Get out of my way! I'm racing!

I had this two years ago when sailing close to the moorings at cowes a small fleet approached from my rear quarter and all but forced me into the trots.

I got similar shouts to which I replied 'yes, I am under sail as well'. Cue torrent if further abuse. Email to the cowes sailing club commodore yielded nothing. It depends where you are. Attitude at cowes is pretty bad, only worse place I have come across is Hayling Island Sailing Club who seem to limit their membership to complete c***s
 
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Interesting thread, I hope you get suitable response from the club involved.

Having raced at various levels and in various boats in the front and more often at the back.

One thought has come to me because of this thread is it is probably the people at the back that get most frustrated. The top boats are normally quite well bunched and racing boat for boat and a formidably pack (also easier to avoid). The tail end Charleys or slower boats are more wide spread and may due to handy cap still be in with a chance of the top few, or just trying to beat there buddy in that boat over there.

Because they are more separated, other users do probably pass closer and have less respect for what they are doing...

If you are at the back and have been annoyed by a few of boats in each costing you (in your mind) a minute or 2, you would get frustrated. Particularly when you get your results to the and find again your only "5 minutes" of the winners.

Not saying the guy should of said what he said, just looking at it from his perspective.
 
onesea said:
and have less respect for what they are doing...
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I have raced a lot too, dinghies and cruisers, but I don't think that means I deserved ' more respect ' for that branch of sailing I chose on those particular days; as for a cruiser ' in the way ' for all the racer knows the skipper could have been hit by the boom and is lying below while a nervous partner is trying to get to help.

If I see boats racing I try to be polite and keep out of their way - or if it's a Sunsail race approaching I go to emergency
red alert out of sheer self preservation - but if anyone tried shouting or bullying they are just asking for me to delay them !
 
Whitelighter said:
I had this two years ago when sailing close to the moorings at cowes a small fleet approached from my rear quarter and all but forced me into the trots.

I got similar shouts to which I replied 'yes, I am under sail as well'. Cue torrent if further abuse. Email to the cowes sailing club commodore yielded nothing. It depends where you are. Attitude at cowes is pretty bad, only worse place I have come across is Hayling Island Sailing Club who seem to limit their membership to complete c***s
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Its irrelevant that you were sailing, they would have had to give way to me too. Too many yotties forget this, racing or not.
 
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onesea said:
If you are at the back and have been annoyed by a few of boats in each costing you (in your mind) a minute or 2, you would get frustrated. Particularly when you get your results to the and find again your only "5 minutes" of the winners.
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Interestingly, I don't think this guy was at the back. As I've said, given the wide range of boat types in this handicap club race, there was no pack as such and they were spread out over a mile or two. But looking astern of us after the incident I could see a number of other boats flying the same pendant, further away than Mr Angry. The online race results also suggest that he tends to finish well up the fleet.

There also wasn't much close, crossing traffic for him to have to weave around. He basically made a beeline for my stern over at least two cables of clear unobstructed water, with clear space either side of me for him to pass in, and then yelled at me.

He's just a rude person, who is either ignorant or arrogant about racing vs the rest of the world.

Pete
 
Just to update the plot: the club have acknowledged receipt and thanked me for bringing it to their attention. The message has been forwarded to the race committee and they will keep me informed as to what action they decide to take.

Full marks to the club so far.

Pete
 
prv said:
Just to update the plot: the club have acknowledged receipt and thanked me for bringing it to their attention. The message has been forwarded to the race committee and they will keep me informed as to what action they decide to take.

Full marks to the club so far.

Pete
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Good news Pete. Let's hope the offender gets his ear bent.

You are absolutely right to have complained. To let this sort of thing go is the road to ruin.
 
It is good news.

Had a Hardy-style motor boat nearly run me down last Friday evening. First ever cross-channel trip over last 2 weeks: 300+nm, no hitches, even had one tanker change course for my little 24 footer, more so than was needed presummably to give me peace of mind, saw many many big ships out in the channel....and then nearly run down by something my size doing 25 kts in the Solent. As they went passed... noone at the helm, boat on auto pilot and they were all at the bow drinking. Oblivious. There's no accounting for some peoples seamanship or simply, their manners
 
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The irony of 'get out of the way I'm racing' is that there is such a rule, it applies to boats which are out there to race, but are not actually racing at the time.
E.g. if you have finished or are waiting for your first gun.
It is quite commonly broken in my experience.
 
Imagine drinking at a bar overlooking hundreds of ill-marked lobsterpots, just as a fleet of monstrously self-centred racers comes through, fouled by every pot...bliss! :rolleyes:
 
dancrane said:
Imagine drinking at a bar overlooking hundreds of ill-marked lobsterpots, just as a fleet of monstrously self-centred racers comes through, fouled by every pot...bliss! :rolleyes:
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How would you know they were all monstrously self-centred, though?

I have zero beef with the vast majority of racing sailors, only those (and they are few, in my experience) who behave as if their racing is more important than whatever everybody else is doing.

Pete
 
prv said:
How would you know they were all monstrously self-centred, though?
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Indeed, hence "Imagine..."

And there might be some well-marked lobster-pots out there, too. And I might have just ordered their harvest for my dinner.

I was enjoying the happy thought of bloody-minded lobster-potters meeting equally selfish buggers under sail. No room for any white-hats in that fantasy. :rolleyes:
 
Dan,

it sounds like ' Predator versus Alien ' but would make a better film.

Have to say in that situation I'd side with the racers, they may be boorish but they don't actually lay traps in the full knowledge of the possible outcome, ie worst case being people drowned trying to clear props, boats pinned by the stern in places like Portland inshore passage, or shafts pulled out and boats sunk.

They are aware of all this and just don't care, the only well marked pots I have ever seen have been off Brittany, with a black flag on a danbuoy, still a great deal of scope for improvement.
 
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snowleopard said:
If by that you mean that they would be better with another colour, counter-intuitively black is the most visible colour at night.
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+1 - you're seeing in monochrome, so it's purely the density or saturation of the colour that matters, not the hue. It needs to contrast against its background, so for a lightish background you want black, for a darkish background you want white. Any other colour (say, dayglo orange) will show as grey, somewhere around the middle of the range, and thus not as contrasty as the appropriate choice of black or white.

Pete
 
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