Mobo owners have me in stitches...

[Sybarite]

No - one of the highest volume production line models made. Not designed to travel at 3 knots.. High sides and small rudders, and little in the way of a keel.

Still poor design irrespective of the numbers sold if it becomes unmanageable at under 4 knots.

 

[Sybarite]

No point, I didn't get a chance to get enough details...

On another note, when I suggested to swmbo that maybe the scar would make me more dashing she replied that would have to be a special kind of magic scar... Now THAT hurt!

Maybe you need to Potter a bit more....

 

[Talulah]

The Portsmouth Harbour Police launch was in full persuit (lights going) Monday morning as a Mobo sports cruiser went up Portsmouth Harbour at full chat and in to Royal Clarence Marina.
Speed limit 10 knots. Suspect boat was doing around 20 knots.

 

[henryf]

Still poor design irrespective of the numbers sold if it becomes unmanageable at under 4 knots.

Not really.

The question is not whether you can maintain a straight course in a cross wind at 2 knots but how much wash you produce at your minimum speed. In our case our minimum speed produces barely a ripple so no problem.

As for coming alongside we do not aim for a point and come in guns blazing. Rather use the engines sparingly together with wind, tide and thrusters to ensure a nice steady approach and soft landing.

As a motor boater years of moaning from sailors has made me more conscious of others than the moaners themselves

Henry

 

[onesea]

As a motor boater years of moaning from sailors has made me more conscious of others than the moaners themselves

That is nice to hear, wish there where more like you.

Although still going to agree with Sybraite being able to go slow is not just about wash.

Its about being able to slowly follow the idiot in front that is careering across the channel or deciding how many fenders they need to berth (when you can see they will never have enough)...

 

[Tidewaiter2]

That is nice to hear, wish there where more like you.

Although still going to agree with Sybraite being able to go slow is not just about wash.

Its about being able to slowly follow the idiot in front that is careering across the channel or deciding how many fenders they need to berth (when you can see they will never have enough)...

You always need one more than you've put out

 

[grumpy_o_g]

Still poor design irrespective of the numbers sold if it becomes unmanageable at under 4 knots.

He probably feels the same about boats so poorly designed they have to zig-zag up a channel because they can't hold a course to windward.

 

[onesea]

He probably feels the same about boats so poorly designed they have to zig-zag up a channel because they can't hold a course to windward.

The subtle difference here is designers are constantly trying to remove this poor design in sailing boats. In general modern sailing boats are allot closer winded that 40 years go.

It seems that the poor design in motor boats is just accepted...

 

[henryf]

By "poor design"do you mean the ability to turn on it's own centre without moving forwards or backwards, the ability to move sideways at zero speed, the ability to adjust trim to suit prevailing wave conditions even whilst heading directly into the wind, the need not to have to make sudden violent direction changes, the ability to make way in 1.3 metres of water in a 50 foot boat and the ability to do all this whilst remaining warm, dry and safe?

I have yet to make contact with anyone despite leaving and entering places like Lymington, Salcombe and the Hamble in the midst of 50 dinghies either en route to a race or racing (you've got to love Salcombe ).

I don't just blindly follow the boat in front I use knowledge and ability to proceed safely often going outside the marked channel or closer to it's boundaries than some might think possible. I use alternative approaches particularly in my home port of Portsmouh where I know to within 10cm what will be under my props.

In the case of Portsmouth one of the most dangerous situations is when slow craft attempt to enter as the tide ebbs and they are only able to hold station against the current in the harbour mouth. In some cases they even go backwards !

Life is all about compromise. You would be surprised how often "good" or "bad" is in fact just different.

Henry

 

[sighmoon]

By "poor design"do you mean the ability to turn on it's own centre without moving forwards or backwards, the ability to move sideways at zero speed, the ability to adjust trim to suit prevailing wave conditions even whilst heading directly into the wind, the need not to have to make sudden violent direction changes, the ability to make way in 1.3 metres of water in a 50 foot boat and the ability to do all this whilst remaining warm, dry and safe?

So why were we being told it's difficult to control under 4kts?

 

[[2068]]

So why were we being told it's difficult to control under 4kts?

