Is sailing too easy now?

graham

graham

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Now that gps can tell us which marina berth number we are in.

Modern cruising sails are so tough they rarely disintegrate due to wind strength.

Hull construction methods make bilge pumping unusual.It may be safer but has the fun been dilluted as well??
 
Try going out in a good blow, offshore, and you will challenge not the modern characteristics of your yacht and its technology but yourself as a sailor.
 
Hi Grandslam,

Entirely agree. These days anyone can buy all the toys and believe themselves sailors, but going offshore for extended passages, reliant on your own ability to deal with adverse weather and other challenges. is the real test of a sailor IMHO.
 
An idea probably voiced just after first person had the idea to hang a piece of woven cloth from a stick mounted in his dugout tree trunk. Techy advances have certainly made boating more accessible to the masses, be they GPS or sail cloth, but if you are looking for challenge they just allow you to set your personal bar higher. (and you can always sell the GPS on Ebay)
 
Definitely not. The availability of better equipment just means every sailor has wider choice in deciding how they want to sail. If you want simplicity without the technology there is nothing to stop you, if you want the technology that's fine too.

I doubt anyone on these lists finds sailing less fun than they did before because of advances in technology.
 
I was referring more to weekend type sailing than serious ocean or offshore sailing.(Which I dont have any experience of)

Finding your way in somewhere after sailing allday would have at first give you a bit of stress that you may have cocked up your navigation followed by a real sense of achievment that you got it right.

You didnt put yourself on a leeshore in fresh conditions because the engine may not go and your sails may not have stood up to a thrash to windward.

Im not advocating a return to dodgy engines and ripe sails /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gifBut I wonder if someone starting cruising now will be inclined to take things for granted then be in unknown territory if things really start going wrong.
 
Sailings easy peasy.
Why only this morning, I telephoned the boat to take itself out for a sail, so I could accumulate some more Yachtmaster miles whilst visiting Aunty Joan in Romford. Only joking but....

I am also going to make garden furniture and hammocks with all those dreadful wooden boats taking up space on the river. All the bits of brass will fetch a few quid. They are only going rotten anyway.

Salt rimed sailors whittling bits of whale bone on the deck instead of chillin' to some noise on the CD?

Me in my Goretex super breathable oilies, instead of proper mans Reefer Jacket and yellow stuff. Where is the damp musty smell in that? No trench foot either. What a wuss I must be! The old boats had no Eberspacher to dry their sodden gear and they kept warm by the heat from a paraffin lamp. Great fun.

Did you know that old boats haven't got a fridge either. How dumb is that. No wonder it wasn't a sport for the masses. Barrels of salt pork 3 days out.

Also I have failing strength in my arms, as I have electric winches and windlass.

The list goes on and on. What particular era do you want to go back to? After all, my Grandad said that my Dad's generation had it easy, and he in turn said the same to me, and I will say the same to my son.
We all could go out and build a Kon Tiki like Thor Heyerdahl, couldn't we ( Perhaps not with the RCD requirements and lack of gear, probably only get a Cat D rating these days)?

Yep, gotta say that sailing is no fun at all nowadays. No sense of achievement, its all just pure relaxation. Hardly worth the effort at all.

Presumably your car has a starting handle and requires an 'A' service every 500 miles then?
 
Everyone is in unknown territory when faced with circumstances not encounterd before. It's what happens when you go sailing. There's rarely a day on the water goes by without learning something new about me or the boat or the weather etc.

As for the kind of risks you take whilst out even with an up to now reliable engine and decent sails I still won't put myself hard up against a lee shore willingly.

I think I understand the point you are making but don't believe you can generalise about about the influence improved technology has had.

In some ways I think moboers are more at risk than raggies when it comes to technology dependence.
 
Got to dissagree mate ! most sailing now consists of just sitting in the cockpit with little to do. No need to helm with a good autopilot ,less time spent at the chart table with GPS etc doing it all for you and dare I say it less need to keep a good lookout with radar . /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif (expecting to get flamed from the "cornishman" for that one) .
Sorry but even though I have all the "toys" I still use the old methods as much as I can to ease the bordom. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
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Sorry but even though I have all the "toys" I still use the old methods as much as I can to ease the bordom.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that was the point, clyst. The technology just widens the choices of how you want to sail. Like the tv, you don't have to own one and if you do you can switch it off anytime.

I would put money on the notion that there are more boats without autopilot and radar than with. Choices again
 
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Does the modern technology do no more than tell you far more clearly how much sh1te you are in?


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i have an image in my mind of an electronic display with a display of a little man up to various levels in the pooh /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It could gather data from the other instruments and pooh level would go up if ships are detected on a collision course with you,keel too close to the putty etc etc.When the pooh level reached neck high on the the little man in the display you need to check all the instruments to find out what the problem is. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I never meant to condemn anyone who chooses to use whatever gizmos they like. Personally I would not consider dumping my GPS and a few other bits .

i do think though that there is a growing tendency to be gizmo dependant rather than using them as an aid.
 
Electronic equipment makes NAVIGATION a doddle. No argument possible.

Electrical equipment can make jobs less tiresome, windlasses, autopilots, etc..

But SAILING was the object of your question, and I think not. Not even autopilots - let's face it, they are no good if the boat is not set up balanced - they yaw all over the place in anything other than a flat calm.

SAILING is pretty much as hard as it ever was, perhaps harder, as many boats are not designed with seaworthiness as the first objective - great fat arses, weight distribution all over the place. Getting the boat going properly, efficiently and easily - well balanced... which bit of modern kit does that for you? And this applies just as much making a quickie to the Folly as to the Café de Paris. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

IMHO of course.
 
Sailing has not changed. Our perception of danger probably has diminished through overstated capabilities of the latest must haves. All the toys in the world cannot tame the elements. I do not care what I am sailing, the dodgier the conditions, the more I refer to basics. I still get more scared by the sea than anything else and afford it every respect. Anybody who trusts their life to a load of squidgits do so at their peril.
 
Re: Is sailing too easy now? re aitchw

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I would put money on the notion that there are more boats without autopilot and radar than with. Choices again

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If you include dinghies this is possibly correct. In Cherbourg the other week over 75% of the British boats had radar, the most popular seeming to be raython/raymarine. All going well I will be joining the radar crowd this winter ...
 
If our perception of danger has diminished; why do I see so many more people wearing lifejackets even on days where there is little wind and flat calm seas. Hardly ever saw a lifejacket 25 years ago now people wear them walking along the pontoon. What's going on ?
 
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