more used to playing in front of an audience, confident on a stage far earlier and far more frequently than a classical musician. In extremis, you want powerboats – you wouldn’t insist on the lifeboat being a sailing boat, would you? You’d want a powerboat and pronto, or even a helicopter.
Of course, there’ll be some morons or horrid people in powerboats, same as there are some horrid/moronic people doing anything else. But to treat ALL stinkpotters as invariably more boorish, less knowledgeable, less intelligent is the very essence of racism – to assign all members of a group with the worst traits of just one member of that group.
So I trust you don’t or won’t do that, and/or help others avoid behaving in such a mean way in future. And then, I think, it’ll be much more smiley fun for everyone.
Edit: oh and of course, it's fine to express a preference, ands i bet your boat is possibly perfection! Also, i don't think anyone needs to go politically-over-correct and start calling power boats "boats of power"...
What do you think?
I see a lot of enmity between raggies (those who sail on a sailing boat) and stinkies (those who have a powerboat) and it’s not much fun, not nice, not pleasant . I wish there was no such “divide”, such hostility. This post is aimed at raggies, but is of equal validity to those whose primary power source is an engine.
Some of the raggie v stinky divide of course is just fun. But some of it really isn’t fun at all, and it’s even downright nasty. With a powerboat once, anchored in Alderney, I saved a (sailing) guy’s wallet which he dropped in the water and he couldn’t even bring himself to thank me. That’s pretty poor. Something is really quite wrong, unhealthy, and I hope you’ll read further.
I must say that first of all – it was a huge surprise, years ago, now, to learn of this divide. Newcomers aren’t ready for it at all. The enmity mostly originates from the raggies. You take an introductory sailing course for a week in the Solent and you are almost (informally) “taught” to hate motorboats. Surprisingly, even some otherwise very intelligent sailors lead by example - loudly shouting all sorts of abuse at any powerboat. Astonishing. I did a French exchange at school age, and in just the same way, the children of the family “taught” me how to be racist – as a white French person you are economical with “Monsieur” and “Madame” to people of colour.
Edit: The antipathy isn't universal. As above I said "I see a lot of..." so not ALL raggies partake in this behaviour, but many if not most will recognise it from others and I have not head anyone express intolerance of such behaviour.
The boat industry is dedicated to a whole bunch of people with one thing in common – they are seriously committed to having fun. So much so that, on top of all the boring expenditure for housing, transport, medical, education, food – they buy a boat! Almost all the boats are bigger than a car and the ONLY point of it is to have fun, enjoyment – and unlike a second home it makes little or no financial sense at all. My Dad never bought such a frivolous thing, and neither do most people don’t do this. So I hope we can all agree that from the very start – everyone with a boat is fairly serious about having fun?
Explaining the “divide” is easy. I’m afraid that for the most part… it’s just mean. Oh yes it is. Lots of people with powerboats are great people (although there some awful ones) and likewise most people with sailing boats are also great – and in just the same way, some are awful. Once you get to know them, the idea that they are different is almost as silly as imagining a major difference between people who drives different coloured cars. “Typical! - just the sort of bevahiour you’d expect from someone with a red car, tsk!”
But there is more to it than that. There IS a reason why raggies hold stinkies in low esteem – there’s generally a lower level of skill absolutely needed to get out on the water. But that doesn’t excuse the mean-spritness, imho.
Great Divides like the raggies v stinkies this aren’t unique to boats. As an example, if you are an artist, a painter, you’ll know that those who use watercolours are very dismissive of those others using oils. With oil you can cover up a mistake, retouch forever – with watercolour, every brushstroke is visible – far more skill required. The watercolour artists who offer to paint your portrait in a touristy spot are even more dismissive of those dreadful types using charcoal.
