I can see why some people don't like yachties

[crewman]

I did my coastal skipper with Alba sailing last year. We spent some time practising coming into berths, with the instructor deliberately choosing the awkward slots (reverse, down tide, being blown off etc).The DS and Comp crew candidates did it too, but CS had to get it right without help. Alba sailing also do some pontoon bashing days. No connection with them other than as a customer.

 

[pisspoor]

In defence of dingy courses I learned to sail that way and was taught boat handling to a decent level including mooring and berthing under sail. If anything I'm worse at this now than I was then. Granted it was 20 years ago in Ireland but many of my friends in the north trained with the RYA and their boat handling skills are pretty good. I think a lot of mistakes you see come down to confusion with inexperienced crew, or crew who don't know the particular boat well. We have a rule that only me and the missus are involved in any boat handling manoeuvres. Anyone else on board is told to stand still and watch.

Not quite right and too easy to blame the RYA for everything. The pre-entry for DI and selection days for SI are looking at personal sailing skills, i.e., can you sail a boat to best advantage using all five essentials which also demonstrates good seamanship. The best way to see this in a single day for both the coach assessor and peers within the group is to have 'racing' excersizes amongst other things. It lets you see how good you are relative to others and overall.

We all make mistakes but what the OP seems more to be annoyed about, and rightly so, is basic manners.

The RYA's approach and focus to teaching dinghy sailing 20 years ago when I qualified as an instructor was like you state mrming .... but since then the a lot has changed ....

ctva, I don't blame the RYA for everything ... but I do think that their dinghy sailing focus is racing and this is reflected in the focus of RYA dinghy courses ... also I think it is wrong to lump DI pre-entry qualification with the RYA SI pre course days ... the two are very different ...

Further good dinghy racing sailors get the five essentials right but that does not mean that they demonstrate seamanship skills ... as the two are not the same .... for example with modern racing dinghies many people who sail them have no idea at all about how to reef while at sea, how to hove to or how to anchor and have zero interest to learn as these skills are not need to race around the buoys, but these are all seamanship skills ...

A big problem as I see it with the coach assessor is that most of them only have a background in racing around the buoys ... I do wonder how many of these coach assessor would fair going it alone dinghy cruising in North sea or the West Coast of Scotland ...

PP

 

[ctva]

... I do wonder how many of these coach assessor would fair going it alone dinghy cruising in North sea or the West Coast of Scotland ...

Me (west coast). I've never had an interest in dinghy racing.

 

[flaming]

ctva, I don't blame the RYA for everything ... but I do think that their dinghy sailing focus is racing and this is reflected in the focus of RYA dinghy courses ...

Not really surprising. Dinghy cruising is, I would suggest, a pretty minority activity whereas dinghy racing isn't.

But when you get to yachts there is no mention at all of racing in the RYA courses, it's all cruising.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Not really surprising. Dinghy cruising is, I would suggest, a pretty minority activity whereas dinghy racing isn't.

But when you get to yachts there is no mention at all of racing in the RYA courses, it's all cruising.

Succinct and blindingly obvious when pointed out like this.

 

[ctva]

Not really surprising. Dinghy cruising is, I would suggest, a pretty minority activity whereas dinghy racing isn't.

But when you get to yachts there is no mention at all of racing in the RYA courses, it's all cruising.

Yup!

 

[awol]

Not at all, they were weekend sailors in oldish 32' (there's a clue there!) cruiser/racers coming into the normal visitor berths (another clue there too!) in a marina. Perhaps if there had been pit crew they may not have made such a hash up of getting the boats tied up... but it still wouldn't have excused the disregard for other people a couple of crews nearest to me displayed. Perhaps they had delusions of grandeur and thought they were serious racers...

Oh dear - not near Portsmouth I hope. If the boats were those I suspect, there is a slight excuse from the handling characteristics, esp. in reverse against the prop-walk, but absolutely none for the absence of manners. I can assure you I apologise to those I hit.