Depends entirely on the boat and the conditions.
Some of the newer ones with bowthrusters and the latest control gizmos should be very controllable at low speeds in moderate conditions.
As the breeze picks up or if there is a strong current, things get more difficult, and a bit more throttle helps prevent getting too sideways in a tight situation (e.g. entrance to Portsmouth Harbour).

 

[henryf]

So why were we being told it's difficult to control under 4kts?

Because close quarters manoeuvring and steering whilst under way are two different things. One uses the rudders the other, in our case, uses the engines. We can do all sorts of clever things like only use 1 engine with rudder input, reduce tickover and so on but generally whilst cruising slowly we use both engine on standard tickover and steer using rudder. This produces zero wake.

If we do need to hold station then we can swap tactics and use engines in either forward or reverse as well as bow and stern thrusters.

Henry

 

[onesea]

and a bit more throttle helps prevent getting too sideways in a tight situation (e.g. entrance to Portsmouth Harbour).

The problem is that bit more throttle on some boats starts to create that bit more wash that causes all the upset... I had to dinghy run to get to my boat across one of the Solent channels.

When my daughter was younger it stopped quite a few days because one MOBO using that "bit more power" terrified her (she was 3)... Then you cannot win shes a bit older she wants you racing past to make the day a bit more exciting!

Just not in channels or near harbors where fenders are being put out sails being taken down etc...

One did it the other day, I was scrubbing the bottom of the boat from the dinghy, the boat ahead of me had some one up the mast and the others where loading stores form the pontoon... If some one shouts thanks and there boat is lurching from side to side, they might just be being sarcastic...

I can appreciate the problem's and understand the reasons why but do think a little more thought at design stage could a) reduce the wash b) make handling at lower speeds easier.

Then its part of the issue between sailing boats and MOBO's most yachties do not want to stop given a problem they can slow right down to a knot or two drift very little and maintain control. They do not want to stop, where as on a MOBO its easier to all but stop and hold station, yachts without bow thrusters aren't always so good at that...

A little awareness form us all would go along-way...

 

[henryf]

That doesn't sound a very good design if your yacht can't stop and hold station ! Yes I am posting tongue in cheek.

Do you know the worst culprit for excess wash in moorings? Tender dinghies powered by outboards. Their short length and relatively wide beam mean they generate wash at very low speed.

You will never win in the Motor versus Sail argument. One side constantly blames the other.

As I was leaving the Hamble the other day I came across a first for me. Yacht entering the Hamble suddenly turns through 180 degrees into the out bound side of the channel just in front of me. He then proceeds to reverse towards me. I couldn't pass to his starboard (remember he's going backwards) as there was no channel left and with lots of boats entering the river on a Sunday afternoon taking up 3/4 of the channel I was caught between a rock and a hard place.

I ended up passing close to his port side narrowly avoiding him and the other boats coming in after a weekend away.

He carried out this manoeuvre in order to be faced into the wind whilst lowering his main sail and going backwards meant no time was lost getting back to the marina. It also looks cool apparently. I noticed quite a few yachts doing it as they passed Warsash .

But I didn't come on here and moan, I just got on with things and put it down to a prat on a yacht trying desperately to cause an accident. Thankfully the majority of sailors do not act in this way.

Henry

 

[Elessar]

The Portsmouth Harbour Police launch was in full persuit (lights going) Monday morning as a Mobo sports cruiser went up Portsmouth Harbour at full chat and in to Royal Clarence Marina.
Speed limit 10 knots. Suspect boat was doing around 20 knots.

Good to hear.
I saw a largish mobo coming out of sort Solent a few months ago and he nailed it in the club moorings in the narrow channel. A moored yacht was going up and down by a good metre taking the mooring lines to full extensionand snatching, and and the cockpit occupant was hanging on to avoid being thrown out. It wasnt just inconsiderate, it was reckless.
I called said mobo on 16, no response. I then called QHM who didn't want to know

 

[henryf]

A few well publicised fines normally do the job. There is a big difference between doing 7 knots rather than 6 and blasting along on the plane through moorings.

Ironically the last time I was thrown around violently in Portsmouth harbour it was the police launch responding to a jet ski who had pottered into the camber at 5 knots. Possibly a slightly more balance approach next time ?

Henry