The same applies in the musical world, where I should declare an intrest as an amateur classical violinist. Many classically trained musicians are somewhat disdainful of those “pop” artists who often can’t even read music, and can usually only play a particular tune in one key. The guitar has frets so the notes are “given” like a keyboard – hit that key and it’s a middle C, for example. By contrast, the player of a classical stringed instrument such as a violin needs to be able to hear and correct a note within milliseconds - the note isn’t “given” as with a keyboard or a guitar with its frets – each note on a violin, viola, cello, trombone has to be “made” every single time it’s used. Guitars aren’t “proper instruments”...
And of course, so it is with the raggies/stinkies. You reach your destination in a sailing boat it’s something of an achievement. By contrast, if you set off on a powerboat and you don’t reach your destination – that’s a bit rubbish. Powerboats, well, pah!
If you sail you have skill. But if you are scathing about those in powerboats, you are being mean with your skills. One does not need to be mean in this way. It is unpleasant, unkind and reflects badly on those who do it.
If you are scathing because of the apperance of a powerboat you are being mean with your taste, and the same applies
It’s as bad as someone who is luckily very good-looking being mean about those who are not quite so beautiful. Or someone who is intelligent being mean about those less so, and more are guilty of this bahavious than who readily admit or even realise – me, for one. (I’m not so nasty about those less good-looking than me, but there again, there aren’t many of them...)
Seriously, there’s a touch of envy, in some instances. Okay, not from YOU, perish the thought, but it’s there. The gianty 70 foot powerboat doing over 40knots against F6 in 2metre seas is a bit galling. They enjoy a sunny trip for couple of hours – sometimes the rest of us are still poking about in the dark, or drenched when the weather turns bad in the afternoon.
Likewise the billionaire rock star who composes a few 3-minutes song is suddenly the richest “musician” on the planet and compared with Mozart. Not so the career-trained (more like lifetime-trained) soloist or member of any professional classical orchestra. Even the humble guitar-strumming folk musician is a key element of a fun night out, leading the fun in a singalong with friends. A lot more so than would a cellist or violinist, really.
So I’m simply asking that raggies simply stop being mean. Yes, they have (and need) more skills than those driving a powerboat. But that doesn’t give them the right to be simply mean, I think. The meanness isn’t fun, and that’s what boating is supposed to be. Is it really fun to be mean? I hope not. Only bullies would derive pleasure from being mean.
Yes, stinkpots aren’t generally as lovely to behold as sailing boats, and in confined waters their wash can be annoying or even dangerous. But not ALL stinkies cause wash – just the ones you see. Some others took a wide sweep around and nobody noticed.
Yes, also, some of these issues are simply a matter of ignorance. I have never heard of any powerboat intentionally causing wash, and in some areas of the world it just isn’t an issue. Amongst very experienced powerboat users, I have once or twice suggested that they don’t navigate along a coast using sailing boats as “waypoints” - aim towards that other boat is alarming for the sailing boat in the firing line who just has to hope that the fast boat has seen him. It’s not done intentionally, really it isn’t – it’s just much easier to aim for something rather than nothing at all.
Powerboaties (or at least some of them) have some skills which a raggie doesn’t have – in a marina, it’s lots harder to control a boat which slithers sideways with high windage and no keel. Likewise those rock musicians become much more used to playing in front of an audience, confident on a stage far earlier and far more frequently than a classical musician. In extremis, you want powerboats – you wouldn’t insist on the lifeboat being a sailing boat, would you? You’d want a powerboat and pronto, or even a helicopter.
Of course, there’ll be some morons or horrid people in powerboats, same as there are some horrid/moronic people doing anything else. But to treat ALL stinkpotters as invariably more boorish, less knowledgeable, less intelligent is the very essence of racism – to assign all members of a group with the worst traits of just one member of that group.
So I trust you don’t or won’t do that, and/or help others avoid behaving in such a mean way in future. And then, I think, it’ll be much more smiley fun for everyone.
Edit: oh and of course, it's fine to express a preference, ands i bet your boat is possibly perfection! Also, i don't think anyone needs to go politically-over-correct and start calling power boats "boats of power"...
What do you think?
Last edited:
Grey Funnel