 

[Cookee]

I think you should all come to Salcombe and spend some time on the slipway at the weekend, don't bring your boat though!

I was putting the cushions and sails on my wife's oldish Sigma 33 (that's a yacht to any moboers out there) and the display of incompetence was indescribable! The most annoying of which was the smallish sailing dinghy whose owner and his wife pushed their dinghy in front of mine on the slipway, when I said in a loud voice "It's ok I'll go around you" the wife announced they had to go head into wind, despite the boat having no sails at all on the boat, in fact hey were towing to a beach wiht the trolley on top of the tender!

Better than that once we were alongside the quay was the Salcombe Yawl crew who set off from the top of the pontoon with an offshore wind with sails hauled in tight, the boat accelerated away narrowly missing us with the helm hard over trying in vain to bear away and they drove straight into the building works on fish quay whilst still accelerating hard, they damaged the bowsprit, jib rigging and forestay and given the number of bits sticking out of the construction site and the speed they were going were lucky to escape injury - it was lucky they didn't hit a dinghy full of kids or something as they were totally out of control. There were several more incidents that could equally have caused serious injury all related to things with sails on in around an hour.

 

[JessH2958]

I'm the skipper who bumped this boat on Saturday and I've sent him a message to apologise. I didn't see him and would obviously have said sorry if I had! In my defence; it was a pretty tight space to get into and I wasn't sure we would fit. In any case, we were already parallel, with bow and stern lines on, alongside so what angle I arrived at is irrelevant! I knocked her into neutral before the spring was on and we drifted back and bumped. I had a look for damage, didn't see any or anyone. We used the pontoon to fix the leech line of our spinnaker (one sail, not numerous - we have a furling headsail) and again, didn't see anyone try to get through, of course we'd have moved out of the way.
My father is ex-Navy and taught me almost everything I know about sailing - believe me when I tell you that the fundamentals of seamanship have been drilled into me and he still sent me to get my Yachtmaster to formalise my training as a well rounded skipper. Even as an adult with some 15 years experience driving around marinas, he still always asks me the same questions before we leave the pontoon; "Where are the danger spots. What will the wind and the tide do to you. What is your plan". He always told me manoeuvring in marinas was the hardest part of helming and he was right. I don’t think there’s a skipper out there who can say they’ve never made a mistake!
My little bug bear here is that this was an anonymous post in the dark corners of the internet (someone emailed me a link asking me if this was our fleet - I'm not even on these YBW forums). If he'd just popped over for a chat, I'd have said sorry and probably invited him for a beer in our cockpit. I'm the Social Secretary of the class and we wouldn't want to be anything other than courteous and polite! We’re friendly bunch, sailors, we always wave at each other when out and about. Please don’t let one incident like this think that all racers are aggressive, plastic fantastic youngsters who have no manners and no seamanship – please just walk along the pontoon and have a chat with them. They might just surprise you.

 

[timmygobang]

I'm amused with the title of this post, was it intentionally chosen to stir up emotions in the forum?

Do you also condemn entire nations based on negative encounters whilst on holiday?

I understand your anger btw

 

[l'escargot]

I'm amused with the title of this post, was it intentionally chosen to stir up emotions in the forum?

Do you also condemn entire nations based on negative encounters whilst on holiday?

I understand your anger btw

I don't think it stirred up emotions and nor am I angry. It was just an eye catching header.

Allegations of this sort of behaviour often bounce around on the mobo forum and being on the "receiving end" myself as another yachtie, I just thought it might be an interesting topic of discussion and show how sometimes despite thinking we are being considerate perhaps we aren't.

I haven't condemned yachties as a group, nor do I condemn entire nations based on holiday experiences, my comments weren't general and were clearly sufficiently specific for those concerned to identify themselves and I have received a pleasant apology from one of those concerned.

 

[blueglass]

lots of posts hark back (correctly, probably) to training shortfalls but if anybody needs a training course to learn manners and consideration then they are probably a lost cause.

 

[Seajet]

blueglass,

well said !

