I can see why some people don't like yachties

[Bosun Higgs]

Racing is a different mindset Escargot. I race in winter and we all have to leave through a set of locks. Its routine for some racers not to have fenders at all ( extra weight) and most have a much more relaxed / less precious attitude to the condition of their boats, the odd bump etc. After all, it you are racing seriously you dont spare the boat and you do expect mid season repairs which cost. So I always have to fend them off and I organise the crew accordingly.

I'm not excusing them but at the same time I do wonder about some posters on here who reach for the insurance policy / ambulance chaser after very minor damage.

 

[Sgeir]

Nearly every mishap at sea is down to the RYA one way or another.

Nah, it's all Gordon Brown's fault.

 

[awol]

Nah, it's all Gordon Brown's fault.

Nah, it all goes back to Maggie and the selfishness of her times carried on with today's Tory wannabes. If I had been the OP and I saw a CO32 or any other long-keeled, hard to control lead-mine approaching my pride and joy, I'd have been on my feet to help (or self protect) them to park.

 

[Slow_boat]

I agree there is a big difference between seamanship and racing. I was once told that it is good seamanship to reef for the gusts. Racers reef for the prevailing wind and let fly or luff in the gusts. Of course, racers have the advantage of being fully crewed.

My brother has always been a racing type. The risks he took and the way he pushed his boats may explain the groundings, collissions and broken gear that seemed to plague his sailing. He's grown up a bit now and may well make a seaman one day.

BTW, CO32 isn't long keel-, t's fin and skeg. They don't handle to bad under motor.

 

[l'escargot]

Racing is a different mindset Escargot. I race in winter and we all have to leave through a set of locks. Its routine for some racers not to have fenders at all ( extra weight) and most have a much more relaxed / less precious attitude to the condition of their boats, the odd bump etc. After all, it you are racing seriously you dont spare the boat and you do expect mid season repairs which cost. So I always have to fend them off and I organise the crew accordingly.

I'm not excusing them but at the same time I do wonder about some posters on here who reach for the insurance policy / ambulance chaser after very minor damage.

They weren't racing, they were tied up for a social event in a marina. As I said, no damage done and no question of insurance. Just found the behaviour of some of them ignorant and inconsiderate and I think most other people would have found their behaviour to be the same. I am sure I will encounter them again. When I do, I shall bounce off 3 of their boats on arrival/departure, strew my sails across the pontoon and ignore them - and see if it elicits any comments...

 

[awol]

They don't handle to bad under motor.

Then it must just be me .......... and my crew ........... and a few other skippers ........ and ..........

Four and a bit tonnes with a 13 horse (when it was new) donk and a narrow 2-bladed prop in the skeg cut-out is relatively easy to make a cock-up with but I bow to your superior skill.

 

[l'escargot]

... If I had been the OP and I saw a CO32 or any other long-keeled, hard to control lead-mine approaching my pride and joy, I'd have been on my feet to help (or self protect) them to park.

Why? If the 5 of them on board weren't up to doing it then they shouldn't have been out on a boat. If you know the handling characteristics of the boat then you should know how to manoeuvre it - certainly ahead and hopefully in reverse otherwise don't reverse, warp your boat round.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

I am sure I will encounter them again. When I do, I shall bounce off 3 of their boats on arrival/departure, strew my sails across the pontoon and ignore them - and see if it elicits any comments...

It probably wont bother them at all if you did so. As I said, its a different mind set - boats are there to be used, thrashed, overstressed etc. And as for sails on the pontoon ............ sense of proportion needed?

 

[Kukri]

Those who like me are old enough to have sailed in the Thames estuary in the 1960's will recall that one entered certain pubs - the Victory at West Mersea, the Yachtsmans Arms at Brightlingsea and the Butt and Oyster at Pin Mill come to mind - with trepidation because any small failure of seamanship in mooring up, stowing up and coming ashore by dinghy would have been observed by half a dozen retired barge skippers and smacksmen, and they would be sure to voice their opinions of "yachtsmen"!