As for certificates and insurance discounts, I had a minor discount years ago for having an RYA ticket but the advantage seemed to tail off after a while, shopping around got me a better deal.

 

[Heckler]

The rudest and most unpleasant skipper we have encountered in getting on for 30 years of cruising was an RYA instructor in the Sporades. His behaviour to Jill was disgraceful, demanding that we move our dinghy so that he could berth alongside us. No idea what his sailing skills were but his personal skills required a lot of attention.

Was in Fiscardo a few years ago, tight as could be, there was a little Greek boat next to us. A big Jeanneau came in and started pushing the little Greek in to the v space at our bows. The skipper was a cloggy, a nasty cloggy, witha brit girl friend. He was getting madder and madder, he was effing and blinding at his girl friend. He then hit her and she went below.I stood it for a few mins then asked him to shut his mouth, I had 12 to 14 year olds on board. He got the ump with me then. I was ready for a bit of fisticuffs, my missus was getting a bit worried! Then George, my buddy, all 18 stone of rugby playing, ex boxer in the navy uncoiled himself, stood up and told him to shut up. He did! It got better, the Greek got his port police mate to arrest him, it was magic!
Stu

 

[Caliban]

He then hit her and she went below

At this point I would have stepped in, I think

 

[Shakemeister]

Was in Fiscardo a few years ago, tight as could be, there was a little Greek boat next to us. A big Jeanneau came in and started pushing the little Greek in to the v space at our bows. The skipper was a cloggy, a nasty cloggy, witha brit girl friend. He was getting madder and madder, he was effing and blinding at his girl friend. He then hit her and she went below.I stood it for a few mins then asked him to shut his mouth, I had 12 to 14 year olds on board. He got the ump with me then. I was ready for a bit of fisticuffs, my missus was getting a bit worried! Then George, my buddy, all 18 stone of rugby playing, ex boxer in the navy uncoiled himself, stood up and told him to shut up. He did! It got better, the Greek got his port police mate to arrest him, it was magic!
Stu

I'm sure I've met that bloke/boat! He was infamous in the Ionian ten years ago!

 

[Seajet]

I'm sure I've met that bloke/boat! He was infamous in the Ionian ten years ago!

Obviously his behaviour was atrocious, I think I'd also have stepped in when he hit his girlfriend; one little question though, maybe I've misunderstood it but why have a dinghy alongside in a potential rafting situation ?

 

[cryan]

I think in general most yachties are fine upstanding people who take pride in being(or at least trying to be)as good at their hobby as possible. I have come across a few who are too arrogant to be palatable. But thats the same for any walk of life. I'm newer to the leisure boating world but in my time as a pro seafarer I have had a fair few meetings with Yachties and most were perfectly enjoyable. Enough in fact for me to feel at ease joining their number.

 

[Shakemeister]

I'm sure I've met that bloke/boat! He was infamous in the Ionian ten years ago!

It would not have been an 'alongside' situation as in rafting off abeam of each other - it would have been fore-and-aft mooring. The vee shape between the two yachts bows is where the fishing caique would be. No good for the fisherman on his midnight jaunt though!

If this is the right boat, he was notorious for try to squeeze his boat into tight spaces. He knew that flotilla skipper tactics would be to put two boats alongside in the space of three boats in order to get another boat in and then raft (fore and aft) another couple of boats of the back of those boats. But instead of asking nicely he'd try and push in, shouting abuse, popping fenders and wrecking guardrails. He attracted the port police's attention when I was there too.

And he was known for the domestic violence too.

 

[webcraft]

possible source of problem could be the RYA and there initial dinghy sailing training courses .... exacerbated by the RYA's approach to instructor training particularly the sailing skills they look for in people wanting to become senior instructors .... as what I found that they were looking for when I went on senior instructor pre course day was people with really good racing sailing skills, seamanship skills did not come into the day at all ...

PP

Of course. Nearly every mishap at sea is down to the RYA one way or another. Obvious when you think about it.

- W